Faces Of Death
Mother, neighbors, co-workers among
the dead in Ashdod attack.
the front pages of Israel's newspapers
and at the lead of television broadcasts
early in the week.
Among the dead was Avi Avraham,
Tel Aviv
33,
who recently had been hired as a
t was an act of kindness recipro-
crane electrician at Ashdod's port and
cated with murder.
-who got married just four months ago.
Crane mechanic Moshe
His wife Ettie, 27, rushed to the scene
Hendler, 29, was on his way to
of the attack but was kept away by
wash up after a long day of work at the
police barricades. She kept calling his
Ashdod port when, along with a group
cell phone. It rang and rang, but no one
of fellow workers, he ran into a young
answered.
-
man asking for water. They passed him
The family of Zion Dahan, 30, franti-
a jug.
cally searched the hospitals. Dahan, a
An instant later the young man
turned himself into a human bomb, tak- second-generation port worker, operated
heavy machinery.-The search lasted °until
ing the lives of Hendler and several oth-
the family heard the horrible news that
ers. Hencller's father Avraham, who also
Dahan was on the list of victims. Six
works at the port, rushed to be with his
months ago, Dahan had had a close -
son, who was sprawled dead on the
brush with death when a cable came
ground. Hendler — father to a 6-
loose and hit him in the face, relatives
month-old daughter — was buried
said. This time, he found himself in the
Monday, March 15. He was one of 10
path of Palestinian terrorists.
Israelis killed in the double suicide
After the bombing, some Israeli
bombing Sunday at the industrial port
authorities suggested the attack on the
of Ashdod, along Israel's southern coast.
industrial port, which handles some
Mazal Marciano, 30, was sitting in
toxic chemicals, may have been an
her office when the explosion went off,
attempted mega-terrorist strike. They
killing her immediately. Marciano
said the bombers may have intended to
worked as the marketing manager for
detonate themselves next to the port's
the Nehemia Lahovitz meat products
bromine tanks, sending a cloud of poi-
company. One of the suicide bombers
sonous gas into the air. Palestinian
blew himself up outside the trailer office
groups said they indeed had hoped to
where Marciano was working. She was
carry out a massive attack.
the mother of two sons, age 2 and 5.
Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs'
Although Ashdod largely has been free
Brigades
of Yasser Arafat's Fatah move-
of violence during the 3V-2-year-old
ment jointly claimed responsibility for
Palestinian intifada, Marciano's relatives
knew they were not immune. "We knew the attack, which was perpetrated by
two 18-year-olds from the Gaza Strip. It
this round of terror attacks would reach
was the first attack since the intifada
us too, and every time we saw pictures
began perpetrated by Palestinians from
of terror attacks on television we felt it
Gaza, which is surrounded by an elec-
would happen to us one day," one of
tronic fence. Palestinians said the terror-
Marciano's brothers said after the attack.
ists entered Israel by tunneling under the
As after every attack, photos of the
fence.
bombing victims were splashed across
DINA KRAFT
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
I
Sharon Responds
Tel Aviv/JTA — With the March 14 suicide bomb-
ings in Ashdod, Palestinian terrorists may have hoped
to see a toxic cloud hanging over an Israeli city.
Luck and security spared Israel a chemical cata-
clysm, but killed 10 innocent people and injured 16.
In response, Israel launched a predawn raid March
15, destroying two metal foundries in Gaza that
Hamas used to produce weapons. Israeli officials also
said they would step up their hunt for terrorist leaders
and resume the policy of targeted assassinations.
Oren Marciano grieves at the grave of his wife, Mazal, during her funeral.
Morris Tuval, 30, who was a neighbor
and former classmate of Marciano, also
was killed in the attack. Filling in for a
co-worker who could not make his shift,
Tuval had just returned from an after-
noon out with his friends, Israeli soccer
players from the Ashdod team, Chaim
and David Revivo. The three were child-
hood friends.
The same day, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
ruled out peace talks with the Palestinian Authority,
saying it had done nothing to confront terrorists, and
he canceled Tuesday's meeting with the P.A. prime
minister, Ahmed Qurei, despite the customary P.A.
condemnation issued after Sunday's bombing.
The government announcements raise the possibili-
ty that Sharon's contingency plan for disengagement
from the Palestinians — a plan Sharon said he would
pursue if there appeared no genuine Palestinian part-
ner for peace — would proceed.
Sharon won only narrow support for the plan
After lunch together, David Revivo
went to soccer practice and heard the
two explosions. "I can't stop crying,
said Revivo, who described Morris as
"one of the greatest guys in the world."
Also killed in Sunday's attack were - Gil
Abutbul, 31; Dan Asulin, 51; Ophir
Damari, 31; Avi Suissa, 55; and Pinchas
Avraham Zilberman, 46.
"
Monday, surviving a vote of confidence in the Knesset
by a 46-45 vote. Some members of Sharon's coalition
who oppose the proposed withdrawal refused to vote.
The prime minister will be going to Washington
later this month to secure U.S. support for the plan,
which involves the dismantlement of most Jewish set-
dements in the Gaza Strip and some unilateral moves
in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, security officials said they would beef
up security around Israel's ports, including using sniff-
ing dogs and installing electronic fences, news agencies
reported. 17
3/19
2004
17