Ahlam Tamimi, sentenced to 16 life sentences for her involvement in the "Sbarro" suicide bombing on 9 August 2001 in Jerusalem, says she had no regrets and stressed she would, given the opportunity, do it again.
"It was a calculated act, performed with conviction and faith in Allah," Tamini said in an interview posted on the Hamas website. "Jihad warriors are always ready to die as martyrs, to be arrested - or to succeed. I managed to overcome the barrier of prison and was released. Why should I repent?"
Of those terrorists who remain in prison after the Gilad Shalit deal, she said, "We left with our heads held high. All attempts to keep us in prison, and those who remain, will soon be forsaken."
Tamimi, who was deported to Jordan upon her release as a part of a deal to exchange 1,027 terrorists for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, added "resistance is the only way to liberate Palestine. Israel understands only the language of arms." .
Tamimi was a 20-year old university student at the time of Sbarro bombing. She disguised herself as a Jewish tourist and escorted suicide bomber Izz al-Din Shuheil al-Masri to the restaurant in order to draw suspicion away from him.
The Sbarro attack resulted 130 wounded and 15 killed. The mass-murderess Tamimi's slain victims are,
- Giora Balash, 60, from São Paulo, Brazil
- Zvika Golombek, 26, from Karmiel, Israel
- Shoshana Yehudit (Judy) Greenbaum, 31, from Passaic, New Jersey, USA
- Tehila Maoz, 18, from Jerusalem
- Frieda Mendelsohn, 62, from Jerusalem
- Michal Raziel, 16, from Ramot, Jerusalem
- Malka Chana (Malki) Roth, 15, from Ramot, Jerusalem (memorial)
- Mordechai Schijveschuurder, 43, from Neria, Matte Binyamin
- Tzira Schijveschuurder, 41, from Neria
- Ra'aya Schijveschuurder, 14, from Neria
- Avraham Yitzhak Schijveschuurder, 4, from Neria
- Hemda Schijveschuurder, 2, from Neria
- Lily Shimashvili, 33, from Jerusalem
- Tamara Shimashvili, 8, from Jerusalem
- Yocheved Shoshan, 10, from Jerusalem
