Explosion strikes hotel in Israeli resort down; paramedics report dozens of casualties

Associated Press ^ | 3-27-02

[Oldeconomybuyer]

09:40 PST JERUSALEM (AP) -- An explosion went off Wednesday evening in a hotel in the Israeli coastal resort of Netanya, and paramedics said there were dozens of casualties.

The blast came at a time when Israelis were marking the start of the weeklong Passover holiday. Many hotels cater Passover Seders -- the ritual meal that ushers in the holiday.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the link.

[r9etb]

I say again, within 60 days..the entire Saddam regime will be gone.... because as soon as we start on Iraq..Israel starts on the PLO....

I'll wait and see on whether your Iraq prediction holds true. Nevertheless, Israel-vs.-PLO would be a natural part of the plan -- protecting our flanks, as it were. We would expect the Palestinians to act as Saddam's surrogates in the region, in order to distract or dissuade us from continuing.

As for Iraq, I suspect that the method of choice would be hunter-killer teams (already inserted), calling in airstrikes on Saddam and as many of his doubles and underlings as possible. Also, no large-scale invasion by U.S. forces, but rather a set of liasons with indigenous resistance forces, as in Afghanistan. And of course airstrikes transform any sizeable group of the Republican Guard into hamburger.

[mitchbert]

America bombed the Serbs on Easter.

I don't recall American soldiers walking into hotels and schools and detonating explosive belts amongst women and children. The comparison borders on moral equivalence.

[mikeIII]

"...commonly interpreted as 72 virgins, actually makes more sense as 72 white raisins. "

This must be a well-kept secret from the suicide bombers! I'd love to look into their faces when they arrive in Paradise and each is given a boxfull of white raisins!

[texicano]

From recent news reports We have learned that the Iranians are supporting the paletian terrorists , the Saudis are supporting them , as are the Iraqis , did I forget the Syrians ? Boys and girls we better wake up to the unpeasent reality that if We continue to support Isreal , as I believe We should , then We are at war with Islam .The only middle ground in this is in the fantasy life of Colin Powell and his buds at the U.N. and C.F.R..

[tomahawk]

If Sharon doesn't defend the people of Israel, he should leave asap.

[TheOtherOne]

America bombed the Serbs on Easter.

Yeah, but not because it was Easter, but rather in spite of it.

[besieged]

When exactly do you propose to execute these bombers??? AFTER they have committed their crime! You would not want to punish them BEFORE? I am impressed. Thank you.

I see that the irony is lost on you. Never mind...

How do you plan to punish these lice before they explode themselves?

[A. Pole]

Goofy in the sense that "72 raisins" doesn't seem as enticing as "72 virgins".

Well, it depends if you are a glutton or a lecher.

[r9etb]

They are being fooled by a bad translation.

It's fun to talk about the 72 raisins, but in practice highly unlikely: one of the fundamental tenets of Islam is that one must practice it in Arabic. Believers are expected to learn the language of the Koran, and not to rely on translations.

[Sender]

I wonder if the PA has been watching MSNBC? Last night Ashley Banfield and crew did a lengthy spot on Israel's hotels and tourism industry. It seems the intifada is wreaking havoc on so many businesses due to having no guests that bankruptcy and unemployment are threatening to do more damage than the actual bomb blasts. Maybe the PA is learning from al Queda; attack their economy and the sword will fall from their hand.

[browardchad]

I still maintain that Bush has privately told Sharon, and Netanyanu, privately, just to hang on a little longer.....yes, the US looks foolish for its apparent double standard in dealing with PLO terrorism against Israel, but folks, really, the dogs of war are about to be unleashed real soon against Iraq....I say again, within 60 days..the entire Saddam regime will be gone....and then, the rest of the Arab states will be suffering huge shortages of toilet-paper, because as soon as we start on Iraq..Israel starts on the PLO....

I thought the same last month, but with each passing day, I'm not so sure. It's getting increasingly painful to hear Bush say "terrorism will not be tolerated," or "those who support terrorism will be considered our enemies" -- whereas terrorism against Israelis is most painfully tolerated, and Arafat is most carefully tiptoed around, including our strongarm attempt to make Sharon release him to go to the Arab summit. Arafat's speech via television link to the summit this morning was so inflammatory it had to be cut off (by Lebanon, apparently) -- how would it have helped if the same speech was delivered in person, which is clearly what we wanted Sharon to facilitate?

I guess we can only scratch our heads and hope there is "some secret plan," but many of us are getting very sore scalps in the process.

[1Old Pro]

The PLO should be destroyed.

[Rowdee]

This could be the straw....

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Ha'aretz - Police said that at least ten people had been killed in the blast.

Emergency personnel said that 51 people were wounded. So far, 28 have been taken to Laniado Hospital in Netanya, Meir Hospital in Kfar Sava and Hillel Yaffeh Medical Center in Hadera.

[ken5050]

As I said in #79....I think the reason we haven't acted YET is we have to figure out what to do with the country..

[ken5050]

See my #79

[P8riot]

Neidermeyer, dead. Wormer, dead.

One of my favorites, thanks. You beat me to the punchline.

[Joe Hadenuf]

New reports is that 70 injured!