A Palestinian suicide bombing occurred in the

Beit Yisrael Beit Yisrael () is a predominantly Haredi neighborhood in central Jerusalem. 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 ...

neighborhood in downtown

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

on March 2, 2002. Eleven Israeli civilians were killed in the attack, including two infants, three children and two teenagers. Over 50 people were injured in the attack, four of them critically. The bombing took place at the entrance of the

Haredi Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

"Beit Yisrael" in central Jerusalem where people had gathered for a

bar mitzva A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

h celebration. The suicide bomber detonated the bomb full of shrapnel alongside a group of women with their baby strollers, waiting for the services in a nearby synagogue to conclude. The Palestinian militant organization

al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades () are a Fatah-aligned coalition of Palestinian armed groups in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Created in 2000 amidst the Second Intifada, the Brigades previously operated as the official armed wing of the F ...

claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack

The bombing took place on Saturday evening in the

neighborhood of

, a neighborhood that had been targeted in three previous attacks. Shortly after 7 PM, the streets were crowded with worshippers who had just finished the sun-down prayers that mark the conclusion of the

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

. People had gathered near the Mahane Yisrael yeshiva for the

h of Naveh Hazan. Another family, the Hajabis, were also celebrating their son's bar mitzvah, and members of the related Nehmad and Ilan families had arrived in Jerusalem for the celebration. Upwards of 1,000 Jews prayed every Saturday evening at the Mahane Israel seminary. The bomber was standing alongside a group of women with baby carriages who were waiting for their husbands to return from the

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, and blew himself up just as the family and guests were beginning to leave. The ensuing blast shook downtown Jerusalem, and ignited a nearby car. Among the dead were an infant and her six-year-old brother, a mother and her three-year-old son, and a 12-year-old boy. The dead included members of the Hajabi, Hazan, Nehmad, and Ilan families. A woman who was pregnant with twins survived but lost both of her unborn children. Two babies were taken to

Hadassah Medical Center Hadassah Medical Center () is an Israeli medical organization established in 1934 that operates two university hospitals in Jerusalem (one in Ein Karem and one in Mount Scopus) as well as schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacology ...

, the whereabouts of their parents unknown. The bombing occurred only meters from the site of a previous car bombing the year before. At the Mahane Yisrael seminary, a stone wall was splattered in blood. Shlomi, an eyewitness, saw a baby carriage alongside a dead baby and other dead people. Another witness said that she and everyone else in her family had been injured when the bomber attacked: Eitan of the Magen David Adom recounted: Livnat, the sister of Sofia Ya'arit Eliyahu who died in the blast with her seven-month-old son, described her experience:

Fatalities

Ten people were killed instantly in the attack, and an eleventh died later of his injuries. 8 of those fatalities were from the Nehmad family. Over 50 people were injured.

Perpetrators

The

, the armed wing of

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

, claimed responsibility and said the attack was to avenge the deaths of 19 Palestinians killed during Israeli military incursions into the Balata and

Jenin Jenin ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and is the capital of the Jenin Governorate. It is a hub for the surrounding towns. Jenin came under Israeli occupied territories, Israeli occupation in 1967, and was put under the administra ...

refugee camps earlier in the week. The bomber was identified as 19-year-old Mohammed al-Chouhani from the

Dheisheh Dheisheh () is a Palestinian refugee camp located just south of Bethlehem in the West Bank. Dheisheh was established in 1949 on 0.31 square kilometers of land leased from the Jordanian government.

refugee camp near

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

. Around 1,500 Palestinians celebrated through the camp handing out sweets and shooting in the air.

Official reactions

Involved parties

* Hundreds of Palestinians celebrated on hearing the news and took to the streets firing guns into the air.

International

The

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

harshly condemned this "terrorist outrage". "Such murder of innocent citizens cannot be justified and can only harm the interests and aspirations of the Palestinian people in progress toward a better future ... We call upon Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to do everything possible to confront and stop the terrorists responsible for these criminal acts."

Supranational

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who served as the president of Ireland from December 1990 to September 1997. She was the country's first female president. Robinson had previously served as a senato ...

expressed her shock and horror and said, "Acts of suicide bombings in Israel harm the interests and aspirations of the Palestinian people because they undermine support for the cause of self-determination and the fight against occupation."

Burials

The Nehamad family were buried in Rishon Letzion. The Israeli Health Minister,

Nissim Dahan Nissim Dahan (; born 7 May 1954) is an Israeli former politician who served as Minister of Health from 2001 until 2003. Biography Born in Morocco, Dahan's family emigrated to Israel in 1955. He worked in the Ministry of Religious Affairs, becomi ...

, said of the dead: "They cut off the most beautiful flowers before their time was due." The eulogies expressed feelings of bitterness and anger. Sofia Ya'arit Eliyahu, 23, and her seven-month-old son, Avraham Eliyahu were buried at Moshav Noam.

External links

Suicide bombing in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood in Jerusalem, 2 March 2002
– published at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs

– published on 3 March 2002 in the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

UN rights chief Robinson says shocked by Jerusalem bombing
– published on 4 March 2002 in

Ha'aretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew and English in the Berliner fo ...

References

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