Passover massacre
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The Passover massacre (also known as the Netanya bombing) was a Palestinian suicide bombing in the Park Hotel at Netanya on March 27, 2002. The attack killed 30 Israeli civilians and triggered Operation Defensive Shield.
The attack occurred on the night of March 27, when the traditional Jewish holiday of Passover was celebrated. The Park Hotel in Netanya held a big Passover dinner for its 250 guests, especially elderly Jews who didn't have family and relatives, in the ground-floor dining room. A Palestinian suicide bomber passed a security guard at the hotel's entrance, walked through the lobby passing the reception desk and entered the hotel's dining room where he detonated an explosive device he carried in a suitcase. Twenty-eight people were immediately killed, and about 140 were injured, of whom 20 were seriously injured. Two of the injured later died from their wounds. Many of the victims were Holocaust survivors.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. The bomber was identified as Abdel-Basset Odeh, a 25-year-old from the nearby West Bank city of Tulkarem. Odeh claimed that the attack was in response to a series of Israeli incursions into Palestinian refugee camps earlier in the month that resulted in several Palestinian civilian deaths.[link] Hamas would later claim that the attacks were specifically designed to derail momentum from a recently announced peace offer from the Saudi government at the Beirut Summit.1
While in English language media, the Palestinian Authority condemned the attack saying "The leadership strongly denounces Netanya operation against Israeli civilians and decides to prosecute those involved or responsible."2, in Arabic it glorified the "shahid": on January 21, 2003, the official PA daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida published a report saying "the Tulkarm Shahids Memorial Soccer Championship tournament of the Shahid Abd Al-Baset Odeh began with the participation of seven top teams, named after Shahids who gave their lives to redeem the homeland. Isam, the brother of the Shahid, will distribute the trophies." [link]
In the wake of the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his cabinet ordered the immediate recruitment of 20,000 reservists in an emergency call-up and the following day launched Operation Defensive Shield. (See also: Battle of Jenin 2002.)
In May 2002, Israeli forces arrested the mastermind behind the attack, Abbas al-Sayed. On September 22, 2005, al-Sayed was also convicted ordering the May 2001 bombing of a Netanya mall. [link] and was found guilty of 35 counts of murder. He received 35 life sentences for the murders and additional time for those who were wounded.
In July 2005 Netanya was hit by a bomber again, this time one dispatched by Islamic Jihad. Five were killed and dozens wounded.
The victims
| Name | Age | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shula Abramovitch | 70 | Holon | |
| David Anichovitch | 70 | Netanya | |
| Sergeant Major Avraham Beckerman | 25 | Ashdod | |
| Shimon Ben-Aroya | 42 | Netanya | |
| Alter Britvich | 88 | Netanya | |
| Frieda Britvich | 86 | Netanya | |
| Andre Fried | 47 | Netanya | |
| Idit Fried | 47 | Netanya | |
| Miriam Gutenzgan | 82 | Ramat Gan | |
| Amiram Hamami | 44 | Netanya | |
| Perla Hermele | 79 | Stockholm, Sweden | |
| Dvora Karim, , of | 73 | Netanya | |
| Michael Karim | 78 | Netanya | |
| Eliezer Korman | 74 | Ramat Hasharon | |
| Yehudit Korman | 70 | Ramat Hasharon | |
| Marianne Myriam Lehmann Zaoui | 77 | Netanya | |
| Lola Levkovitch | 70 | Jerusalem | |
| Sarah Levy-Hoffman | 89 | Tel-Aviv | |
| Furuk Na'imi | 62 | Netanya | |
| Eliahu Nakash | 85 | Tel-Aviv | |
| Chanah Rogan | 90 | Netanya | |
| Irit Rashel | 45 | Moshav Herev La'et | |
| Clara Rosenberger, , of | 77 | Jerusalem | |
| Yulia Talmi | 87 | Tel-Aviv | |
| St.-Sgt. Sivan Vider | 20 | Moshav Bekaot | |
| Zee'v Vider | 50 | Moshav Bekaot | |
| Ernest Weiss, , of | 80 | Petah Tikva | |
| Eva Weiss | 75 | Petah Tikva | |
| Anna Yakobovitch | 78 | Holon | |
| George Yakobovitch | 76 | Holon | |
See also
- Terrorism against Israel
- List of massacres committed during the Al-Aqsa Intifada
- List of Hamas suicide attacks
Audio and Video
- [The BBC's Caroline Hawley "Biggest and deadliest attack for several months", 27 March, 2002]
- [The BBC's Nick Childs "Inside, a black hole of carnage", 27 March, 2002]
- [US President George W Bush "This cold blooded killing must stop", 27 March, 2002]
- [Israeli Government spokesman Gideon Meir "Palestinian violence knows no boundaries", 27 March, 2002]
Notes
- Note 1: Source: Hussein Dakroub, "Militant Palestinian Groups Reject Arab Peace Overture to Israel," Associated Press, March 28, 2002
- Note 2: Source: WAFA (official PA news agency), March 27, 2002.
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