Jerusalem bus 2 massacre
Encyclopedia
The Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing was the suicide bombing of a crowded public bus (Egged bus 2) in the Shmuel HaNavi
Shmuel HaNavi (neighborhood)
Shmuel HaNavi is a neighborhood in Jerusalem, Israel. It is located in the north of the city bordering Ramat Eshkol, Maalot Dafna and Sanhedria....

 quarter in Jerusalem, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, on August 19, 2003. Twenty-three people were killed and over 130 wounded. Many of the victims were children. The Islamist militant
Militant
The word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, usually is used to mean vigorously active, combative and aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in 'militant reformers'. It comes from the 15th century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier"...

 group Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

 claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack

On August 19, 2003, a Hamas suicide bomber sent out by Hamas' Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...

 cell disguised himself as a Haredi Jew and detonated himself on a No. 2 Egged
Egged Bus Cooperative
Egged Israel Transport Cooperative Society Ltd , a cooperative owned by its members is the largest transit bus company in Israel. It provides about 55 % of public transport services throughout the country, employs 6,227 workers and has 2,861 buses for more than 928 service routes and 3,103...

 bus traveling through Jerusalem's Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood. The double-length bus was crowded with Orthodox Jewish children returning from a visit to the Western Wall
Western Wall
The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount...

. The huge explosion killed 7 children and 16 adults, and injured more than 130 people. The bomb was spiked with ball-bearings designed to increase injuries on the crowded bus. Hamas said the bomber was a 29-year-old mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

 preacher
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...

 from the city of Hebron.

Because so many of the dead were young children, the media dubbed it the "children's bus." According to an Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 report,

Fatalities

  • Avraham Bar-Or, 12, of Jerusalem.
  • Binyamin Bergman, 15, of Jerusalem.
  • Yaakov Binder, 50, of Jerusalem.
  • Feiga Dushinski, 50, of Jerusalem.
  • Miriam Eisenstein, 20, of Bnei Brak.
  • Lilach Kardi, 22, of Jerusalem.
  • Menachem Leibel, 24, of Jerusalem.
  • Elisheva Meshulami, 16, of Bnei Brak.
  • Tehilla Nathanson, 3, of Zikhron Ya'akov.
  • Chava Nechama Rechnitzer, 19, of Bnei Brak.
  • Mordechai Reinitz, 49, and his son:
  • Issachar Reinitz, 9, of Netanya
    Netanya
    Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...

    .
  • Maria Antonia Reslas, 39, of the Philippines
    Philippines
    The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

    .
  • Liba Schwartz, 54, of Jerusalem.
  • Hanoch Segal, 65, of Bnei Brak.
  • Goldie Taubenfeld, 43, of New Square, New York
  • Shmuel Taubenfeld, 3 months, of New Square, New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

    .
  • Rabbi Eliezer Weisfish, 42, of Jerusalem.
  • Shmuel Wilner, 50, of Jerusalem.
  • Shmuel Zargari, 11 months, of Jerusalem.
  • Fruma Rahel Weitz, 73, of Jerusalem – died of her wounds on August 23.
  • Mordechai Laufer, 27, of Netanya – died of his wounds on September 5.
  • Tova Lev, 37, of Bnei-Brak – died of her wounds on September 12.

  • The perpetrators

    Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad
    Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
    The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine known in the West as simply Palestinian Islamic Jihad , is a small Palestinian militant organization. The group has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel...

     claimed responsibility for the attack. According to Tariq Ali
    Tariq Ali
    Tariq Ali , , is a British Pakistani military historian, novelist, journalist, filmmaker, public intellectual, political campaigner, activist, and commentator...

    , however, the bombing was carried out by a "self-proclaimed 'Hamas' cell from Hebron, disowned and denounced by the official leadership." The attack put an end to the so-called Hudna
    Hudna
    Hudna is an Arabic term meaning a temporary "truce" or "armistice" as well as "calm" or "quiet", coming from a verbal root meaning "calm". It is sometimes translated as "cease-fire"...

     that had been announced in July 2003. United States president George W. Bush
    George W. Bush
    George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

     sent his condolences to the victims' families. The European Commission
    European Commission
    The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

     also denounced what it called the "devastating terrorist attack" and called on the Palestinian Authority to intervene to bring a halt to such acts:

    The European Commission strongly condemns last night's devastating terrorist attack in Jerusalem and expresses its sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to the Israeli Government. This is an attack on all the forces working for peace. The European Commission calls on the Palestinian Authority to do everything in its powers to prevent such unacceptable and unjustified act of violence, and urges the PA and the Israeli Government to pursue their dialogue and common efforts towards peace as set out in the Road Map.

    Aftermath

    Following the attack, the Israel Defense Forces
    Israel Defense Forces
    The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

     raided Hebron and killed or arrested several individuals who they said were involved in the planning and preparation of the attack.

    In 2004 a memorial plaque to the victims was erected in the Beit Yisrael
    Beit Yisrael
    Beit Yisrael is a predominantly Haredi neighborhood in central Jerusalem, Israel. It is located just north of Mea Shearim.The name Beit Yisrael is taken from the verse in Ezekiel , in which Ezekiel prophesies to the hills and mountains of Israel, "I shall make numerous on you the people, the...

     neighborhood of Jerusalem. The name of the only non-Jewish victim, Maria Antonia Reslas, was engraved separately from the names of the other victims, with the title "Mrs" rather than the title "sainted" (kadosh) used for the Jews, resulting in some controversy.

    See also

    • Kiryat Menachem bus bombing
    • Patt junction bus bombing
    • Dizengoff Center suicide bombing
      Dizengoff Center suicide bombing
      The Dizengoff Center suicide bombing was a Hamas terrorist attack on March 4, 1996 on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Purim. The Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up outside Dizengoff Center in downtown Tel Aviv, killing 13 Israelis and wounding about 130 more...

    • Civilian casualties in the Second Intifada
      Civilian casualties in the Second Intifada
      -Israeli non-combatant casualties:The following is a partial List of Israeli civilian casualties in the Second Intifada.-Palestinian non-combatant casualties:The following is a List of Palestinian civilian casualties in the Second Intifada...

    • Israeli casualties of war

    External links

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