Posted on 05/07/2002 3:08:17 PM PDT by Axion
New Suicide Bombing in Israel Undercuts Sharon At least 15 people were killed and some 60 injured May 7 in an explosion in the city of Rishon Letzion, 15 miles southwest of Tel Aviv, The Associated Press reported, quoting Israeli public officials. As of late afternoon CST, reports were still unclear, but initial accounts indicate the explosion occurred at a night club or pool hall in the industrial part of the city around 11p.m. local time. Israeli police confirmed that the explosion involved a suicide bombing, and Hamas claimed responsibility.
7 May 2002
The incident was the first suicide bombing since April 15. The recurrence of suicide attacks will call into question Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's security strategy -- which has mainly involved invasions and destruction of Palestinian areas and massive arrests in efforts to intimidate and disrupt suicide bombing networks. It also will undermine the position of the prime minister, who is visiting Washington in an effort to convince the Bush administration to aid his efforts to marginalize Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The suicide bombing is the first since the end of the Israeli military offensive in the West Bank. Because of the difficulties of reaching it from the West Bank or Gaza Strip, attacks in Tel Aviv and surrounding areas are rare -- in fact, the last suicide bombing in the area took place in June 2001, when 21 people were killed at a beachside nightclub. In this case, the location likely was chosen as a poignant illustration that Israeli strategies for filtering potential threats have failed and that the Palestinian suicide network has not been dismantled.
I was asking myself the same thing.
If there are awards given for spin, this one wins in all categories, hands down.
Suicide attack kills at least 15 near Tel Aviv
By Jason Keyser
Associated Press Wr
iter May 7, 2002, 5:13 PM CDT
RISHON LETZION, Israel -- A suicide attack shattered a pool hall in this Israeli city late today, killing more than 15 people and wounding at least 60, police said.
The explosion occurred at 11:03 p.m., as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was meeting in Washington with President Bush.
A police spokesman told Israel TV at least 15 people were killed in the attack 10 miles south of Tel Aviv.
Al Manar TV in Lebanon said it received a claim of responsibility from the Islamic militant group Hamas.
Hamas spokesman Mahmoud Zahar said from his home in Gaza City that he could not confirm the claim, but "if it is a martyrdom operation, it means that Israel has lost its war against the Palestinians and the Palestinian resistance has proved that it is capable of reaching the enemy everywhere."
Since the current round of Israeli-Palestinian violence erupted in September 2000, there have been nearly 60 suicide bombings. A suicide attack on March 27 that killed 28 people set off Israel's large-scale military operation in the West Bank two days later, aimed at uprooting what the Israelis called the "terrorist infrastructure."
The last suicide attack came on April 12 when a bomber blew herself up at a bus stop in Jerusalem, killing six people. That attack came with Secretary of State Colin Powell in the region trying to arrange an end to the violence.
David Baker, an official at the prime minister's office, called tonight's explosion "another murderous attack against Israelis."
"It is clear that the Palestinian Authority has not given up its terror actions and has not given up its murderous path," he said.
The blast went off at a three-story building in the heart of the industrial section of Rishon Letzion, a city that is home to some 100,000 people. Part of the ceiling on the top floor collapsed. A sign outside read "Sheffield Club, snooker, cafeteria."
Meir Nitzan, the mayor of Rishon Letzion, said more than 60 people had been taken to hospitals.
Yeruham Mandola, a spokesman with the Israeli ambulance service Magen David Adom, said part of the three-story building had collapsed. "Some of the wounded are trapped in the building," he said.
An Israeli woman identified on Israel Radio as Hanit Azulai said she was on her way home when she heard "a huge explosion."
" I turned the corner and I saw the whole building go up before my eyes."
An Israeli man who gave his first name as Oren told the radio that he was near the scene at the time of the explosion. "I just ran away from there. I don't know if it's a terror attack," he said.
It is time to have open season on those crazies.
I don't know.... This one is pretty damn good, too-
In a perverse way, this helps Israel because it demonstrates to Europe that Arafat is not a partner for peace.
Jettisoning him is the only viable alternative to complete occupation.
"Israeli Attack"? That's some spin alright.
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