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Newsletter : 2fax0619.txt
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PA Children Collecting "Martyr" Necklaces
By IsraelNationalNews.com
In PA autonomous areas, the latest fad among the children is collecting and wearing "martyr" necklaces, bearing the faces of suicide bombers that continue to strike out indiscriminately, claiming innocent lives throughout Israel. Parents and teachers admit the children "worship" the faces on the necklaces, dreaming to become shahids (holy martyrs) when they grow up.
Israel Raids Jenin After Deadly Jerusalem Bombing
By VOA News & IsraelNationalNews.com
Israeli forces have entered the West Bank town of Jenin following Tuesday's deadly Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem.
The bombing killed 19 Israelis and injured more than 70 people. The blast ripped off the roof and sides of the bus during the morning rush-hour while it was packed with school students and office workers.
Witnesses in Jenin report shooting between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli tanks that entered the town's refugee camp. They also said Israeli helicopters have been firing at buildings in the area, which is considered a hotbed of Palestinian militant activity.
(A 3:28 video report for readers with a broadband computer
connection and the free Windows Media Player can be found at:
http://128.242.214.118/data/asx/2002/06/18/asx_223_broad.asx
Readers with a 56K connection may use
http://128.242.214.118/data/asx/2002/06/18/asx_223_56.asx)
The radical Islamic group Hamas said its armed wing, the Izzedin al-Qassam Brigades, was responsible for the Jerusalem bombing. It identified the bomber as a university student from the Al-Fara refugee camp near Nablus.
Hazaa el-Rol, the father of the suicide bomber responsible for the bombing attack, expressed pride over the actions of his son. According to Hamas statements, when the father was notified about the attack, he expressed pride over the terror attack that claimed the lives of 19 persons and left about 70 wounded.
Israeli police spokesman Gil Kleiman said the bomber boarded the bus with a large suitcase filled with explosives. "We do know that the bomb was a rather large bomb, and they utilized as fragments metal ball bearings ... in order to increase the damage," he said.
Zalman Shoval, a foreign policy adviser to Sharon, said the latest attack shows the dangers of terrorism facing Israel and the rest of the world. "Terrorism is a threat to all of us in America, in Israel, in Europe," he said. "We have to continue to fight ... because otherwise all of us in the civilized world will be in a situation which will make life unbearable."
Meanwhile, Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert said the Israeli police have received information that another bomber is planning to carry out a massive attack inside the city.
"How can we go on this way?! I live on a street surrounded by concrete blocks against shooting from Beit Jala, my sister was in a terrorist attack, my neighbor was in an attack, and now my 12-year-old daughter says she doesn't want to ever get on a bus again! How can we go on?" So cried Ronit, a resident of Gilo, this morning, as she attempted to make sense of the horrific news of the slaughter on the Gilo-Pat highway this morning. Nineteen people were killed when a suicide Palestinian terrorist exploded himself this morning aboard a Jerusalem city bus, loaded with adults on their way to work and children on their way to school.
The bus blew up shortly before 8 a.m., only seconds after picking up passengers at the Beit Tzafafa bus stop on the way north from Gilo to the Pat Junction. Beit Tzafafa is a lone Arab neighborhood sandwiched between Jewish areas in southern Jerusalem. The bomb blew the sides and roof off the bus, leaving most of it as only a bare skeleton. Among the wounded were people outside the bus and in nearby cars. Moshe Elbaz, a volunteer medic for Magen David Adom who was among the first on the scene, said that when he boarded what was left of the bus to help the wounded, "I found no wounded - only about 13 or 15 dead bodies... A fearsome sight."
In Washington, Assistant Secretary of State William Burns said the cold-blooded murder of innocent school children has no place in civilized society. In his words, there "is absolutely no middle ground here. All terror must halt."
A White House spokesman said President Bush condemned the terrorist act in the strongest possible terms. President Bush is now putting the finishing touches on his outline of how to create an independent Palestinian state living in peace next to Israel. White House Spokesman Scott McClellan said. "These terrorists who attack and kill innocent men, women and children are the enemy of peace, and they are trying to disrupt our efforts."
Israel Radio reported that the PA had "condemned" Tuesday's attack, and the PA's Saeb Erekat said as much to CNN. In Arabic, however, the picture was a different one. Michael Widlanski of www.themedialine.org reported that the PA's Voice of Palestine radio justified the attack, noting in its Tuesday morning report, "It appears that most of the people on the bus were colonists from the colony of Gilo which was built on land taken from our people in Bethlehem." Widlanski also noted that there was no condemnation of the attack in the Arabic media.
Two Sentences That Say It All:
If the Arabs put down their weapons today there would be no more violence.If the Jews put down their weapons today there would be no more Israel.
