15 people were killed. Among the Jewish victims were Meir Zimmerman, 35, his wife Rosa, 28 and their 11-year-old daughter, Ahava; Michael Ben Yitzhak and his wife Rifka, American immigrants who left behind two small children; Yosef Amar, 28; David Cohen, 46; and Yoram Aivovi, 41. An eleven year old boy was also killed and his father was badly injured; he may have died (two victims died a few days afterwards.)
There were Arab victims as well. Nahiza Mohammed Hamed, 25, was about to get married; her aunt Fatima and a cousin Mohammed Abu Khadija from Amman who was in town for the wedding were also killed. Also Daoud Khoury, 50, a Christian from Nazareth, was murdered in the attack.
The architect of that attack was an Arab-American named Ahmed Jabara, whose terrorist name was Abu Sukkar. The Shin Bet managed to track him down more than a year after the attack, and he eventually confessed and sentenced to life. He was released from prison in 2003 in one of those "goodwill gestures."
Jabara died this week.
Palestinian Media Watch reports:
Yesterday, the Palestinian Authority honored terrorist Ahmad Abu Sukkar with an official military funeral. In a written eulogy Abbas referred to Abu Sukkar's life as: "A journey of struggle full of exceptional giving and devoted activity for Palestine and for the freedom and honor of our people."I also found an Arabic site that says Jabari was known as - get this - "The Palestinian Mandela." And Greek Orthodox Bishop Attalah Hanna also eulogized him, saying he had spoken to him only a few hours before.
Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Tayeb Abd Al-Rahim represented PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas at the funeral and laid a wreath from Abbas on the coffin.
In an interview at the funeral, Al-Rahim said: "We miss this man. He will remain in our minds and veins. His memory and his good and wonderful deeds for this nation and for this nation's cause will always remain an example for us to emulate."
In his eulogy Abbas referred to Abu Sukkar's "pure soul" and described him as "a righteous son and loyal fighter": "With the death of this fighter, Palestine and its people have lost a righteous son and loyal fighter, devoted wholeheartedly to protecting our people's rights. He dedicated most of his life to this people's independence and paid with many years of his life in the occupation's prisons so that the dawn of freedom will break over the pure land of Palestine."
Member of Fatah's Central Committee Jibril Rajoub praised Abu Sukkar as as “a tough patriotic fighter” and “the caring father of generations of struggle.” In his condolence telegram Rajoub vowed to keep the terrorist’s “principles and goals” and follow in his path:
“We emphasize our adherence to the principles and goals he dedicated his long life to protect… We commit to continue his way of struggle” [Ma'an News Agency's website, July 17, 2013 and Jibril Rajoub's Facebook page July 16, 2013]
Referring to Abu Sukkar's bombing that killed 15, PA representative to Lebanon and member of Fatah Central Committee Abbas Zaki said: "He [Abu Sukkar] started [out] with a wonderful and high quality operation (i.e., terror attack) using a refrigerator, that made the enemies lose sleep."
Fatah's spokesperson Ahmad Assaf stated to PA TV News:
"Abu Sukkar is an example of the brave, patriotic, loyal and honored fighter who dedicated his life to his people's cause and to his nation's cause." [Official PA TV, July 17, 2013]
Fatah's youth movement Shabiba remembered Abu Sukkar as the "hero of the heroic 'refrigerator' operation" and "the living conscience of the Palestinian people," mourning his death as a loss "to free men of the world and to all of humanity."
Many PA and Fatah officials attended the funeral, among them:
Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Tayeb Abd Al-Rahim, representing PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas
Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Issa Karake
Deputy Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Ziad Abu Ein. (spoke at the funeral)
District Governor of Ramallah and El-Bireh, Laila Ghannam (spoke at the funeral)
Members of Fatah Central Committee: Mahmoud Al-Aloul (spoke at the funeral), Azzam Al-Ahmad, Abbas Zaki and Tawfiq Tirawi,
Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), Qais Abd Al-Karim, (Abu Laila)
I wonder if John Kerry would, in passing, even think to mention to Abbas that normal people would consider his words to be morally depraved and utterly perverted. Or is it in the interests of "peace" to ignore that fact that one of the parties celebrates the murders of his " "peace partners"?