Behind the Headlines: Suicide bombing in Jerusalem
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Behind the Headlines: Suicide bombing in Jerusalem

  • 9/22/2004
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    Sept 22, 2004-Two Border Policemen-Lance Cpl. Menashe Komemi, 19, of Moshav Aminadav and Lance Cpl. Mamoya Tahio, 20, of Rehovot-were killed and 17 Israelis wounded in a suicide bombing carried out by a female terrorist at the French Hill junction in Jerusalem.
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    Two people died and 17 people were wounded in a Palestinian terrorist suicide bombing that was carried out in the French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem on Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 22). The Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades has claimed responsibility.

    This Palestinian terrorist bombing, the latest in numerous such attacks carried out in Jerusalem since the beginning of the intifada terror campaign in September 2000, is the Palestinian answer to all those who demand that terrorism be brought to an end. The Palestinian Authority not only has consistently failed to take all measures required of it, including by the Roadmap, to end terrorism and incitement, but actually encourages them. The Fatah is closly linked with Arafat himself.

    Palestinian terrorists not only seek to murder and maim innocent civilians, but their actions and the failure of the Palestinian leadership to end terrorism detrimentally impact the lives of the Palestinians themselves. Almost every time Israel takes steps to ease the lives of the Palestinian population, like clockwork, the Palestinian terrorists choose to attack. Not only do they even stoop to using children and women in their terrorist attacks - the bombing today was carried out by an 18-year-old female suicide bomber - but their murderous assaults on Israeli civilians leave Israel with no alternative but to take countermeasures necessary for protecting the lives of our civilians. While the Palestinian population faces hardships, the blame should be placed on the Palestinian terrorists who show that they care nothing for the welfare of the Palestinians, but instead prefer to continue their campaign of murder.

    Jerusalem is not yet protected by a security fence, because the construction of this fence around the city has not yet been completed. In those areas where the fence does not yet exist - whether it be Beersheba or Jerusalem - Palestinian terrorists are able to carry out their atrocities. Thus, once again, the anti-terrorist fence is shown to be an essential means for saving lives and preventing terrorism. Where the fence exists, terrorist attacks and the number of victims have gone down dramatically. Where the fence does not exist, terrorism continues unabated - as today in Jerusalem.

    The many Israelis who survived this latest terrorist outrage owe their lives to the bravery and alertness of Israel's security forces. The terrorist suicide bomber would have killed and injured many more people, if not stopped by an Israeli security officer, who himself lost his life in the bombing.