Said1
Gold Member
Suicide bomber kills 10 Jerusalem bus passengers
Canadian Press
Friday, January 30, 2004
JERUSALEM -- A suicide bomber struck a bus near Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Jerusalem residence Thursday, killing 10 Israelis and wounding 50 in the deadliest attack in four months and disrupting modest U.S. efforts to restart peace talks.
Among those killed was a Canadian-born psychologist who has lived in Israel for many years, said a spokesman for the Canadian Jewish Congress in Toronto. The blast blew out the back and roof of the green city bus and sent body parts flying into nearby buildings. Survivors crawled out of broken bus windows. The bombing was only 15 metres from Sharon's house, but he was away at the time.
A small Israeli force entered Bethlehem early Friday, residents and military officials said, apparently to retaliate for the bombing. Residents said about 20 Israeli military vehicles entered the town
before daybreak. The operation appeared limited to arresting
suspects and possibly destroying the house where the bomber
lived, in the Aida refugee camp next to Bethlehem. Israeli military officials would say only that an operation was in progress in Bethlehem.
In the past, Israel has responded to such attacks with large-scale
raids and clampdowns. But this time, the army did not even impose
the up to now routine measure of banning all Palestinians from entering Israel. Sharon's top deputy, Ehud Olmert, argued against a stiff reprisal, calling previous retaliatory strikes "ineffective."
However, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom called for expelling
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
The bomber was a Palestinian police officer - causing much chagrin
within the Palestinian Authority, which has been under international
pressure to use its police force to stop such attacks. The bombing
coincided with a prisoner exchange between Israel and the
Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, a deal questioned by many Israelis.
The suicide bomber, 24-year-old Ali Jaara, blew up a seven-kilogram bag of explosives on Jerusalem city bus No. 19 just before 9 a.m. At the time, the bus was passing Sharon's house in the Rehavia district of downtown Jerusalem.
Simon Rosenblum of the Canadian Jewish Congress said Dr. Yehezkel Goldberg, 42, was killed in the bombing. He said Goldberg
had been raised in Toronto, but went to Israel 10 to 15 years ago
and became an Israeli citizen. The Foreign Affairs Department was
trying to confirm the death, a spokesman said Thursday.
At the United Nations, Security Council diplomats failed to agree on
a statement condemning the suicide bombing. Israel called that
failure "outrageous."
www.canada.com/national/story.asp?id=9D2C5BD8-8A2D-4770-8DFE-0CE1C1180A50
How could they do anything other than condemn the killing of innocent people????
Canadian Press
Friday, January 30, 2004
JERUSALEM -- A suicide bomber struck a bus near Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Jerusalem residence Thursday, killing 10 Israelis and wounding 50 in the deadliest attack in four months and disrupting modest U.S. efforts to restart peace talks.
Among those killed was a Canadian-born psychologist who has lived in Israel for many years, said a spokesman for the Canadian Jewish Congress in Toronto. The blast blew out the back and roof of the green city bus and sent body parts flying into nearby buildings. Survivors crawled out of broken bus windows. The bombing was only 15 metres from Sharon's house, but he was away at the time.
A small Israeli force entered Bethlehem early Friday, residents and military officials said, apparently to retaliate for the bombing. Residents said about 20 Israeli military vehicles entered the town
before daybreak. The operation appeared limited to arresting
suspects and possibly destroying the house where the bomber
lived, in the Aida refugee camp next to Bethlehem. Israeli military officials would say only that an operation was in progress in Bethlehem.
In the past, Israel has responded to such attacks with large-scale
raids and clampdowns. But this time, the army did not even impose
the up to now routine measure of banning all Palestinians from entering Israel. Sharon's top deputy, Ehud Olmert, argued against a stiff reprisal, calling previous retaliatory strikes "ineffective."
However, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom called for expelling
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
The bomber was a Palestinian police officer - causing much chagrin
within the Palestinian Authority, which has been under international
pressure to use its police force to stop such attacks. The bombing
coincided with a prisoner exchange between Israel and the
Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, a deal questioned by many Israelis.
The suicide bomber, 24-year-old Ali Jaara, blew up a seven-kilogram bag of explosives on Jerusalem city bus No. 19 just before 9 a.m. At the time, the bus was passing Sharon's house in the Rehavia district of downtown Jerusalem.
Simon Rosenblum of the Canadian Jewish Congress said Dr. Yehezkel Goldberg, 42, was killed in the bombing. He said Goldberg
had been raised in Toronto, but went to Israel 10 to 15 years ago
and became an Israeli citizen. The Foreign Affairs Department was
trying to confirm the death, a spokesman said Thursday.
At the United Nations, Security Council diplomats failed to agree on
a statement condemning the suicide bombing. Israel called that
failure "outrageous."
www.canada.com/national/story.asp?id=9D2C5BD8-8A2D-4770-8DFE-0CE1C1180A50
How could they do anything other than condemn the killing of innocent people????
