|
Bus bomb attack proves wall is essential says sharon { July 11 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/11/international/middleeast/11CND-MIDE.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/11/international/middleeast/11CND-MIDE.html
July 11, 2004
Sharon Says Attack Proves Barrier Is Essential
By GREG MYRE
JERUSALEM, July 11 - A bomb exploded next to a Tel Aviv bus stop, killing a female soldier and wounding about 20 Israelis today. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called for Israel to respond by pressing ahead with the ``terrorism-prevention fence'' that an international court ruled illegal just two days earlier.
The attack marked the first deadly bombing inside Israel in nearly four months, the longest such stretch since the current round of Middle East fighting began in September 2000.
The Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, a faction linked to Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying it was revenge for recent Israeli military raids in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
However, Mr. Arafat denounced the attack, and then hinted that Israelis may have been behind the bombing.
``We condemn this act as we always condemn these acts,'' Mr. Arafat said at his West Bank compound in Ramallah, where he has been confined for more than two years.
``You know who is behind these acts,'' he said. ``Europe knows it, the Americans know it, the Israelis know it.''
The bomb was concealed in bushes next to the bus stop, and police said it may have been detonated by remote control. The blast occurred shortly after 7 a.m., during the morning rush hour today, the first day of the work week in Israel.
A 19-year-old soldier, Ma'ayan Nayim, was killed in the blast, which injured people on the street as well as passengers on a bus that was passing by on a busy thoroughfare, near the city's main bus station.
Among those injured was Sammi Masrawa, an Arab citizen of Israel who heads an Arab-Jewish friendship group in the Tel Aviv area. Mr. Masrawa told Israel radio that he had opposed the barrier, and had taken part in recent protests against it. But today's blast changed his mind, he said.
``I will now be for it and from an organization in favor of it,'' said Mr. Masrawa, 29, who suffered leg wounds while heading to a restaurant where he works as a chef.
The last bombing inside Israel was on March 14 when two suicide bombers killed 10 Israelis in the southern port town of Ashdod.
Shortly after the bombing, Mr. Sharon gathered his cabinet in Jerusalem and reiterated that his government would ignore the decision handed down Friday by the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
In a non-binding decision, the United Nations' highest court ruled that the sections of the separation barrier that Israel is building in the West Bank are a violation of international law and should be torn down, with compensation paid to Palestinians who have lost land.
``I want to make it clear: the state of Israel completely rejects the I.C.J.'s opinion,'' Mr. Sharon told his cabinet. ``The opinion completely ignores the reason for the construction of the security fence - murderous Palestinian terrorism.''
About 120 miles of the planned 437-mile barrier has been built over the past two years, and Israel says it already has contributed to a dramatic decline in the number of Palestinian attacks.
However, Palestinians say the barrier has separated West Bank residents from their farmland, schools and jobs, and is undermining efforts to create a viable Palestinian state.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
|
|
