Nov. 20, 2000

Carl and Adina Sherer

Layla Tov everyone.

I knew that this was going to be a difficult day when one of the first emails of the morning was from Roberta in Gush Katif writing about how much shooting there was there last night. Just a few minutes after I opened Roberta's letter, many of her friends had their lives changed forever. Ten children became orphans R"L. And another family had their lives turned upside down when three of their children were crippled R"L in the same bomb blast. Hashem yerachem! I wrote Roberta back and asked her to try to write something to tell you all tonight. It was difficult, but she wrote it, and you will see it later in this update.

I also have first person accounts from Yerushalayim and Tekoa, an appeal for help from Beitar, news of the too little too late retaliation (JMHO sneaking through there), and a whole lot of other stuff. So let's get going, or I will never get to sleep this morning....

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This was Roberta's first email of the day:

Dear Carl,

Loud gunfire woke me up last night. It was about midnight.

My daughter called about the same time. She left a message on our answering machine. The road to Netzarim was closed again. She couldn't get back (she is doing Sherut Leumi there)after attending a class in Tel Aviv. She had to sleep over at Kibbutz Saad [just north of Beer Sheva - C.S.].

Roberta

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I finished reading Roberta's letter at about 7:30 this morning. At about 7:38, a powerful bomb went off in front of the armored bus that was taking thirty children and two staffers to school in Atzmona. The bus had just left Kfar Darom, and was full of children. Ironically, the army had spent the night trying to level the area around the bombing spot, because it was the same place where the Palestinian terrorist policeman attacked on Shabbos killing one soldier and wounding two others (one of whom R"L died today). The bomb was a 122mm mortar shell. Despite the fact that the bus was armored, by 8:00 we knew that two people were dead and 8-10 were wounded, at least four critically. We knew that some of the wounded were children - the radio correspondents were being cagey about the dead. Most of the wounded were taken to Soroka Hospital in Beer Sheva, a huge hospital that has the largest number of births each year of any hospital in the world. One wounded person was taken to Barzilay Hospital in Ashkelon.

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Now, a few words from Roberta about the victims, and about what is going on in her mind today:

Dear Carl,

It is very hard for me to write this letter. But I guess it is important for everyone to know.

Where shall I start. From the end.

I am home safely. Two of my kids are on the road coming home from their teacher's funeral.

Miri Amitai (Hashem Yikam Damah) was a wonderful person and one of the best teachers in the Ulpana in Neve Dekalim. She taught history and geography and made the subject come alive for her students. She taught three of my daughters. Her oldest child is in 8th grade. She was always smiling and always looked at the world from a positive angle. When the last bus was almost blown up she ran after it since she was in her own car to see that everyone was all right. She then spoke to the children about the event and gave them a lot of Chizuk...

Alan [Roberta's husband - C.S.] & I worked with Gabi Biton (Hashem Yikam Damo) in the tomato packaging plant in Gush Katif many years ago. He was also a wonderful person, very quiet and nice, another Tzadik taken to the True world.

Noga Cohen, the women whose three kids were hurt is usually on the other side of the table. She is the counsellor (Yoetzet) in the regular elementary school.

The Haddad family whose daughter Cheli was only hurt a "little" worked with me when there used to be a Technological Incubator in Gush Katif before it was closed by that hater of the settlers, Ron Cohen [Meretz MK and Minister of Industry and Trade. He shut down the Gush Katif incubator and Roberta now commutes to Tel Aviv - probably a 90-120 minute drive each way - every day - C.S.]. She had been on the other bus that almost blew up once before.

My daughter in Netzarim heard and saw them shooting up Aza [more on this below - C.S.]. Too bad it is only buildings. Buildings for two holy souls. Too bad that the government had to wait until people were killed. Our rabbi said in schule on Shabbat that he now understands the prayers "miracles morning noon and night." Well today, the bombing could have been worse and that is a miracle but...

Overhead we heard the helicopters and then saw the lights from the bombings [see below]. Then we heard shooting. I don't know if it is us or them...

And to a more personal note:
My husband got a telephone call from my youngest daughter who was crying because her teacher was just killed. He went to the school and when he got there there was not a dry eye. The kids were on the floor crying hysterically. The teachers weren't much better. They dismissed the school. On the way home they announced the funeral. And where it would be and that the busses were leaving 12:30. It was already 12:00. They ran home and put the books away and caught the bus. All her friends were there. While waiting she turned to my husband, "I"m going to be with my friends." So he gave her his pelephone and told her to go without him since it is at least a 3 hour trip. On the way they switched busses. Now she is somewhere near Latrun and on the way home.

Daughter #2 called to find out what happened. All I knew was that there had been an explosion. I had to call her back. When I found out from daughter #1 who it was I called her back. She ended up going with another classmate to the funeral. They are now on the bus back from Ofra to Kfar Saba.

Daughter # 3 called me hysterically. (Everyone was hysterical today). She had just heard. Everyone was going/not going. At the end I told her not to go so she didn't. She spent the afternoon (in her Ulpana) crying and sleeping.

On the way to work I picked up 3 soldiers. They came from Kfar Darom. A few minutes later we heard about the explosion. They said they were just on the bus that exploded as it took them to Kissufim and then it returned to Kfar Darom to pick up the students.

On the way home I passed a demonstration at Ashkelon and Saad.

I am totally drained. Everyone is. What more can I say. I wish I could have written this better, but I can't. The above will have to do.

I hope that Tzahal will finally do what they have to do, but I doubt it. Barak is too afraid of antagonizing the world so we here in Israel remain cannon fodder for Arab terrorists who then cry when we "react" a little bit.

My all those who were injured have a speedy recovery. My all the families find comfort. May Mashiach come NOW and not wait any longer.

Roberta

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At the funeral for Miri Amitai HY"D, Sephardic Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi Doron said what was necessary was not an "emergency government but rather an emergency war."

This may be politically significant, because Rav Bakshi Doron is a protege of Rav Ovadiah Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Shas party, which as many of you know, has given the government a security net against no confidence votes which expires next week.

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This evening, at the height of rush hour, many right wing Israelis demonstrated at major intersections throughout the country, blocking highways with their bodies and with burning tires. Among the intersections that were blocked for some period of time were the entrance to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, and the bridge at the Bar Ilan exit on the Geha highway (for those who don't know, these are both extremely busy highways). A follow up protest against the government's inaction was held in Paris Square, a few blocks from my office (my luck - a client called as I was about to leave and kept me on the phone and producing documents until a bit after my daughter called and told me she was going home. Another demonstration is being held on Wednesday night in Zion Square.

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Around 6:00 this evening, the government attacked several offices and headquarters of the Fatah, the Tanzim and Arafat's entourage with helicopter gunships, missiles from ships at sea and other assorted pyrotechnics. Of course, by that time it was expected, and although this time the army did not warn the Palestinian terrorists that it was coming, nevertheless the army ended up attacking empty buildings again. Personally, I thought they should have attacked the PA's airport at Dhahaniye and destroyed Arafat's plane (nothing like grounding him and making him the mayor of Gaza City at least until he gets his act together and does what he is supposed to do). But it didn't happen.....

Here's Arutz Sheva's description of the decisions taken by the Security cabinet and the reactions to the day's events:

3. GOVERNMENT AND OTHER REACTIONS Prime Minister Barak expressed deep shock at the murderous attack today. He convened the security cabinet for an emergency meeting for several hours today, at which several operative decisions were made, including: attacks against specific targets within the Palestinian Authority; the division of the Gaza area of the Palestinian Authority into two cantons, by cutting off the northern part from the southern; sharper economic punitive measures against the PA; and the publication of parts of the "White Book" which reveals the corruption of Arafat and other senior PA figures, as well as Arafat's involvement in terrorist attacks of the past five years [The word is that the juiciest parts of the White Book were not published, and what was published was disappointing - C.S.].

Barak was originally scheduled to arrive in Kfar Darom this afternoon, according to a plan made several days ago, but he cancelled the trip at the last moment [Translation - Ehud Barach shuv paam - C.S.]. He would have been greeted by hundreds of angry Gush Katif residents, who demonstrated this morning for over two hours against the government's policy of restraint. One woman told Arutz-7's Kobi Finkler, "As you can see, the burnt and full-of- holes bus is still here (six hours after the explosion). The police wanted to take it away and clean up the area very quickly, as if nothing happened - and we are not letting them. What, the families in Kfar Darom are all busy with their wounded, and everything should be cleaned up here, as if nothing happened?! We want people to see what happened here!" On the bus someone had scrawled the words, "Results of the Restraint."

The government laid the blame for today's murders directly on Yasser Arafat and other Palestinian Authority figures, specifically Gaza Preventive Security head Muhammad Dahlan [Dahlan has been shown to have been directly involved with several terrorist attacks against Israel and Israelis in the last two months - C.S.]. This, despite the fact that little splinter groups associated with Hamas have claimed responsibility. Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben- Ami said today that the terrorists arrived from Area A - under total Palestinian control - and escaped back to there. Arafat had recently said that shootings from Area A upon Israelis should stop. Gaza commander Brig.-Gen. Ya'ir Naveh said, "We just today opened the road, under the impression that a period of calm had begun - but as you can see, there is no calm at all; this is war, plain and simple, with children as the targets."

National Religious Party head Rabbi Yitzchak Levy said this morning: "Arafat is making fools out of Israel and its Prime Minister, by promising to stop the terrorism while at the same time continuing to wage systematic war against us."

Even Peace Now condemned today's attack, announcing, "The killing of innocent civilians, especially children, is an unforgivable crime... No agreement can be reached until Arafat and the Palestinian leadership demonstrate a willingness and ability to put an end to the violence." [I'll believe that Peace Now will follow up on this statement when I see it - C.S.]

Shella Roznak-Shorshan, whose husband Doron was murdered by Arab terrorists in Kfar Darom eight years ago, called upon "Shimon Peres and all the others who were involved in the Oslo agreements to come and take part in today's funerals." [They did not. The government often does not even send ministers to pay shiva calls - C.S.]. She made the same call upon Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, spiritual leader of Shas, which voted for the original Oslo agreement. Speaking with Arutz-7 today, Mrs. Roznak said that whoever gave guns to the terrorists or supported the government that did so must come and see the results of his actions: "Whoever spoke of
'peace of the brave' should come and realize that we are the ones who are brave, not they - not the ones who rushed to sign agreements with murderers." She related how, a few years ago, she went to the Shas Knesset Members and "told each of them that if they vote for giving guns to the Palestinians, they will never be able to say that their hands
'did not spill this blood.' They should show their bravery now, by coming to the funerals·"

President Moshe Katzav met today with Yesha Council leaders, and echoed their call to "let the IDF retaliate with strength."

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What may be most amazing is the cabinet vote. The Jerusalem Post reported on it. I guess a poodle only barks; it doesn't bite:

(21:25) Cabinet voted 4-2-1 to approve retaliatory strikes

At the security cabinet meeting earlier today, Prime Minister Ehud Barak and ministers Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Avraham Shohat and Shlomo Ben-Ami voted in favor of the IDF retaliatory strikes against Palestinian Authority targets in the Gaza Strip.

Minister Yossi Beilin voted against.

Ministers Shimon Peres and Amnon Lipkin-Shahak abstained.