Hebrew University bombing

Hebrew University bombing
Part of the Second Intifada militancy campaign

The site of the bombing, with a memorial to the victims in the foreground


The attack site
Location Mount Scopus campus at Jerusalem, Israel
Coordinates 31°47′33″N 35°14′44″E / 31.79250°N 35.24556°E / 31.79250; 35.24556
Date 31 July 2002
shortly after 13:30 p.m.
Target University cafeteria
Attack type
 School bombing, mass murder, terrorism
Deaths 9 civilians
Non-fatal injuries
 ~100
Perpetrators Hamas claimed of responsibility

The Hebrew University bombing or the Hebrew University massacre was a terror attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas which occurred on 31 July 2002 in a cafeteria at the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The attack killed 9 people, including 5 U.S. students, and injured about 100.[1][2] It was carried out by an East Jerusalem-based Hamas cell whose members are serving multiple life sentences in Israeli prisons for that attack and others.[3] The attack, which sparked a celebration in Gaza City,[4] was condemned by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and several countries.

In February 2015, a United States jury in the Federal District Court of Manhattan found the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organization liable for having supported and helped to fund terror attacks in the 2000s and were ordered to pay damages in the amount of $218.5 million to victims of said attacks.[5]

Attack

The bombing took place during the summer examination period, while summer Hebrew-language courses were being taught.[4] The explosion occurred at lunchtime in a crowded cafeteria in the Frank Sinatra International Student Center on the university's Mount Scopus campus.[6] In the minutes after the explosion, dazed, blood-spattered students emerged from the building; the air smelled of smoke and burnt flesh.[4][6]

Fatalities

Six women and three men were murdered in the attack. Seven died immediately and two died of their wounds in the following weeks. The victims, according to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were:[7]

  • David (Diego) Ladowski, 29, of Jerusalem
  • Levina Shapira, 53, of Jerusalem
  • Marla Bennett, 24, of California (US)
  • Benjamin Blutstein, 25, of Pennsylvania (US)
  • Dina Carter, 37, of Jerusalem (US)
  • Janis Ruth Coulter, 36, of New York (US)
  • David Gritz, 24, of Massachusetts (US-France)
  • Daphna Spruch, 61, of Jerusalem; died of her wounds on 10 August.
  • Revital Barashi, 30, of Jerusalem; died of her wounds on 13 August.

About 100 people were injured in the attack. The wounded included Israelis, Arabs, four Americans and three South Koreans.[8]

Reactions

Hamas claim of responsibility

Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing during a rally in Gaza City attended by some 10,000 supporters. A masked Hamas speaker said: "This operation today is a part of a series of operations we will launch from everywhere in Palestine". At the speakers' request, the entire crowd knelt to pray that future Hamas attacks "would succeed against the enemy of God".[9] Hamas claimed the attack was revenge for the Israeli targeted killing of the organization's military chief, Salah Shehadeh.[10]

Celebration

Later in the day, hundreds of Hamas supporters poured into the streets of Gaza City to celebrate the bombing and vowed more attacks. Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh, who later became the de facto Prime Minister of the Gaza Strip, said: "If they are going to attack our children, then they will have to expect to drink from the same poison."[4]

Condemnations

Involved parties
Supranational
International

Aftermath

In the wake of the attack, Israel adopted a deterrence strategy of demolishing houses belonging to suicide bombers. Israel shelved the policy in February 2005.[16] The university beefed up its security following the bombing. In 2005, it became the first Israeli university to employ bomb-sniffing dogs. As of that year, the entrances to the institution were equipped with metal detectors and staffed by approximately two dozen security guards. In addition, legally carried guns were banned from its campuses – the first university in Israel to do so.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Israel arrests suspects in university bombing", CNN.com; accessed 23 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Remembering Israel's campus blast, BBC.co.uk, 30 July 2003.
  3. ↑ Hebrew U. marks five years since campus bombing, Jerusalem Post 31 July 2007
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Blast Kills 7 at University in Jerusalem, Los Angeles Times; accessed 23 February 2015.
  5. ↑ Damages awarded in terror case against Palestinian groups, nytimes.com; accessed 24 February 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 Bomb kills seven at university, guardian.co.uk; accessed 23 February 2015.
  7. ↑ Terrorist bombing at Hebrew University cafeteria Archived 13 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine., mfa.gov.il, 31 July 2002.
  8. ↑ Israeli bombing deaths mourned, usatoday.com; accessed 23 February 2015.
  9. ↑ Terror Blast Kills 7, Including 5 Americans, at Jerusalem University, FOXnews.com; accessed 23 February 2015.
  10. 1 2 "Bush 'Furious' Over Mideast Bombing", CBSnews.com; accessed 23 February 2015.
  11. ↑ DEATH ON THE CAMPUS: THE UNIVERSITY; A Blow to Security, and to Tolerance, nytimes.com; accessed 23 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Press Release SG/SM/8320, un.org, 31 July 2002.
  13. ↑ Bush Condemns Bombing at Israeli University, usembassy-israel.org.il; accessed 23 February 2015.
  14. ↑ Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Kong Quan on the bombing on the campus of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, zw.china-embassy.org; accessed 23 February 2015.
  15. ↑ Statement Following the Bomb Blast at the Hebrew University, dfa.gov.za; accessed 23 February 2015.
  16. ↑ Israel responds to Netanya bombing, Ynetnews.com; accessed 23 February 2015.
  17. ↑ Hebrew U. to deploy bomb-sniffing dogs, fr.jpost.com; accessed 23 February 2015.
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