The Zion Square refrigerator bombing was a terrorist attack carried out in
Zion Square
Zion Square () is a public square in Jerusalem, located at the intersection of Jaffa Road, Ben Yehuda Street (Jerusalem), Ben Yehuda Street, Herbert Samuel Street, and Yoel Moshe Salomon Street.
The square is one of the Vertex (geometry), verti ...
,
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 July 4, 1975. A Palestinian exploded a booby-trapped refrigerator which contained 5 kilograms (11 lb) of explosives inside an appliance store, killing 15 civilians and wounding 77.
The attack
A Jewish passerby, Shabtai Levi, helped a Palestinian man bring a booby-trapped refrigerator into an appliance store at
Zion Square
Zion Square () is a public square in Jerusalem, located at the intersection of Jaffa Road, Ben Yehuda Street (Jerusalem), Ben Yehuda Street, Herbert Samuel Street, and Yoel Moshe Salomon Street.
The square is one of the Vertex (geometry), verti ...
in the center of
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 ...
. The refrigerator aroused the suspicions of Esther Landner and Yehuda Warshovsky, who worked near
Zion Square
Zion Square () is a public square in Jerusalem, located at the intersection of Jaffa Road, Ben Yehuda Street (Jerusalem), Ben Yehuda Street, Herbert Samuel Street, and Yoel Moshe Salomon Street.
The square is one of the Vertex (geometry), verti ...
. Landner called the
police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
but as she was answering their questions, the refrigerator blew up.
Fatalities
Among the dead were Rivka ("Ribbie") (née Soifer) Ben-Yitzhak, 35, an American citizen, and her husband, Michael, who left behind two small children. The Ben-Yitzhak Award, presented annually to an outstanding children's book illustrator by the
Israel Museum
The Israel Museum (, ''Muze'on Yisrael'', ) is an Art museum, art and archaeology museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world's leading Encyclopedic museum, encyclopa ...
, was established in their memory. Daoud Khoury, an Arab accountant at the
King David Hotel
The King David Hotel (; ) is a 5-star hotel in Jerusalem and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. Opened in 1931, it was built with locally quarried pink limestone and was founded by Ezra Mosseri, a wealthy Egyptian Jewish banker. It ...
, was also killed in the attack.
Perpetrators
Palestinian militant group
PLO
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...
claimed responsibility for the attack. Later on it was revealed that the attack was executed by the
Arab-American
Arab Americans ( or ) are Americans who trace ancestry to any of the various waves of immigrants from the Arabic-speaking countries. In the United States census, Arabs are racially classified as White Americans which is defined as "A person ha ...
Ahmed Jabara, aka Abu Sukar, who originated from
Turmus Ayya
Turmus Ayya () is a Palestinian territories, Palestinian town located in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the West Bank, in Palestine. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), it had a population of 2,464 in 2017. ...
. Jabara was assisted by Bassem Tabila of
Nablus
Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...
, who fled to Jordan before he could be arrested.
Following an investigation by
Shin Bet
The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...
and the
Israel Police
The Israel Police (; ) is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism. It is under the jurisdiction o ...
, Jabara was arrested and put on trial before a military court in June 1977. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison and an additional 30 years.
In 2003, Ahmed Jabara was released from prison after having served 27 years, as a gesture of the Israeli government toward
Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...
. Shortly after his release, Jabara called for the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers at a rally in
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 ...
that was widely covered by the Palestinian media. Arafat subsequently appointed him adviser on prisoner affairs. Jabara died of a heart attack in
Ramallah
Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...
on July 17, 2013, at age 78.
See also
*
Palestinian political violence
Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence or terrorism committed by Palestinians with the intent to accomplish political goals in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Common objectives of political violence by Pal ...
*
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...
References
External links
13 killed by bomb in Israel– published on
The Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news.
Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...
on July 5, 1975
13 Die, Scores Hurt in Jerusalem Blast– published on 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 ...
on July 5, 1975
13 Die in Jerusalem Bombing – published on the
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
on July 5, 1975
{{Palestinian militancy attacks in the 1970s
Mass murder in 1975
Terrorist attacks attributed to Palestinian militant groups
20th-century mass murder in Jerusalem
Zion Square
Building bombings in Jerusalem
Terrorist incidents in Jerusalem in the 1970s
Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1975
1975 building bombings