Disguises Aid Wave of Terror

An Israeli policeman on a public bus looks somberly at a female murder victim killed by a Palestinian terrorist who was disguised as an Orthodox Jew, came on the bus as a passenger than detonated the bombs he was wearing to kill passengers. 5.18.03 Photo by Reinhard Krause / Reuters

On Monday, at a shopping mall in Northern Israel (Afula) a homicide bomber exploded while trying to gain entrance to the busy mall. According to the latest report from the IDF, a female bomber that looked like a shopper was the terrorist. 3 Israelis were killed by the bomber and over 70 were wounded. Reportedly, the male security guard at the scene was new on the job and a new immigrant from the former Soviet Union. The female mall security guard had only been on the job 2 days, yet she also tried to stop the homicide bomber when the doorway metal detector went off. The male guard was killed instantly, and at last report, the female guard who also performed an act of heroism to save the innocent inside the shopping mall is in critical condition, suffering with serious burns and wounds. Islamic Jihad and Arafat’s terror group, have claimed responsibility. Israeli officials arrested the bomber’s parents on Tuesday after the bombing.

The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement through RIA Novosti, condemning the terrorist act.

"Russia’s behaviour towards such inhuman actions is obvious – non of the political or other motives could justify murders of innocent people and the terrorist acts could be classified only as grave crimes," the Russian Federation Foreign Ministry’s Department of Information disclosed. "Moreover, those who stand behind the terrorist acts obviously eliminate all efforts taken to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation and set aside the perspectives concerning the just settlement of the Palestinian issue," the department disclosed.

Also on Monday, a 19-year-old Palestinian–also with Hamas–rode a bicycle toward an Israeli army jeep near the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom in Gaza. When he got close, he detonated a 66-pound bomb strapped to his body, said an IDF official.

Forensic experts from the Israeli police examine the scene of a suicide bombing at a shopping center in the northern Israeli town of Afula, Monday May 19, 2003. In the fifth suicide bombing in less than 48 hours. Eitan Hess-Ashkenazi / AP Photo

Palestinian attacks against Israelis seem to be non stop. About an hour after Monday’s bombing, Israelis were fired upon by Palestinians. An Israeli group of civilian cars and a bus being escorted for protection near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim took several hits but fortunately no one was injured, but the bus was damaged, officials reported.

RIA Novosti reports that among those killed Sunday in the terrorist act on the public bus in Jerusalem were CIS citizens; Marina Tskhiurishvili, Olga Brener and Nelly Perova. Seven of the wounded victims are in Jerusalem hospitals. According to doctors, three of them are in a grave condition.

Thirty minutes after Sunday’s bus attack, a homicide bomber blew himself up at the A-Ram Junction in north Jerusalem. The terrorist detonated his bomb when he was intercepted by police at a roadblock in northern Jerusalem. The homicide bomber was killed. No injuries were reported in the second attack.

UN Ambassador from Israel, Dan Gillerman, commenting on the several terrorist attacks and Arafat’s statement that he was in charge, said that homicide bombings were Arafat’s invention and Arafat’s invention has since spread around the world by other Islamic extremists focused on creating world submission to Islamic rule. He said, ‘Israel is continuing to defend itself..Israeli mothers are sending their children on buses to school, but Arab mothers raise their children to be suicide bombers.’

On Sunday U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "We condemn in the strongest possible terms the horrific terrorist bombing earlier today in Jerusalem that killed at least seven and wounded many more."

"We call on the Palestinians to begin to take immediate and decisive action to eradicate the infrastructure of terrorism and violence that has wrought such tragic bloodshed for both Palestinians and Israelis and has undermined Palestinian aspirations," Powell said.

Hours after the initial terror attacks in Israel, Arafat talked to a FoxNews reporter and said that he was "definitely" still in charge as leader, giving a strong indication that the Mazen leadership is not what it was meant to be or what it seems.

On Saturday, May 17, an IDF reserve force thwarted a terrorist infiltration attempt into the Israeli community of Sharei Tikvah in the West Bank. At approximately 12:00am, two terrorists, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, cut through the separation fence and attempted to infiltrate the community. An IDF reserve force identified a breach in the fence and pursued the terrorists, who opened fire. IDF forces returned fire, killing the terrorists.

Tragically though on Saturday, Gadi Levy, 31, and his wife Dina, of Kiryat Arba were killed by a homicide bomber in Hebron. Gadi and Dina Levy were walking near Gross Square in Hebron at about 7:20p.m. when a homicide bomber wearing a white shirt like that of a religious school student came from the direction of a familiar neighborhood.

IDF soldiers from the Nahal Brigade soldiers were suspicious of the seemingly innocent appearance of the bicycler and called out to him to ‘stop’. The Palestinian bomber ignored their calls and detonated the bomb he was wearing near the first people he encountered – the Levys.

Gadi Levy died at the scene. Dina Levy died shortly after arriving at Hadassah Hospital. The terrorist, who was killed in the explosion, was identified as Fuad al-Kawasma, a member of Hamas.

Gadi and Dina Levy were married about 18 months ago and settled in Kiryat Arba. Gadi, who previously lived in Tel Aviv, was working at the Kiryat Arba supermarket.

Rafael Avitan, Gadi’s boss at the supermarket, said, "We all attended their wedding at the Jerusalem Rabbinate and celebrated. Gadi was a special person, very dedicated to his wife and mother and always willing to help anyone who needed assistance. He was a very special person, he wanted so much to be a father. He loved children."

Terror has been a problem across the globe for years; easy money flow, travel and relaxed immigration policies have aided the rise of Islamic radicals infiltrating over 80 nations. Israel has a large Arab population and Arabs are members of the Israeli cabinet. The war on terror is preventing the progression of radicals’ plan for Islamic extremist domination over the world, however the U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary said the terror attacks that were not able to be stopped–including Saudi Arabia, Chechnya and Morocco–were "unfortunately … not a surprise…the terrorists are still there. They are still dangerous."

Dia’a Rashwan, an expert on radical Islamic groups at Egypt’s Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said terrorists wanted the Casablanca strikes to convey the message: "We are capable of striking anywhere, very efficiently and regardless of security measures."

Sources: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Reuters, DoD, and the Israeli Defense Forces