Kiryat Shemona Tragedy Leads to Increased Security for Israelis

(Continued from Page 1)
with terrorist assaults. Army
engineers are throwing up
barbed wire security fences
around the town perimeter.
Meanwhile, aid and succor
continued to pour into Kiryat
Shemona from all parts of
the country. Most of the aid
is aimed at improving the
township's economy and so-
cial facilities. Histadrut will
construct a new H a p o el
Sports Stadium there and
the Histadrut Sick Fund will
build a new clinic with bomb
shelters enabling it to func-
tion under shelling. The Jew-
ish Agency will construct
three kindergartens and two
day nurseries.
Many municipalities have
decided to send funds ear-
m a r k e d for Independence
Day celebrations to Kiryat
Shemona, and the festivities
have been canceled or, toned
down because of the situa-
tion. Dimona in the Negev
and Hatzor, a neighbor of
Kiryat Shemona, have al-
ready donated their Yom
HaAtzmaut funds to Kiryat
Shemona. Hatzor canceled
its celebration in mourning
for the Kiryat Shemona vic-
tims. Private firms have also
contributed money to help
rehabilitate the grief-stricken
town.
Preparations were under-
way in Kiryat Shemona for
a mass memorial service on
the seventh day anniversary
of the massacre. President
Ephraim Katzir will attend.
Israel's commando raid in-
to southern Lebanon Friday
was described by Defense
Minister Moshe Dayan as a
"political, not a military ac-
tion." He said the purpose
was not revenge for the mas-
sacre of 18 men, women and
children in Kiryat Shemona
Thursday but to warn the
Lebanese authorities that it
is their responsibility to keep
the border regions clear of
terrorists.
Acting Chief of Staff Gen.
Yitzhak Hofi said that the
Israeli commandos struck at
the villages of Duheira,
in, Eitarun, Blieda, Muha-
beib and Taibeh. He said that
in all but the last named'
only one to four buildings
were demolished. In Taibeh,
where the Kiryat Shemona
terrorists were believed to
have received- shelter before.
infiltrating across the Israeli
border, an entire block of
10 buildings was blown up.
The Taibeh water pumping
station was also destroyed
and 10 prisoners were taken.
The Lebanese authorities,
apparently anticipating the
raid, withdreW their soldiers
from the region.
(A report from Beirut said
Lebanese Premier Takieddin
al-Solh has ordered an in-
vestigation into why the
Lebanese army failed to in-
tercept the Israeli comman-
dos. The premier ordered the
probe after members of the
Lebanese parliament criti-
cized the army for not resist-
ing the Israeli attack.
The terrorist organization
responsible for the Kiryat
Shemona massacre is re-
garded in Israel as a para-
military adjunct of the Syrian
Baathist regime and the Syr-
ian army. The Syrian govern.
ment has provided it with

48—Friday, April 19, 1974

money and arms since the
end of 1971. The organization,
which calls itself the "Popu-
1 a r Front-General C o m -
mand," has its headquarters
and training camps in Syria.
One of them, at Ein Shouma
just north of Damascus, was
bombed' by the Israel air
force Oct. 30.
(UPI reports from Beirut
the Libyan dictator, Col.
Muammar Qaddafi, who op-
poses any cease fire with
Israel by either Egypt or
Syria, said he supported ter-
rorist activities. Qaddafi was
reported saying in reference
to the Kiryat Shemona mas-
sacre that it "has been
wanted for some time.")
The leader of the group,
Ahmed Jibril, is a former
captain in the Syrian army
engineers corps and a trained
demolition expert. Jibril, 39,
who is also known as "Abu
Jihad" (Moslem holy war)
was one of the founders of
the 'P alestine Liberation
Front that was active prior
to the Six-Day War. At the
end of 1967 it merged with
the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine. In
1968, Jibril quit the PFLP
but continued to operate un-
der the same name, adding
"General Command" to it.
Jibril was one of the first
terrorists to try to implement
the Baath Party's doctrine of
"popular wars of liberation."
His group numbers several
hundred members, most of
them with military know-
how. Immediately after the
Kiryat Shemona massacre it
put out a false story that the
purpose was to seize hostages
for the release of terrorists
imprisoned in--Israel. Israelis
say that this was only a
"cover" to disguise the true
intent which was simply to
murder as many people as
possible.
That view is borne out by
the past record of • Jibril's
group.--It is held responsible
for the deaths of 47 passen-
gers and crew members of
a Swissair liner that was
blown up in mid-air while
en route to Israel in February
1972. On the same day an
explosion damaged an Aus-
trian Air Line plane in mid-
air but it landed safely.
Jibril's organization w a s
responsible for the massacre
of Israeli children in a school
bus ambush near Avivim in
May 1970. In 'August and
September of that year, suit-
cases filled with explosives
were carried aboard El Al
planes by foreign passengers
who were unaware of their
contents. Letterbombs sent to
Israel from various cities
abroad have also been traced
to the Jibril organization.
The latest outrage prior to
the Kiryat Shemona massacre
was the murder of an Israeli
girl and the wounding of her
soldier friend by bazooka
fire near Kibutz Dan in Feb-
ruary.
Revenge Demanded, Outcry
Raised Against Government
for Lack of Protection
BY YITZHAK SHARGIL
KIRYAT SHEMONA (JTA)
— Hayim Nahman Bialik,
the outstaning Hebrew poet,
wrote a long time ago, "Even
the devil has not yet created
the revenge for the blood of
young children." But these

words lost their meaning Fri-
day morning as thousands of
people cried for revenge at
the funeral of the 18 men,
women and children who
were slaughtered April 11
in Kiryat Shemona by
three Arab terrorists who
crossed the border from
Lebanon into this Upper Gal-
ilee town near the Lebanese
border. For four hours the
killers conducted a carnage
with machineguns, bazookas
and hand grenades during
which time they also wounded
15 persons. The murderers
were subsequently killed.
On Friday morning the
town of Kiryat Shmona was
empty as all its 15,000 in-
habitants, many of them
Sephardim and Russian im-
migrants, gathered at the en-
trance of the town to form
the long funeral procession
that included delegations
from the entire country. The
army chaplaincy, headed by
Chief Army Chaplain Gen.
Mordechai Firon, led the
procession reciting part of
the Psalms. At the entrance
of Kiryat Shemona a state
ceremony was held. The two
chief rabbis were there, tears
in their eyes. They could
hardly console others. Police
Minister Shlomo Hillel spoke
on behalf of the government.
Hillel ended his address in
a general tumult and it was
decided to cut short all cere-
monies. The funeral proces-
sion continued to the town-
ship's cemetery w h e r e 16
graves were ready. Two of
the victims, including a
soldier from Israel's small
Circassian Moslem commun-
ity, were buried in their
home village. Mingled with
the El Mole Rahamin, and
the Kaddish came cries for
revenge, for action.
Many of the relatives and
townspeople lashed out in
anger against government of-
ficials who were present at
the funeral and accused the
government of failing to pro-
vide adequate security pre-
cautions. As Hillel promised
the crowd that the deaths
would not go unavenged he
was hit by clods of earth, and
angry relatives began to
shout and scream at him.
Victims of Massacre
Include Entire Families
TEL AVIV •(JTA) — The
depth of the horror of the
indiscriminate murders by
Arab killers at Kiryat She-
mona was dramatized by the
disclosure of the names of
the victims which indicated
that it was whole families
which had been crippled or
wiped out.
They included •the Shitrit
family, the mother, Fanny,
30; and three children, Yo-
heved, 11, Aharon, 8, and
Motti, 4. In the Bitton family,
the victims were Shimon 33,
Avi, 5, and his 2%-year-old
sister.
In the Guetta family, the
victims were Miriam and
Yaacob, each 30.
In the Stern family, death
came to Hadassah, 27, and
her daughter, Rachel, 8.
Mrs. Esther Cohen, 49, per-
ished with her son David, 17,
and her daughter, Shulamit,
14.
Also dead were Est her
Yazada, 60, and Shmuel Ben
Abu, 58.
The slain soldiers were ac-
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS ting officer Mordehai Garidi,

,

20, of Ramat Hasharon and
Cpl. Aba'hab el Souhil, 20,
from Maona-Tarshiha.
"Murder for the sake of
murder" is the way Israel
Prime Minister Golda Meir
described the carnage. She
warned Lebanon that the
country whence the murder-
ers came will be held re-
sponsible.
Israel Foreign Minister
Abba Eban said of the bru-
talities: "Every civilized
man and woman in the world
must be asked to what length
this peril will go."
T h e slaughter w a s con-
demned by Secretary of State
Henry A. Kissinger as "sense-
less."
A formal complaint was
lodged with United Nations
Secretary G e n err a 1 'Kurt
Waldheim by Israel Ambas-
sador Yosef Tekoah.
Heads of Jewish move-
ments throughout the world
registered their condemna-
tions.
An act of sabotage failed
Sunday afternoon when a
mortar shell attached to a
detonation device proved to
be a dud. The 52-mm. shell
and device was placed in a
Netanya park that was
crowded with mothers and
their children as well as by
elderly people and tourists.
Shortly after noontime the
device was activated and ex-
ploded but failed to trigger
the explosion of the shell.
Aside from a loud noise there
was no other effect.
Netanya, which is close to
the West Bank town of Tul-
karem, is frequently visited
by Arabs from the West
Bank. Police rounded up
some 50 Arabs for question-
ing.
In another incident shortly
after midnight Saturday in
Rishon le-Zion, an explosive
charge Went off prematurely
and injured three Arab ter-
rorists from Gaza who were
riding in a taxi toward Tel
Aviv from the Gaza Strip.
The three were carrying the
home-made explosive device
in the taxi and were driving
through the main street in
Rishon le-Zion when it ex-
ploded. The driver lost con-
trol of the cab and it crashed
into a station wagon. A pass-
erby succeeded in nabbing
two terrorists but the third
escaped. He brought them to
the police station and from
there to the hospital where
they were treated for burns.
Police set up a roadblock
and trapped the third occu-
pant. He was on his way
back to Gaza but police no-
ticed his burns and he was
arrested. Police questioned
the trio and more arrests of
Gaza Strip terrorists are ex-
pected.
Monday, however, sabo-
teurs were successful in
knocking out the central tele-
phone exchange of Ramallah
on the West Bank, according
to reports. The wiring of 1,200
pairs of cables which provide
the town with telephone serv-
ice and connection with the
rest of the West Bank and
Israel were burned out after
someone entered the ex-
change building and set fire
to the cables. Police are
searching for the arsonist.
Bomb Goes Off in Bus
Near Premier's Home
JERUSALEM (JTA) — An
explosive device went off

Monday in a bus only several
yards from the prime min-
ister's residence, slightly in-
juring one passenger.
Premier Golda Meir was
not at home when the ex-
plosion occurred.
Several suspects have been
detained.
The bus was en route from
the center of the city to
Hadassah Hospital on the
outskirts of the city when the
explosion occurred.
Government Pledges
Economic Aid to Village
JERUSALEM. (JTA)—Aid
poured into the grief-stricken
town of Kiryat Shemona over
the weekend and more has
been promised. Finance Min-
ister Pinhas Sapir visited the
town Monday to discuss the
possibility of investments in
new industrial enterprises
there, though he stressed
there was no problem of un-
employment.
Sapir told the cabinet yes-
terday that IL 30,000,000 has
been earmarked for the de-
velopment of Kiryat Shemona
which was a frequent target
of terrorist assaults even be-
fore last Thursday's massa-
cre of 18 local residents and
two soldiers. The government
acted following widely pub-
licized criticism by towns-
people of what they charged
was apathy and negligence
by the authorities toward
their plight in the past.
The Jewish Agency Ex-
ecutive decided that it would
build three new kindergartens
and two day-care centers for
children at Kiryat Shemona
and to speed up the construc-
tion of a religious high
school. Proposals were heard
at the meeting to establish
an additional absorption cen-
ter in the town and a home
for the aged. The executive
is also considering recruiting
volunteers from abroad to
serve there as social workers.
Acting chairman Leon Dol-
zin visited Kiryat Shemona
to consult with Mayor Avra-
ham Aloni and the town
council on other aid meas-
ures. The Zionist Executive
is launching a major propa-
ganda drive titled 'Zionism
and Terrorism."
Kiryat Shemona has a large
immigrant population of
North African extraction. The
Jewish Agency operates an
absorption center in the town
and high schools established
by the Agency's education
foundation.
The Janosz Korczak school,
which was the first building
occupied by the terrorists
when they invaded Kiryat
Shemona, reopened and most
of its pupils attended classes.
The damage, mostly broken
windows, has been repaired.
But soldiers were stationed
on the roof and border police
patrolled the school grounds.
Several thousand high
school students attended a
mass rally in Tel Aviv Mon-
day on the Kiryat Shemona
tragedy. They were addressed
by Mayor Shlomo Lehat,
Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren
and Likud leader Menahem
Begin.
The city of Haifa has de-
cided to "adopt" K i r y at
Shemona. The Jerusalem mu-
nicipality has ordered all
necessary assistance for re-
construction. As a first step
it has turned over to Kiryat
Shemona funds earmarked

for the Mimuna festival, a._,
traditional observance
0.1
North African. Jews during
the Passover week which was
canceled because of Thurs-
day's tragedy.
7
The housing ministry has
placed IL 1,000,000 at the dis-
posal of the Kiryat Shemona,
municipality to aid the fam-
ilies of massacre victims.
The minister of housing, in
addition, has offered 17 flats
to families whose apartments
were damaged duri- the
battle with the tern f '
Interior Minister
s e f
Burg said he had decided t
grant Kiryat Shemona (and,
Upper Nazareth) the status
of fullfledged towns even
though their population fee
below the 20,000 minimum
usually required for this
status.
Likud leader Ariel Sharoi.
has demanded a full-scale
inquiry into what he alleges
were blunders by the army
command that led to the ter-
rorist infiltration of Kiryat ,
Shemona.
.1
Defense Minister Moshe
Dayan and Likud leader Ariel
Sharon clashed bitterly in the
Knesset Wednesday over re-
sponsibility for the Kiryat
Shemona massacre, as hun-
dreds of angry Kiryat
Shemona residents demon-
strated for four hours outside
the Knesset building demand-
ing better protection for their
town. The demonstrators dis-
persed after Knesset Speak-
er Israel Yeshayahu person-
ally promised to visit Kiryat
Shemona to study its prob-
lems.
Dayan spoke for the care-
taker government when h"
replied to an agenda motion
by Sharon who criticized the
alleged "lack of action by
the government" to protect
the border town against ter-
rorist assaults. He questioned
Dayan's statement of last
Saturday that Lebanon wac
responsible for curbing ter-
rorists who base themselves
in its territory.
"Is Lebanon in charge of
Israel's security?" Sharon
asked. He said Lebanon had
to be punished but that did
not absolve the Israeli arrnr
which, 'according to Sharon,
was unprepared to meet the
terrorist challenge even
though it had advance in-
formation that terrorist ac-
tivity would increase during_
the Passover holiday.
Dayan disclosed that P-
one-man investigating com-
mittee set up by the chief of
staff concluded that the Kir-
yat Shemona tragedy could
not have been avoided be-
cause the terrorist' !tra-
tion could not have L...., pre-
vented. He said Lebanon wn:
responsible for any crossings
of the border by regular or
irregular elements under the
armistice agreements of 1949.
Dayan expressed surprise
that Likud was "playing
down" Lebanon's responsi-
bility for terrorist activities
"This is the last thing I ex-
pected to hear from Likud,"
he said.
He demanded to know what
alternative security policies
were offered by Likud. Be-
cause of the sensitive nature
of the subject, the debate
was transferred to the Knes-
set foreign affairs and secur-
ity committee which meets
in camera.

.