Jerusalem terror bombing death toll reaches 21

The death toll from Tuesday s Jerusalem bus bombing rose to 21 Saturday, after 70-year-old Rachel Weiss succumbed to her serious wounds and died in the hospital.

At least six of the fatalities in the attack were children. The Hamas bombing was the most lethal attack in Jerusalem since the outbreak of violence 35 months ago.

Many viewed the attack as a barbaric atrocity on Jews and not as an act of nationalism against Israel. Many of those murdered were ultra-Orthodox Jews who do not believe in a Jewish state or in Zionism. Even worse, it was not as if the bomb was planted on the bus and detonated with a timing device. This was a human bomb. The Islamic terrorist who set out to murder Jews, saw the very people he would kill - he saw the children and babies.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad both claimed responsibility for the blast, one of the deadliest Palestinian terror attacks in Israel in the past three years.

More than 120 people were injured, 40 of them children, hospital officials said.

The attack marked perhaps the most serious blow yet to the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, which was unveiled three months ago. It shattered a truce called by terrorists on June 29 that had been fraying in recent weeks with less deadly attacks.

In an immediate response, Israel froze all contacts with the Palestinian Authority, as well as the handover of two West Bank towns, Jericho and Qalqiliya, to Palestinian control. The handover had been expected later this week. Israel also decided to seal off the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a security source said.

The powerful explosion ripped through the tandem bus which has two passenger sections shortly after 9 p.m. At the time, the bus was heading from the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest shrine, to an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Many families with children were on the bus, witnesses said.

"I had just come home from praying at the Western Wall and was heading home," said Zvi Weiss, an 18-year-old Jewish seminary student from New York City who sat in the front of the bus and escaped unharmed.

"The bomb went off at the back of the bus. Everything went black. I climbed out of the broken window and started running. All around me there were people covered in blood, screaming, some with limbs missing."

The Palestinian Authority decided to cut all dialogue with Islamic Jihad and Hamas and instead use security forces to take action against the groups in the coming days, a Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity. It was unclear what sort of action the Palestinians planned.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas had been meeting with Islamic Jihad leaders in the Gaza Strip at the time of the explosion, in a renewed attempt to persuade them to halt attacks.

Abbas condemned the bombing as a "terrible act" and said he ordered Palestinian security forces to investigate. Abbas has been trying to use persuasion, rather than force in handling the terrorists. It might cost him his job if his approach fails and violence continues.

"Every time Israel has made a gesture of peace to the Palestinians over the past ten years the response has been the murder of our men, women and children. This has to stop," said Danny Seaman, a senior advisor to the Prime Minister's Office. "It must be realized that this is not an Arab-Israeli issue but rather an international campaign of terror which is ongoing from New York and Baghdad to Moscow and Jerusalem."

The road map plan requires the Palestinian security forces to dismantle terror groups, something Abbas has said he cannot do for fear of setting off internal fighting.

In Tuesday's bombing, at least 21 bystanders were killed, including six children and babies, the Zaka rescue service said.

The bus had started out at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest shrine. One report said among the passengers were members of a family who had celebrated a Bar Mitzvah, the Jewish rite of passage into adulthood for boys, at the Western Wall.

A second bus passing nearby when the explosion went off was also badly damaged, with windows blown out. Rescuers had to use blow torches to get out some of the wounded.

Police said the bomb was very powerful, and had been packed with bits of metal, for greater deadliness.

Shocked survivors, including crying children with blood-smeared faces, were led away from the scene. A paramedic cradled a little girl with a ponytail in his arms, and two others led away an older woman who had blood streaming down her face.

Paramedics treated wounded on the sidewalk, and body parts were strewn on the sidewalk. Later Tuesday, hundreds of people were praying at the site, some holding prayer books. A small group chanted "Death to Arabs!"

Among those killed was Goldie Taubenfeld, 43, of New Square, N.Y., said New York State Assemblyman Ryan Karben.

Karben said Taubenfeld's 6-month-old son is missing, and a teenage daughter who had also been on the bus survived. Taubenfeld, a mother of 13, was visiting Israel with her family, he said.

In Washington, the White House deplored the bombing and offered sympathies to the victims and their families.

"We condemn this vicious act of terrorism," said Sean McCormack, a spokesman on national security issues. "We call on the Palestinian Authority to dismantle terrorism."

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Abbas "to take decisive action to arrest the instigators," U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said in New York.

The European Union's top foreign policy representative, Javier Solana, urged all sides to "to exert maximum influence on armed groups to stop all attacks."

The attack followed a deadly explosion set off by a suicide bomber outside the hotel housing the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.

An Israeli government spokesman said there was no known direct link between the two bombings, although he said the motivations were similar.

"It is motivated by extremist Islamist militants who don't accept the legitimacy of the West or of Israel," said the spokesman, Dore Gold.

Gold said Israel was paying the price for the Palestinian Authority's inability to rein in militants.

Last week, Islamic Jihad threatened attacks on Israelis to avenge the killing of a senior operative, Mohammed Sidr, in an Israeli arrest raid in the West Bank city of Hebron.

In a phone call to The Associated Press, Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for Tuesday's bombing, saying it was in revenge for the killing of Sidr, whom Israel had accused of plotting a series of attacks.

However, later Tuesday, Hamas distributed fliers in Hebron, saying the Jerusalem bombing was carried out by one of its supporters, identified as Raed Abdel-Hamed Mesk, 29, a mosque preacher from Hebron.

Hamas released Mesk's farewell video. The plump man with the bushy beard said he was a member of the Hamas military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, accused Israel of violating the cease-fire offered by Hamas.

Mesk's wife Arij began clearing belongings out of her home late Tuesday, in expectation that it would be demolished by Israeli troops. The Israeli military routinely destroys the homes of suicide bombers, hoping it will act as a deterrent.

Arij Mesk said she was not sad. "God gave Raed something he always dreamed of. All of his life he dreamed of being a martyr," she said. The couple has two children, ages two and three.

In the Gaza Strip, a Hamas leader, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, insisted Hamas was not involved.

Following the bombing, police raised their state of alert to its second-highest level, Israel Radio reported.

Shoshana Nathanson, a 5 months-old baby, is recovering from injuries sustained in the Western Wall massacre bus attack.

Binyamin was on his way back from a friend's Bar Mitzvah. He was a pupil of Shomrei Hachomot Yeshiva. His uncle, Meir, described him as "a great, talented child, always helping everyone."

Yaakov Issachar Dov Binder was head of the Kashrut department of the Jerusalem Religious Council. Yaakov, a Gerer Hassid, was on his way to congratulate friends on their son's Bar Mitzvah when he was caught in the explosion.

Yaakov was described by his friends as a modest man and a great scholar, observant at every turn.

Yaakov left behind a wife and seven children. He was buried in Jerusalem on Wednesday, at 16:00.

Miriam devoted a significant part of her life to voluntary work. Yitzhak, her neighbor, spoke of her: "Miriam performed charity work. She used to volunteer in extremely difficult cases, such as the elderly and patients of Down's Syndrome. All the time she had she devoted to helping others."

Miriam used to visit the Kotel every week, bringing with her a list of family members and friends to pray for. She had just graduated from a teachers' seminar.

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, leaving Lilach to raise and care for her now 14-year-old brother.

"She was traditionally orthodox but after her parents died she became Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox)," Lilach's friend spoke of her. "She was such a righteous and modest person."

"Lilach was very much attached to the Kotel (Western Wall), she used to go every day," said Shalom Kardi, her father-in-law.

Nachman Leibel spoke of his brother on Wednesday: "He lived in Jerusalem all his life, and used to go to the Kotel every day. His kindness was overwhelming, he always volunteered, always helped out in charity organizations.

"We knew he was at the Kotel yesterday. We called his cellphone. He always used to answer after terror attacks, but this time he didn't pick up. I started going to the hospitals. Within an hour and a half I had been to all of them. He wasn't on the lists. That's when I realized he probably wasn't one of the wounded."

Menachem left behind two parents, five brothers and a sister. He was buried in Jerusalem on Wednesday, at 14:00.

The Reinitz family was vacationing in Jerusalem. Shalom Mordechai, principal of the Darchei Avot Yeshiva in Kiryat Tzanz, took his two sons, Issachar and Mendi (11) to the Kotel. Both Shalom Mordechai and Issachar Dov were killed in the explosion. Mendi was severely wounded.

Tzanz Chasidut spokesman Shalom Shtemer said: "Shalom Mordechai grew up in this neighborhood. He was a wonderful educator devoted, modest and impeccably organized."

On announcing the deaths of the father and son, the Yeshiva's 600 pupils were called in from their summer vacation to recite Tehilim. Gedalia, a teacher at the Yeshiva, spoke of his pupil, Issachar Dov: "A child full of life. He loved to play, and yet he was a top student. He knew when to be serious and when to be happy."

Both Shalom Mordechai & Issachar Dov were buried in Netanya on Wednesday, at 17:00.

Liba, a mother of five and grandmother of 11, used to frequent the Kotel every day. Both Liba's son, Yoel, and husband, Rabbi Yisrael, called her on Tuesday night, asking her to hurry home. Liba would not leave until she finished reciting her portions of Tehilim.

"Her being killed after praying at the Kotel, it's as if she has completed her mission in this world," said Yoel, Liba's son. "She died sanctifying the name of God."

Hanoch was murdered exactly 24 hours before his 44th wedding anniversary. A father of five, and teacher of thousands, Hanoch was in Jerusalem visiting his son. His wife received the tragic news hours after she landed in Rome for a holiday.

"This was a scholar," said Hanoch's nephew, Chaim. "A man who read, learned, and was interested in everything. A truly enlightened man."

Hanoch left behind a wife, two sons, three daughters, 20 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

A mother of thirteen, Goldie lived in New Square, an orthodox community near Monsey, NY, and was in Israel with her husband and two of her children for a family wedding. Both she and her son, Shmuel, were killed in the attack.

Rabbi Weisfish's neighbors spoke of a kind, sensitive helpful person. Like so many of the victims, Weisfish too was on his was back from the Kotel, riding the no. 2 bus.

Shmuel Kleiman, Weisfish's neighbor, and a nephew of another victim of the attack Shalom Mordechai Reinitz, described his friend as "a righteous Jew, with such a special personality. He never hurt anyone, lived modestly and was a man of great charity.

Rabbi Weisfish left behind a wife and 12-year-old daughter. He was buried in Jerusalem on Wednesday, at 16:30.

Nava and Yaakov Zargari, a teacher and a yeshiva student, lived with their six children in a small apartment in Jerusalem. On Tuesday, they took five of their six children to the Kotel.

Shmuel was killed in the explosion. His parents and six-year-old sister, Ester, were critically wounded and are still hospitalized, missing Shmuel's funeral. Michael, 12 years old, and Avigail, two and a half years old, were lightly wounded.

Two victims have been identified, but their names remain unpublished due to the families' requests.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad both claimed responsibility for the blast, one of the deadliest Palestinian terror attacks in Israel in the past three years.

It is time they paid the price of that claim.

The bill, long over due, is due NOW.

Exterminate them like the vermin they are.

These bombings are acts of hate, no different than Hilter. If you can look around a bus of innocent children, holy people, and the elderly and kill them in the name of war(Jihad) you are no different than Hilter. The US is bringing Arab children from Iraq and Afganastan and treated them medically for injuries their backward medical systems can't treat. Israel is taking care of Arab children in it's hospitals. We are fighting a war that only knows how to target civilans. Let them fight against a real army and see what happens.

Does it amaze anyone else that the American and European press continue to show favoritism to the Arabs? How many innocents have to die before the non-Muslim world realizes that Islam is base on hatred of all non-Muslims? I don't get it!

The Islamic terrorist who set out to murder Jews, saw the very people he would kill - he saw the children and babies.

Haunting and they are all like this and able to do this. I will never get used to the shock of it, the horror of what these people do , the hate they have and the death they worship.
I am sick of the media favoring them too , over Jews and Christians that do NOT worship death and do not live by hate as they do.

These evil people, their days are numbered and they are numbered in the blood of the innocent.

Wild Thing

7 posted on 08/23/2003 8:00:57 PM PDT by Wild Thing (Prayers for our troops, Israel and the IDF ! Support the troops fighting Terrorists !)

Oh that terrible story

I don't think Islamic groups have conscious then what in the world they do suicide bombing CONTINUESLY I be honest they don't have conscious

8 posted on 08/23/2003 8:11:30 PM PDT by SevenofNine (Not everybody in it for truth, justice, and the American way=Det Lennie Briscoe)

Fraternal greetings to our Israeli brothers and sisters.

Our sympathies to the families of the victims.

Our thoughts are with you

Be strong

You can always count on our support

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