ELDER OF ZIYON: She admits she planned the Sbarro massacre. But for parts of the media, Ahlam Tamimi remains 'an accomplice'

From Ian:

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SShe admits she planned the Sbarro massacre. But for parts of the media, Ahlam Tamimi remains 'an accomplice'

In a piece about FBI Most Wanted fugitive terrorist Ahed Tamimi published yesterday, the Washington Post breezily describes our daughter's murderer this way:

For Israelis, the Tamimis are a group of provocateurs intent on manipulating the media to hurt the country’s image. One cousin [of Ahed], Ahlam Tamimi, was an accomplice to a suicide bombing. "
At this point, we know a lot about Ahlam Tamimi. Here's how she herself details the central role she took in the 2001 Sbarro pizzeria massacre:

Interviewer: "Who chose Sbarro [restaurant, as the target of the attack]?" 
Ahlam Tamimi: "I did. For nine days I examined the place very carefully and chose it after seeing the large number of patrons at the Sbarro restaurant. My mission was just to choose the place and to bring the martyrdom-seeker (i.e. the human bomb, a young man called Al-Masri). [I made] the general plan of the operation but carrying it out was entrusted to the martyrdom-seeker."
Ahlam Tamimi: "I told him to enter the restaurant, eat a meal, and then after 15 minutes carry out the martyrdom-seeking operation. My job was to realize, for this martyrdom-seeker, the happy life that he wanted." 
Interviewer: "Didn't you think about the people who were in the restaurant? The children? The families?" 
Ahlam Tamimi: "No." 
Interviewer: "Do you know how many children were killed in the restaurant?" 
Ahlam Tamimi: "Three children were killed in the operation, I think." 
Interviewer: "Eight."
Ahlam Tamimi (smiling): "Eight? Eight!"

This is the monster that Jordan's King Abdullah refuses to extradite to the United States despite the US Department of Justice's request under a valid extradition treaty that has existed between those two countries since 1995 and under which multiple Jordanian felons have been extradited to face trial in US courts.

ISRAEL MATZAV: Israel's heros

Arnold and Frimet Roth received an award on Wednesday for what they've done to commemorate their daughter Malki HY"D, who was murdered in the Sbarro terror attack in 2001. 

Could you take what is, without a doubt, the worst tragedy imaginable – the intentional, violent murder of your sweet little girl – and turn your grief into the impetus to help others?

That is what Frimet and Arnold Roth did after their then-15 year old daughter, Malki, was murdered in the grotesque homicide bombing of the Sbarro Pizzaria in downtown Jerusalem.  Malki Roth and 14 other innocent civilans died violent deaths on the 9th of August, 2001. Eight of the murdered were children.  A woman pregnant with her first child also died in the bombing, and 130 were wounded.

The Roths created Keren Malki (Malki Foundation) within months of the bombing.  What would so understandably have made most parents turn inwards with grief, instead, for the Roths, became a mission to create something positive that would reflect the goodness of the daughter whose future was stolen.  Malki’s little sister is severely disabled and Keren Malki, formed 12 years ago, provides a myriad of services for the benefit of children with special needs and their families.

This week the Roths were honored for the work that Keren Malki (keren is the Hebrew word for ‘foundation’) has done over the past twelve years for the benefit of children with special needs and their families. Israel’s Minister of Welfare and Social Affairs, Meir Cohen, presented the Roths with the Minister’s Shield for Volunteerism – Lifetime Achievement Award.

Read the whole thing. 

One can only look with awe at all they have accomplished (and I know Arnold...). May Malki be a voice for good in Heaven for her family and for the entire Jewish people, and may her family's good deeds in her memory continue to place Malki on a higher and higher plane, closer and closer to God.

'Palestinian' joy over suicide bombings

Here's Ahlam Tamimi, who planned and helped carry out the suicide bombing attack at Sbarro's restaurant in Jerusalem in 2001 talking about the joy of the 'Palestinians' in the bombing's aftermath.



But 'peace' is at hand....

Chaya Schijveschuurder to receive outstanding soldier award

I am sure that among the many terror victims a lot of you can probably name, the Schijveschuurder family stands out prominently. Both parents and three children were murdered in the Sbarro terror attack, and Chaya Schijveschuurder - pictured at the top of this post - was critically wounded.

Many of you may even recall some searing remarks that Chaya Schijveschuurder made at 2010's Memorial Day ceremony for terror victims.

When I woke up the night after the attack, there were people from my community next to me. I asked them what had happened to the rest of the family, and they told me that everything was okay, that they were hurt like I was. Afterwards, my brothers came back from the funerals, and I remember that I asked them why their shirts were torn. Then they told me that my parents, Ra’aya, Avraham Yitzchak and Chemda were killed.

The first question I asked was, “What? Who will cook and clean the house?”

I remember that Leah was always crying and I couldn’t understand why. I think that for this reason, it was good I was little. That way, I remember less and I understood less what this was. I didn’t understand what had happened. I didn’t cry, and I didn’t understand at all what this meant. I didn’t feel pain, and all the time there were people visiting me in the hospital.

I remember that whenever they would change my bandages, I would hit the nurses because it really hurt. I would wake up in the middle of the night and ask whoever was with me to take me on a tour of the hospital. Every time, someone else would be watching me. I had three operations, because I had a lot of nails in my body.

...

Mom and Dad!
I found the earrings that you bought me. How happy I am. I always miss you, and always when there is something in the class, I shed a few tears. I want the Mashiach to come already as fast as possible so that we can all go together to the Beit Hamikdash.

I love you,
Chaya

This morning, Chaya's cousin - who first got in touch with me when he ran the New York marathon to raise money for victims of 'Palestinian' terror - sent me this picture of Chaya, which I am sharing with you because Chaya put it on her Facebook page.

Every year on Independence Day (which is being celebrated next Thursday), outstanding soldiers are honored at the President's residence. Chaya is one of the soldiers being so honored.

Yedioth Aharonoth put the story on its Facebook page, and has asked people to 'like' it. So far, 7,572 people have. And it just went up yesterday.

Rare interview with the surviving members of the Schijveschuurder family

On Tuesday, Israel's Channel 10 showed a rare interview with the surviving members of the Schijveschuurder family, whose parents and three siblings were murdered in the Sbarro suicide bombing. There is now an internet version of the interview, and I have it for you. The interview is in Hebrew, but an English summary will follow. This is not easy to watch.

Here's an English summary (which someone who saw the program live sent me):

The programme began with a little biographical detail about the family - olim from Holland. It then moved on to the actual terror attack itself. The three older boys, Ben Tzion (who now lives abroad), Meir and Shvuel were not present. Ben Tzion and Meir were both in the army and Shvuel (who was 16.5 at the time) was on his way back from the Kleizmer festival in Tzfat.

The programme documented their search (alone - no outside help) for the members of their family in various hospitals. As Meir did not have any ID proving his connection to one of his sisters, he was not allowed to see her as she lay dying in the operating theatre, but minutes later was asked to identify her body. He - an 18/19 year old - ended up organising the funerals all by himself. Hevra Kadisha even had the gall to demand money from him (20,000 shekels - later returned) for two burial plots, stating that he could only have three.

He and his older brother took care of the younger surviving children (the youngest was 8) in the family home with no outside help. At some point the social services tried to take the two younger girls into care, but they objected. Afterwards the girls were sent to live with a distant relative in Switzerland for about a year, but were very unhappy there and came back to Israel. Later they were sent to live with another distant relative in Israel, but that didn't last long either and Meir and his wife took them in, whilst also raising their own young family.

Shvuel seems to have 'fallen between the chairs' perhaps most of all... [I deleted something here. CiJ][H]is attempts to get that help from Bituach Leumi have been rejected.

The programme ended with a 'right of reply' statement from Bituach Leumi which the presenters said they had fact checked and found to be lacking on certain points.

Apparently there is a serious problem with people who, as children, lost both parents in terror attacks. (A lady orphaned by the Ma'ale Akrabim attack briefly mentioned similar problems). The system does not cater for them properly ans seems to work on the premise that they will be taken care of by the extended family, but in this case there was not much extended family to help. There is an attempt ongoing to try to change the law, but it is clear that this family has already sustained far too much damage because of the system's shortcomings.

On top of all that, of course, they now have to deal with the insensitivity surrounding the release of their parents' and siblings' murderer.

There's more about this.... But I've given you enough to think about for now.

Chaya Schijveschuurder's remarks on Memorial Day 2010

Chaya Schijveschuurder spoke at the ceremony for terror victims on Memorial Day in 2010. When I read her words, they tore at me. You should read them too. Here's an excerpt. (The picture is from her Facebook page).

It was a Thursday. We went to Jerusalem to go shopping. We all went, all except the older boys. We spent some time walking around in the city, and then we were hungry. At first, we went to Angel’s bakery in the Bell Center, but Ra’aya didn’t want to eat there. I remember that Dad took money out of the instant teller outside, and then we went to eat at Sbarro’s. I remember that we ordered food. My mother, Ra’aya and Chemda went to sit down because they didn’t have the strength to continue standing. My father, Leah, Avraham Yitzchak and I went to pay, and then there was an explosion. Apparently, I fell. I didn’t understand what had happened.

They told me that I lost consciousness immediately, but I remember that I went outside, and just then a pole fell from the shock wave, and I remember that I went over it.

I didn’t see anyone from my family. I don’t remember whether I looked. Medics rushed to me and poured water on my. I was put into an ambulance, and Avraham Yitzchak was lying there, and I called to him, “Avraham Yitzchak! Avraham Yitzchak!” But he didn’t answer.

They took me out on a stretcher, and took me to the hospital. They brought me to the trauma room, and I remember that I yelled, “Bring me my father! Bring me my father!”

They took pictures of me, because they thought that I had lost consciousness, and wrote next to the picture, “Chaya, approximately 8 years old.”

I remember that they tore off my clothes. My leg was full of blood, and I asked them if they would amputate my leg. They answered, “What are you talking about, look what a beautiful leg you have.”

Afterwards, I remember that I saw an operating room there, and I became tense and started crying. They immediately sedated me for the operation.

When I opened my eyes right after the operation, I saw Nechama there, my brother’s girlfriend. I constantly asked her what time it was. That’s what they told me.

When I woke up the night after the attack, there were people from my community next to me. I asked them what had happened to the rest of the family, and they told me that everything was okay, that they were hurt like I was. Afterwards, my brothers came back from the funerals, and I remember that I asked them why their shirts were torn. Then they told me that my parents, Ra’aya, Avraham Yitzchak and Chemda were killed.

The first question I asked was, “What? Who will cook and clean the house?”

I remember that Leah was always crying and I couldn’t understand why. I think that for this reason, it was good I was little. That way, I remember less and I understood less what this was. I didn’t understand what had happened. I didn’t cry, and I didn’t understand at all what this meant. I didn’t feel pain, and all the time there were people visiting me in the hospital.

I remember that whenever they would change my bandages, I would hit the nurses because it really hurt. I would wake up in the middle of the night and ask whoever was with me to take me on a tour of the hospital. Every time, someone else would be watching me. I had three operations, because I had a lot of nails in my body.

...

Mom and Dad!
I found the earrings that you bought me. How happy I am. I always miss you, and always when there is something in the class, I shed a few tears. I want the Mashiach to come already as fast as possible so that we can all go together to the Beit Hamikdash.

I love you,
Chaya

Read the whole thing.

Sbarro Bomber: "Why Should I Repent?"

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,

1. Giora Balash, 60, from São Paulo, Brazil
2. Zvika Golombek, 26, from Karmiel, Israel
3. Shoshana Yehudit (Judy) Greenbaum, 31, from Passaic, New Jersey, USA
4. Tehila Maoz, 18, from Jerusalem
5. Frieda Mendelsohn, 62, from Jerusalem
6. Michal Raziel, 16, from Ramot, Jerusalem
7. Malka Chana (Malki) Roth, 15, from Ramot, Jerusalem (memorial)
8. Mordechai Schijveschuurder, 43, from Neria, Matte Binyamin
9. Tzira Schijveschuurder, 41, from Neria
10. Ra'aya Schijveschuurder, 14, from Neria
11. Avraham Yitzhak Schijveschuurder, 4, from Neria
12. Hemda Schijveschuurder, 2, from Neria
13. Lily Shimashvili, 33, from Jerusalem
14. Tamara Shimashvili, 8, from Jerusalem
15. Yocheved Shoshan, 10, from Jerusalem

The ultimate sacrifice

Perhaps the most heartbreaking case of a terror victim is one that did not even involve an Israeli. Shoshana Heyman Greenbaum HY"D (May God Avenge her blood) was an American tourist from New Jersey, who was murdered in the Sbarro terror attack. Shoshana was an only child who was expecting her first child when she was murdered. To my knowledge, her parents (who I understand now live in Israel) have not joined in the appeals against the release of Ahlam Tamimi, the planner of the Sbarro terror attack and the guide to its perpetrator. Someone in the comments asked that I say a few words about Shoshana.

Here's part of an essay written about Shoshana by Shmuel Greenbaum, Shoshana's husband, after her death.

May we focus on the good in every person and inspire them to greater heights. This was Shoshana's goal in life. May we all follow in her footsteps.

Shoshana's goal in life was to reach out to each and every soul she touched with her love; to give each one self esteem; to comfort each one in their sadness; and to raise each one to their highest potential.

Her life was dedicated to truth and kindness. She inspired men and women of all religions with her ways. She was the perfect role model for the Jewish women she taught.

For those of you who have not yet met a role model like Shoshana, know that they do exist. If you keep on looking you will find one. And with G-d's help you will strive to be a role model yourself.

Shoshana dedicated her life to elevating each and every one of the hundreds of girls she taught to become just like she was. In the process she also inspired their parents and all the others she met wherever she went.

...

Sometimes we see how much G-d loves us when he rewards us for our kindness. I saw this during my trip to Israel, a few weeks after Shoshana’s funeral.

I went with Shoshana’s parents to visit an elderly Rabbi, who Shoshana's parents knew from Los Angeles. He told us a story about what happened to his granddaughter on the day that Shoshana was killed.

He said that someone in his family drives him to a friend every morning; he studies with his friend for a few hours; then someone else brings him home later. His granddaughter often drove him home.

On the day of the bombing, his granddaughter made a 1:00 appointment with her sister to buy shoes at a shoe store next door to Sbarro. They decided that they would go for lunch afterwards at the restaurant next door.

He called his granddaughter that morning and told her that he would like her to pick him up. She called her sister to cancel their appointment.

...

Shoshana teaches us that our sensitivity and caring for others must extend much further than to merely our relatives. Shoshana was sensitive to the girls who lost parents or had other challenges at home. She would go out of her way never to say anything which could make them feel uncomfortable. She would always try to give them strength and comfort them. She engrained her strength in them and made them truly believe that, as she used to tell them "there is good in every bad."

What is the secret to seeing the good? The secret is believing in G-d, believing in yourself and having a positive attitude. Here’s a story to illustrate the point.

Shoshana came to Israel on a six-week all-expense-paid program, which she thought, would make her the perfect teacher.

When I asked my two bosses for permission to take a six-week vacation, one boss said I could take six weeks; the other boss said I could take four. (Perhaps if they had both agreed to let me go for six weeks, someone else would be speaking today, and I would be in Heaven with Shoshana now.)

I arrived in Israel the week after Shoshana arrived and departed a week before she was to depart.

When I arrived in Israel, I looked on the window ledge outside our dormitory apartment and I saw a big bucket sitting on its side. In the bucket were a few long thin twigs and some bird feathers. It looked like a birds nest.

Shoshana stopped me one day and said. "Shmuel… Shmuel… there's a bird on the ledge. I think it's dying… It looks sick… What can we do to help it?"

I said "Shoshana… that's a birds nest. The bird on the ledge is the mother. She is waiting to lay her eggs. "

Shoshana said "No… it's not a mother bird. It's the wrong season. It's the summer. Birds only lay eggs in the spring."

"Shoshana…" I said. "Believe me, it's a birds nest and that's the mommy bird waiting for the right time to deliver her eggs."

A few days later, Shoshana came over to me and said. "Shmuel you are right… the mommy bird was sitting in the bucket.

When she got up I saw that she was sitting on two little eggs."

Early every morning we watched the mommy bird and tatty bird switch places on top of their precious little treasure. We took picture of the mommy bird and the tatty bird and the eggs.

Each day we watched, and waited, and hoped that the eggs would hatch.

On my last night in Israel, I asked Shoshana to tell me when the eggs hatch and to take a picture of the babies.

One day while I was on the phone with Shoshana, I asked her what happened with the eggs. She said "Shmuel… one of the eggs hatched… there was a baby bird… it looked so ugly." "Shoshana…" I said "it may look ugly now… we may not see the future… but we will see the future… and it will be beautiful."

The birds were doves. The dove in Jewish thought is symbolic for the Jewish people. The dove is faithful to her mate for her entire life.

No matter how bad things may seem, the Jewish people are always faithful to G-d.

At 2:00 that afternoon she was doing the mitzvah of honoring her grandfather that she loved to do so much, while Shoshana was buying a pizza.

(Please don't misunderstand me, Shoshana also honored her parents and grandparents. She spoke with her parents on the phone almost every single day and she always went to visit her grandparents at just about the time the bombing took place, 2:00 on a Thursday afternoon. In fact, out of the six weeks she was in Israel this was the only Thursday that she could not go to visit them, because she had a class the next day.)

Ten years ago, I attended the hakamat matzeiva (unveiling - although that's a poor translation) of Shoshana Heyman Greenbaum. I still remember (perhaps not exactly, but it made a big impression on me at the time) Shmuel speaking about Shoshana's problem box, which he found on a high shelf after her death. As Shoshana resolved problems, she placed them in a box, where she would never worry about them again, but she kept reminders of them to remind her of what she had overcome.

There's much more about Shoshana and Shmuel and several other Sbarro victims here. May all of their memories be blessed.

Many years ago, Mrs. Carl heard the father of another American victim of 'Palestinian' terror speak shortly before Rosh HaShanna about his personal akeida (a reference to the binding of Isaac in which our forefather Abraham puts his son on the altar and is willing to sacrifice his only son because he thinks that's what God wants him to do). Of course, the difference was that God stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son, while this man had actually (unknowingly - he was in the US at the time) sacrificed his daughter. Mrs. Carl burst into tears when she repeated the talk to me. And on Rosh HaShanna, during the Musaf prayer, I thought of the story and started crying.

Thank God (and bli ayin hara), I can only imagine the pain that Shoshana Heyman Greenbaum's parents must feel day in and day out. They have made the ultimate sacrifice. Unknowingly. It is up to God to care for them. The Israeli court system may not even be part of that calculation.