THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, April 20, 1984 37
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Wide World Photos
Israeli soldiers and police surround an Egged bus in the Gaza Strip last Friday morning
after storming the bus at dawn and killing two terrorists. One of the dead terrorists is seen
slumped over the steering wheel in the driver's seat of the bus.
badly divided PLO at the
Palestine National Council
meeting next month.
For that reason, it is be-
lieved, the PFLP took re-
sponsibility for the bus
hijack inasmuch as
Hawatmeh's group claimed
credit for the King George
Street shooting earlier in
the month. But Israeli
sources, pointing to El
Fatah, noted that Arafat's
deputy, Khalil Wazir, also
known as Abu Jihad, told
reporters in Amman last
week that the PLO would
take "many actions in the
near future against the
enemy who only under-
stands force."
Israelis had no knowledge
of the bus hijack and
hostage-taking attempt
until late Friday morning,
hours after the incident had
ended. There was a total
blackout of news of the
event domestically. Foreign
journalists were allowed to
cable abroad but their dis-
patches were heavily cen-
sored and no details were
given.
The bus, an Egged No.
300, left the Tel Aviv termi-
nal at 6 p.m. local time
Thursday on its evening di-
rect run to Ashkelon. Four
young Arabs, described as
Hebrew-speaking, boarded
the bus at Tel Aviv. One of
them carried an attache
case, Which, it was learned
later, contained two booby-
trapped grenades.
At the Ashdod crossroads,
little more than half way
from Tel Aviv to Ashkelon,
the four men pulled out
guns and ordered the driver
to head at high speed
toward the Gaza Strip and
the Egyptian border. A
woman passenger who is
pregnant, told the hijackers
she was feeling ill. They
allowed her to leave the bus.
She was picked up on the
road by a truck driver and
the police were alerted.
Police and army
roadblocks were set up on
the highway north of Ash-
kelon. But the bus broke
through them at high speed.
The police and soldiers
would not fire at the vehicle
for fear of hitting
passengers. Sharpshooters
at each roadblock tried to
hit the tires and succeeded
only as the bus neared the
Arab town of Deir El-Balah
in the Gaza Strip. the bus
veered off the road and
stopped.
It was surrounded by
troops and police. Defense
Minister Arens and Chief of
Staff Levy both rushed to
the scene. Evacuation
helicopters and ambulances
were stationed nearby as
army officers heard the ter-
rorists' demands and
engaged there- in what
seemed to be negotiations in
order to gain time.
By midnight a decision
was reached to storm the
bus at the first light of day.
The terrorists apparently
were unaware of the prep-
arations being made. At
4:45 a.m. the assault was
launched. Troops smashed
through the bus windows
gunning down the ter-
rorists. A woman soldier,
tentatively identified as Irit
Portugez, 199 was fatally
wounded and seven other
passengers were hit by bul-
lets in the shooting melee.
Two of the terrorists were
killed instantly. a third died
shortly afterwards and an-
other died on the way to the
hospital. The four men were
identified later as Sobhi
Abu Jama, 18; Majdi Abu
Jama, 18; and Muhammad
Barake, 19, all of Beni
Shuheila village; and Jama
Kavalan, 22, of Abassan.
Israel has been extremely
cautious in apportioning
blame. Despite intensive
press speculation blaming
Syria for the terror attack,
senior government
policymakers and officials
have studiously avoided
pointing a finger of accusa-
tion publicly at Syria.
Defense Minister Moshe
Arens set the tone in a tele-
vision appearance. He
spoke of previous tensions
along the Israel-Syria line
in Lebanon, caused the
Palestinian terrorist groups
working from behind Sy-
rian lines.
He warned that Israel
would not passively suffer
attacks of this kind in the
future, either. He did not,
however, link Thursday's
attack to the Syrians di-
rectly. He said Israel
thought the El Fatah was
responsible for it, but there
was no conclusive evidence
yet.
After the weekly Cabinet
meeting last Sunday, which
Arens and Chief of Staff
Gen. Moshe Levy reported
on the attack, Cabinet
spokesman Dan Meridor
also pointedly declined to be
drawn by reporters in out-
rightly condeming Syria for
the action. He indicated
that Premier Yitzhak
Shamir was being similarly
cautious.
Israeli sources say the
Soviet-Syrian effort to ac-
centuate tensions is appar-
ently linked closely to the
ongoing instability in
Damascus surrounding
President Hafez Assad's un-
certain state of health.
The Micirasha College of
Jewish Studies presents its
28th Annual
Mina and
Theddore Bargman
Memorial Lecture Series
CHALLENGE AND RESPONSE:
JEWISH LEADERSHIP IN TRANSITION
Wednesday • April 25, 1984 • 8:00 p.m.
Where:
United Hebrew Schools LaMed Auditorium
21550 West Twelve Mile Rood • Southfield
352-7117 or 354-1050
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AT NO CHARGE
THE PROGRAM
Topic: Jewish Leadership:
Real and Ideal
Dote:
April 25, 1984 8:00 p.m.
Dr. Leonard Fein
Editor, Moment Magazine
Professor of Politics and Social Policy,
Brandeis University
•
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DARGMAN INSTITUTE PLANNING COMMITTEE
Dr. Maxwell Bardenstein, Chairperson Dr. Joseph Epel Dr. Irving Ponush
Dr. Zvi Gitelman Abraham Pasternak
Janis Woxenberg, Vice-Chairperson
Rose Schiller
Neil Gross
Dr. Eli Bosse
Edwin Shifrin
Rose Kaye
Alex Blumenberg
Arthur Sugarman
Marcia Kersch
Dr. Elliot Burns
Dr. Gerold A. Teller
Dr. Jock Wayne
Renee Wohl
Marilyn Wolfe
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