Free Republic

Israel on Thursday approved military steps to be taken against Islamic militant groups if the Palestinian government does not immediately crack down on the militants, Israeli security sources said. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his security cabinet, which met to discuss a suicide bus bombing that killed 18 people on Tuesday, confirmed they considered peace moves frozen unless the Palestinians begin the crack down. "If the Palestinian government does not take all the steps necessary in the war on terror, actual and meaningful steps, it will not be possible to move to the stage of diplomatic discussion," Sharon's office said...

Israeli tanks on move as Sharon plans revenge By Inigo Gilmore in Jerusalem (Filed: 21/08/2003) Ariel Sharon, Israel's prime minister, last night approved military strikes against Palestinian militants in response to a suicide bombing that killed 18 people. Ultra-Orthodox Jews attend the funeral of Eliezer Wiessfish, killed in Tuesday's bombing A senior Israeli army official said the operations, which were due to be confirmed later by the cabinet, could last for several days. They would include arrests, raids and "targeted killings" against Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. The renewed offensive was expected to begin within hours, with...

As of Wednesday afternoon, 15 of the 20 victims of last night's horrific bus bombing in Jerusalem have been identified: As of Wednesday afternoon, 15 of the 20 victims of last night's horrific bus bombing in Jerusalem have been identified: * Lilach Kardi, 22, of Jerusalem. Lilach was in the ninth month of pregnancy and left behind a 1-year-old son. She moved to Jerusalem three years ago from Netanya, where she met and married Shmuel Kardi. Six years ago, she lost her father in a motor vehicle accident and not too long after, her mother died of illness. She then...

From correspondents in RamallahAugust 21, 2003PALESTINIAN prime minister Mahmud Abbas was set to deliver Yasser Arafat an ultimatum today to back an unprecedented clampdown on militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad or see his cabinet resign en masse, a senior official said. “Abu Mazen (Abbas's nom-de-guerre) will present Arafat and the Palestinian leadership with four demands,” the official said on condition of anonymity ahead of a meeting in Ramallah early today. “If they don't get Arafat's support, the cabinet will resign.” Abbas was to make four requests of Arafat: That he and the Fatah central committee present a written declaration...

Palestinian cabinet pledges to rein in militants after blast By Eric Silver in Jerusalem 21 August 2003 The Palestinian cabinet voted unanimously last night to crack down against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which jointly claimed responsibility for Tuesday night's Jerusalem bus bombing that killed 20 religious Jews and wounded more than 100. After an emergency meeting in Gaza, a senior official told The Independent that a "protracted campaign of political, security and operational measures" had been ordered against the two groups. "The Palestinian Authority will not allow any faction or individual to harm our cause as they did on Tuesday....

<p>The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday promised to wage an "all out war" against Hamas and Islamic Jihad and appealed to Israelis not to retaliate for Tuesday's homicide bus bombing that killed 20, including five Americans.</p> <p>Israel, however, decided Wednesday to carry out military strikes against terror suspects regardless of what the Palestinian Authority (search) does, a security official said on condition of anonymity.</p>

Strollers were scattered near the stricken bus, medics carried away children with blood-smeared faces and a baby girl died in a hospital before doctors could find her parents. At least five children were among the 18 dead in Tuesday's suicide bombing by a Palestinian militant who blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus. Forty children were among more than 100 people injured. The attack was the 100th Palestinian suicide bombing against Israelis since the latest round of fighting began in September 2000. The youth of the victims stands out in that grim list, and the government said the choice of...

“Let's go out to dinner tonight,” my husband suggested about five p.m. yesterday, Tuesday, August 19, 2003. “Great,” I told him. “I've been stuck in the house all day working on my book.” Making dinner seemed like mission impossible. I wanted to go someplace new, so I went to a website listing all Jerusalem's kosher restaurants and found this little French place in the center of town I'd never been to before. I called to find out if they had a security guard, and then, while I was on the phone, asked if I needed to make reservations. Actually, I...

Name of J`lem suicide bombing victim released: Elisheva Meshulami, 16, of J`lem; her mother seriously injured

U.S. Embassy: Five of the 20 people killed in Tuesday night`s suicide bombing in Jerusalem were American citizens

Yesterday August 19 Islamic terrorists struck in Baghdad and in Jerusalem within a few hours of each other. 18 people, including five children, were murdered in Jerusalem as they were traveling home on a city bus; about a hundred were maimed. 17 People including the UN representative died in Baghdad, and a hospital near the UN compound was also destroyed. Today on the New York Times Editorial page, there are -- Four editorials: ---- Two unsigned editorials discuss the Baghdad bombing. Neither has a single word to say about the Jerusalem bombing. A third editorial focuses on cellphone use in...

The Names of 7 of the 20 Victims Have Been Released 22:53 Aug 19, '03 / 21 Av 5763 The names of seven of the 20 victims of last night's horrific bus bombing in Jerusalem have been released: * Lilach Kardi, 22, of Jerusalem. * Shalom Mordechai Reinitz and his son, Yissaschar Dov * Elisheva Meshulami * Rabbi Chanoch Segal, of B’nei Brak * Menachem Leibel, 24, of Jerusalem * The baby Shmuel Zargeri, eleven months old, of Jerusalem. The police now say that, contrary to earlier reports, the terrorist was not dressed as a hareidi or hassidic Jew....

JERUSALEM - With a U.S.-backed peace plan hanging in the balance, Israel decided Wednesday to hold off on a major military strike in response to a Hamas bus bombing in Jerusalem that killed at least 20 people, including as many as six children, a security official said. The attack was one of the deadliest in three years of fighting, and about 40 of the more than 100 wounded were children. Tuesday's blast ripped through a bus packed with ultra-Orthodox Jewish families returning from the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest shrine. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) and top...

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration intends to intensify its demand that Palestinian leaders dismantle West Bank and Gaza terror organizations after a devastating bomb attack on a packed bus in Jerusalem. Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom as a White House spokesman condemned and deplored the attack Tuesday that virtually shattered an already shaky truce pledged by Palestinian extremist groups. A senior U.S. official insisted President Bush's policy, grounded in a peacemaking roadmap, was not in crisis, but that additional emphasis would be put on a call for Palestinian leaders...

(IsraelNN.com) One cannot be anything but pained when one realizes the tragedy that struck the Zargari family of Jerusalem. The mother Na’avah is recovering from emergency surgery. She remains in serious condition in Hadassah Hospital. The father, Yaakov, is admitted to an intensive care unit as is Ester, 6, a daughter, who was also seriously wounded in the attack. Another daughter, Abigail, 2, was transferred from Hadassah Mount Scopus to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital to be together with other family members. She is in light condition. Lilach Kardi, 22, from Jerusalem, was killed in the attack. She was in the...

Sharon’s Hands Tied by… Breach with Bush DEBKAfile Exclusive Report August 20, 2003, 2:52 AM (GMT+02:00) Murderous Palestinian imam puts scores of young children in hospital The tragically high proportion of children and babies among the 18 dead and 120 injured in the latest Palestinian terror atrocity appears to have shocked prime minister Ariel Sharon out of his uncharacteristic meekness in the face of rising Palestinian demands and surge of terror. Two Palestinian suicide attacks went by last week without response. But Tuesday night, August 19, a Hamas imam, Ra’ad Misak from Hebron, detonated his bomb belt in the middle...

Why was the United Nations headquarters in Iraq, of all places, bombed yesterday? Well, why did a suicide bomber blow himself up inside a crowded Jerusalem bus last night? That the first question is a mystery to many while the second is seen to be too obvious to ask illustrates both how the war against terrorism is misunderstood and how it must be fought. The UN is not supposed to have enemies. Who could be against its humanitarian mission, or as its slain representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, expressed its goal, "to make sure that the interests of the Iraqi...

19 Aug 2003 20:58:47 GMT Lebanon Palestinians give sweets after Israel attack -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRIPOLI, Lebanon, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Several hundred young men poured into the streets of a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon on Tuesday and handed out sweets to celebrate a suicide bomb attack on a Jerusalem bus that killed at least 20 people, witnesses said. They said the men, who urged more attacks, fired into the air in an expression of joy and handed out sweets to passing cars as women watched from the sidelines in the Beddawi camp on the outskirts of the northern city of...

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz decided Wednesday to hold off on a military response to Tuesday's deadly bus attack in Jerusalem, giving the Palestinian Authority more time to attempt to dismantle the terror infrastructure. A plan to deport Yasser Arafat and take over his Muqata headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah has been ruled out for now, officials told Israel Radio. Sharon and top defense officials decided Wednesday to give Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan some time to begin cracking down on the militants, a security official said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the...

 Some posters at Muslim website in USA rejoice at yesterday's bus bombing in IsraelGo here http://forums.soundvision.com/showthread.php?s=717d2da49ad81b7f96a4cccfaa2468b5&threadid=45828&perpage=20&pagenumber=1 to read comments such as: I can't believe that until this day some muslims are still in doubt about martyrdom operations. People, we are getting bombed by F16s, Napalm is being used against us, we are getting shot at by weapons that have Depleted Uranium and Ya Allah you are saying that martyrdom operations are wrong? This is our weapon of choice martyrdom, if you have a better suggestion of how to liberate Palestine please tell it to us, may be Metal who you...

To: Friends From: Gary L. Bauer President American Values Date: Wednesday, August 20, 2003 Jerusalem and Baghdad Carnage We should all force ourselves to read the first-person accounts in the morning newspapers of the carnage in Jerusalem and Baghdad. As horrifying as the descriptions are of broken bones, ripped flesh and spilled blood, the reality they represent could help shatter the myths that still drive the world's response, including that of the United States, to Islamic jihad. The Jerusalem bombing took place on a bus selected specifically because it was packed with children. Jerusalem hospitals, several of which I have...

Army Radio reports this evening that Israel has informed the United States that the IDF will take military action in response to Tuesday's suicide bombing attack in Jerusalem if the Palestinian Authority does not act "within hours" against the Islamic Jihad and Hamas groups that claimed responsibility for the blast, in which 20 Israelis were killed and more than 130 people were injured. Following the attack, Sharon froze all contacts with the Palestinians and the planned transfer of security responsibilities in Jericho and Kalkilya this week was cancelled. In addition, the IDF imposed a general closure in the West Bank...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Five of the 20 people killed in a suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus were American citizens, a U.S. Embassy official said Wednesday. Among those killed in Tuesday's blast were Mordechai Reinitz, 47, and his son, Yitzhak, 9. They were residents of the Israeli coastal town of Netanya and had dual Israeli-American citizenship, said the embassy spokesman, Paul Patin. Their hometown in the United States was not immediately known. Also killed were Goldie Taubenfeld, 43, and her son Shmuel, 3 months, who were visiting from New Square, N.Y., Patin said. The fifth victim was identified as Tehilla...

HEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) - Some Muslim clerics in the Palestinian territories have been known to preach support for suicide bombings against Israel, but Abdel-Hamid Mask was the first to turn sermon into action. Mask, a 29-year-old imam from the West Bank city of Hebron, blew himself up aboard a Jerusalem bus on Tuesday, killing 18 people, including five children, in an attack claimed by the Islamic militant group Hamas. He left a wife and two children, as well as an unfinished doctorate in Islamic law. "I thank God that my husband has become a martyr," Mask's widow Areej said...

Wed August 20, 2003 01:54 PM ET JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved a series of military strikes against Palestinian militants in response to a suicide bombing that killed 18 people in Jerusalem, a senior security source said on Wednesday. The source said the army operations, which could begin as early as Wednesday night and last several days, would go ahead regardless of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas's order for security services to arrest militants behind the bombing. Abbas, who also cut off contact with Islamic militant leaders, acted after Israel shelved its planned handover of occupied...

Minister of Transportation Avigdor Lieberman (National Union) said today (Wednesday) that Israel must bomb the Mukata, PLO leader Yasser Arafat’s headquarters in Ramallah, with everybody in it. He referred to the American hunt for Saddam Hussein in Iraq as a model for the line Israel should take with Arafat. Minister of Housing Effie Eitam (National Religious Party) said last night that Israel must immediately expel Arafat, "even if getting him out of the Mukata would involve his being injured... Afterwards, perhaps, Sheikh Yassin [leader of the Hamas - ed.] should be expelled." Asked for his reaction to the suicide bombing...

Enough with the nonsensical hyperbole. There never was a ceasefire between the various terrorist gangs and the State of Israel. Should one want to maintain the charade that there had been a ceasefire, that’s right -- the emperor has no clothes -- it is no more. Over and over again, it is the same story. Let’s pretend that peace can be had between the Jewish State and those who believe, to their very core, that the Jewish presence in the Middle East must be eliminated. The only elements different on this go-‘round are the Israeli leaders who give in to...

A delegation of American political and community leaders including three New York Democratic Party Congressmen that was scheduled to meet today with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, cancelled the meeting, following the bus bombing Tuesday night in Jerusalem. Five of those killed were American citizens, U.S. Embassy spokesman Paul Patin said. They included three children between the ages of 3 months and 9 years old, and two adults. At a media conference at Hadassah Hospital Ein Karem, following visits with some of the wounded, Congressman Eliot Engel, a member of the House of Representatives International Relations Committee, was in a...

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent Israel's leaders a telegram Wednesday expressing sympathy over the Jerusalem suicide bombing that killed 20 people, calling it a "villainous act of terrorism" but urging restraint and expressing confidence it won't stop the Mideast peace process. Putin, whose country is fighting separatists in Chechnya and has been hit by a series of suicide attacks officials blame on Chechens, said Russians understand Israel's pain. "In Russia, whose citizens know not by hearsay about manifestations of the barbarous nature o terrorism, people take the pain and outrage of Israelis particularly sharply and close to the heart," the...

Jerusalem bombing victims The Jerusalem Post Internet Staff Aug. 20, 2003 A Palestinian suicide bomber boarded a packed Jerusalem bus Tuesday night and blew himself up, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 100 others in one of the deadliest bombings in the past three years of violence. The names of most of the victims have been released: Lilach Kardi, 22, Jerusalem Lilach was eight months pregnant and a mother of a one-year-old child. She lived in Netanya until three years ago, when she married Shmuel Kardi and moved to Jerusalem. Six years ago, her parents both died,...

<p>JERUSALEM (CNN) -- As the Israeli Cabinet met Wednesday to consider its response to a deadly suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus, a Foreign Ministry official warned that the peace process is at a "critical junction" and might be at its end.</p>

To see a small Jewish child lying on the streets of Jerusalem with open gashes and body parts missing, while dedicated rescue workers try to give mouth to mouth recitation knowing the child is dead. Then to look around and realize that those dead bodies are lying nearly everywhere and the reason they were killed is they are Jews. With blood and body parts all over the streets of Jerusalem, near the American Colony Hotel where nearly all the anti-Semitic Journalist of CNN & BBC stay while in Jerusalem. Only 15 minutes ago another Palestinian suicide bomber killed at least...

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas cut off contact with Islamic militants on Wednesday and vowed to crack down on them after a suicide bomber killed 20 people on a Jerusalem bus, Palestinian officials said. Israeli leader Ariel Sharon met his top security officials to discuss what action to take over Tuesday's attack, one of the worst in a 34-month-old Palestinian uprising for statehood. It dealt a critical blow at a U.S.-backed "road map" to peace. Abbas's move, a key demand in the peace plan, came after Israel suspended talks to hand over occupied cities to...

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - At least 17 people were killed, including some children, and about 130 people were wounded when a suicide bomber exploded a large bomb on a packed Jerusalem bus Tuesday evening. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the largest terror attack since militant groups declared a "cease-fire" at the end of June. According to Jerusalem Police Commander Miki Levy, a suicide bomber using what he described as a "large bomb" blew himself up in the center of a double bus. Levy said among the wounded, 13 were seriously or very seriously injured and another 13 moderately wounded. Body...

<p>CRAWFORD, Texas &#8212; President Bush vowed that "the civilized world will not be intimidated" by yesterday's terrorist attack on U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, insisting peace will prevail in Iraq.</p> <p>"Terrorists are testing our will," Mr. Bush said at his ranch. "Our will cannot be shaken. We will persevere through every hardship. We will continue this war on terror until the killers are brought to justice."</p>

<p>TEL AVIV &#8212; A Palestinian blew himself up in the middle of a bus crowded with ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem last night, killing at least 18 and injuring more than 100 in an attack that threatens to sink a U.S. initiative to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.</p>

Dozens of families who had gone out to view the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem (MY NOTE: They were praying at the Kotel, the Western Wall, not "looking at it") were on Egged bus 49 when a suicide bomber blew himself up Tuesday night. All of the windows on the bus were shattered, and segments of the bus were blown out, leaving gaping holes. "I saw young children and adults leaving the bus burnt," said a yeshiva student who studies in the area. He said that he saw a little girl lying on the street who said, "Take...

The bastard who did this owned a CAR-15 (I believe), given to his organization by Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton indirectly armed this SOB. A Hamas member who identifies himself as Raed Abdel-Hamid Mask is seen in this video frame grab taken from a videotape released by Hamas in the West Bank city of Hebron August 19, 2003, as he says he will carry out a suicide bombing to avenge Israel's killing of one of the group's members. The Islamic group Hamas said it was responsible for a suicide bombing aboard a Jerusalem bus that killed at least 20 people, an...

<p>August 20, 2003 -- Grieving relatives of a Rockland County woman and her 5-month-old boy - slain in yesterday's homicide bombing in Jerusalem - headed to Israel last night to claim their bodies. The dead woman was Golde Zarkowsky of New Square, said Rabbi Jack Meyer, a Port Authority chaplain, who saw her relatives off at JFK Airport.</p>

<p>The Bush administration intends to intensify its demand that Palestinian leaders dismantle West Bank and Gaza terror organizations after a devastating bomb attack on a packed bus in Jerusalem.</p> <p>Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom as a White House spokesman condemned and deplored the attack Tuesday that virtually shattered an already shaky truce pledged by Palestinian extremist groups.</p>

Last Update: 20/08/2003 01:29 Source: Israel freezes talks, handovers after J'lem attack By Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Service Israel has frozen security talks and the withdrawal of IDF troops from any more West Bank cities, in light of the suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus that left at least 18 people dead and dozens wounded, a government source said Tuesday night. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will hold security consultations on Wednesday to discuss the suicide bombing. Well-informed sources in Jerusalem said Tuesday that all understandings reached with the Palestinians on the transfer of security control...

<p>Strollers were scattered near the stricken bus, medics carried away children with blood-smeared faces and a baby girl died in a hospital before doctors could find her parents.</p> <p>At least five children were among the 18 dead in Tuesday's suicide bombing by a Palestinian militant who blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus. Forty children were among more than 100 people injured.</p>

The Father of mercy who dwells on high in His great mercy will remember with compassion the pious, upright and blameless the holy communities, who laid down their lives for the sanctification of His name.They were loved and pleasant in their lives and in death they were not parted. They were swifter than eagles and stronger than lions to carry out the will of their Maker, and the desire of their steadfast God.May our Lord remember them for good together with the other righteous of the world and may He redress the spilled blood of His servants as it is...

   Tue Aug 19, 4:46 PM ET Islamic Jihad leaders Dr. Muhammed Hendi, right, and Dr. Nafez Azzam, left, walks past Palestinian security after meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas at his office in Gaza city, Tuesday Aug. 19, 2003. Abbas continued his meeting with the representatives of Fatah (news - web sites), Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants. A suicide bomber blew up a bus packed with observant Jews returning from the Western Wall, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 100, Israeli police and paramedics said. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

'We thought the ceasefire had put an end to all this' By Eric Silver in Jerusalem 20 August 2003 The sleek, green, double-length No 2 bus left the Wailing Wall, Judaism's holiest site, shortly before 9pm (7pm BST) on a sultry Jerusalem night. Packed with religious families returning from evening prayers, it was threading its way through a series of ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods north of the city centre when a 29-year-old Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up, taking 20 with him to the grave and sending a hundred more to the casualty wards. Ambulances were still removing the wounded half an...

At least 20 people were killed and some 80 were wounded in a suicide bombing attack Tuesday night on a bus in downtown Jerusalem. Of the wounded, 13 were reported in serious condition. According to reports, another bus nearby was also hit by the blast. The explosives charge was particularly large, said Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy, and was apparently set off in the middle of the two-stage bus. Most of the people on the bus were ultra-Orthodox Jews, reports said. Police were checking the possibility that the bomber was disguised as a Jew. The military wing of the Islamic...

WASHINGTON - The White House deplored Tuesday's suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus and insisted that the Palestinian Authority crack down on terror against Israelis. "We condemn this vicious act of terrorism," said Sean McCormack, a Bush spokesman on national security issues. "We call on the Palestinian Authority to dismantle terrorism." McCormack said the president offered his "thoughts and prayers" to the wounded and to the families of those killed. There has been a series of violent incidents since a cease-fire by Palestinian militants and Israel began on June 29; more than 20 people had been killed on the Israeli...

JERUSALEM (AP) - A suicide bomber blew up on a bus packed with observant Jews returning from the Western Wall on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 100 in one of the deadliest bombings in the past three years of fighting. The militant Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility, in a call to The Associated Press, saying it was avenging the killing of a senior operative by Israeli troops in an arrest raid last week. The bombing threatened to derail a U.S.-backed peace plan. In a first move, Israel called off the planned handover of the West...

Aug. 19, 2003 At least 15 dead, including 3 children, in Jerusalem bus bomb By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF A suicide bomber blew up a nearly-full bus in Jerusalem at about 9:15pm on Road One near Shmuel Hanavi St., killing at least fifteen people and wounding dozens. Among the dead and wounded are many children. Another bus nearby was also hit by the blast, which took place near the point where the Arab east and Jewish western sides of the city meet. The explosives charge was particularly large, said Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy, and was apparently set off...

Amy Kellogg, reporter in Jerusalem just said she saw Israeli TV that showed the victims of the bombing today...two babies in critical condition, several CHILDREN injured.This could happen here, friends. Is there ANY DOUBT that we need to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to find these terrorists in our borders and take them OUT? A vocal few in this free country are screaming about a "surveillance state" and imagined "civil rights atrocities", and yet when pressed for specifics, they offer nothing.The images I'm seeing this afternoon (as if 9/11 wasn't enough?!) are plenty for me to realize that the terrorists want...