Bombings Jolt Israel Ending 6-month lull, bombers murder at least 16 people on Beersheva buses. DINA KRAFT Jewish Telegraphic Agency Tel Aviv T Some of the Israeli victims from Beersheva bombings. Photos from Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Web site. hick clouds of smoke billowing around two bombed buses in Beersheva symbolized how the sense of calm that had settled over Israel this spring and summer could end in a sin- Tamara Dibrashvilli, 70 Tekele Tiroyaient, 33 gle jolt. At least 16 people died and nearly 100 were injured in two near-simultaneous explosions Tuesday afternoon in the south- ern Israeli city. Hamas claimed responsibili- tY. "I heard a blast and I started to run to the site. Within seconds there was another explosion," said Gil Yehezekel, owner of a Terrorist Cells Karina Malka, 23 Larisa Gomanenko, 48 Shoshana Amos, 64 business close to the location of the attack, Denise Hadad, 50 Meanwhile, there are indications that since according to the newspaper Ha'aretz. Israel took out the Hamas leadership, the "When I got there, there were people group's cells are working more secretly and on the floor, wounded people, limbs torn independently of one another, increasing their off," he said. "The police and ambu- ability to carry out attacks like the one in "Members of Detroit's Jewish community, especially lances arrived in seconds." Beersheva. those with friends and family in Israel, are feeling both Security officials decided Tuesday night There is still no security fence separating mournful and outraged over the double bus bombings to increase military activity in the West Israel from the West Bank near Hebron. David in Beersheva," said Allan Gale, associate director of the Bank city of Hebron, home of the Newman, an expert on political geography and Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit. bombers. Shortly after the attack, Israeli borders at Ben-Gurion University, said this 'As Jews in Israel and around the world prepare for the troops raided the bombers' homes. The might lead some to conclude that a fence in the High Holy Days, again Palestinian terrorists have taken bombers were from prominent Hebron area would have prevented an attack. away the joy of the approaching Jewish New Year. families. Ahmed Kawasma owned an But Newman said that to "think the fence "There is clear irony that the bombings followed, by aluminum products store. Nisim Jabri Allan Gale will hermetically seal off any fanatical terror just a day, the visit to the region of Mahatma Gandhi's was a construction worker. Security bomber — that is a bit of a panacea. grandson, there to preach non-violence among the forces decided-to isolate Hebron and "You have tens of thousands of people in the Palestinians," Gale said. "Their answer? The deliberate targeting of crack down on the terrorist infrastructure occupied territories whose economic situation is innocents for death or injury. there, according to the report. worse than in 1967, and they see this as a direct "We pray for the families of those killed and for the wounded and their Suicide bombers constantly try to families. We support Israel's actions in response and in self-defense, and the result of the political situation, and blame attack Israel, but the West Bank security Israel," he said. "They have become more radi- continued building of its security barrier." fence and Israeli security forces had foiled calized and have been taken with Hamas and every attack in the past six months. have less belief in the Palestinian Authority and" will continue with full strength," and pledged to con- But that lull was only an illusion, Israeli officials and its president, Yasser Arafat, Newman said. tinue with his plan for a unilateral Israeli withdrawal analysts say. The strength of terrorist groups like "There is joint interest by those in the Arafat camp from the Gaza Strip and four northern West Bank set- Hamas may have been temporarily sapped by the of the Palestinian Authority who have a great interest tlements by next year. Israeli assassinations of its leaders, Sheik Ahmed Yassin in not having a unilateral withdrawal of Gaza by On Tuesday, Sharon presented his Likud Party's and Abdul Aziz Rantissi; but their motivation to carry Israel," and Hamas, Lt. Col. Yohanan Soref, former Knesset faction with a timetable for the withdrawal out attacks continues to grow. head of the army's civilian administration in Gaza, told and tried to quash suspicions that his plan would "The so-called lull was no lull before," said David Israel Television. increase terrorist attacks in Israel. Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gila Finkelstein, a legislator from the National "There is no connection between" the bombings office. "The Palestinian terrorists even during the past Religious Party, said the disengagement plan is only six months continued to try every opportunity to strike "and our plan for disengagement," a somber Sharon providing Palestinians with greater motivation to carry told reporters. "We will fight the murderousness of at Israelis in the hearts of our cities, on our buses and out terror attacks. Palestinian terrorists with all our might." in our cafes." "Today they are beginning to count the fatalities of Baker credits Israel's security fence and army opera- Israel implicated Syria in the bombings in Beer- disengagement," she said. "The Palestinians will use tions for thwarting most of the recent attempts at sheva. Syria has continued to offer logistical and finan- everything they can to prove to the entire world that attacks. But others question how effective the fence can cial backing to terrorist organizations operating out of disengagement is a direct product of the deadly terror be as long as the conflict between Israel and the Damascus, a senior military official told Ha'aretz. attacks, and the Gaza Strip is only the beginning." 0 Palestinians remains unresolved. Thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip celebrated "The fence can actually increase motivation for the attacks, the Associated Press reported. Updates, victim profiles: www.detroitjewishnews.com attacks because there is motivation on two levels," said Sharon, meanwhile, said "The fight against terror Detroit Reaction IN 9/ 3 2004 12 Yoram Meital, chairman of the Herzog Center for Middle East Studies and Diplomacy at Ben- Gurion University in Beersheva. "One is ideological, by the militant groups like Hamas, who do not want to live in peace with Israel. The second is that in the past four years especially, the effects of Israel's actions in its war against terror often hurt not just terror- ists but the people who simply live there. "The bottom line is that the motivation for attacks is one of the main things we need to pay attention to, and the fence does not decrease motivation," he said. "Israel is in a struggle against Hamas and Islamic Jihad but also against the Palestinian Authority," and its people "have little motivation to stop terrorists."