Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing

The Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing was the suicide bombing of a crowded public bus in the Shmuel HaNavi quarter in Jerusalem, Israel, on August 19, 2003. Twenty-three people were killed and over 130 wounded. Many of the victims were children. Remember these childrenThe Islamist militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
==Attack==
On August 19, 2003, a Hamas suicide bomber sent out by Hamas' Hebron cell disguised himself as a Haredi Jew and detonated himself on a No. 2 Egged bus traveling through Jerusalem's Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood. The double-length bus was crowded with Orthodox Jewish children returning from a visit to the Western Wall. The huge explosion killed 7 children and 16 adults, and injured more than 130 people. The bomb was spiked with ball-bearings designed to increase injuries on the crowded bus. Hamas said the bomber was a 29-year-old mosque preacher from the city of Hebron.
Because so many of the dead were young children, the media dubbed it the "children's bus." According to an Associated Press report,
==Perpetrators==
Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack."The attack tonight was claimed by members of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The Israeli police said the bomber was from Hamas." James Bennet, BOMBING KILLS 18 AND HURTS SCORES ON JERUSALEM BUS, The New York Times, August 20, 2003."The militant Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad both said they carried out the attack." Bus bomb carnage in Jerusalem, BBC News, August 20, 2003."...a bus bomb in Jerusalem earlier this week - for which both groups claimed responsibility - left 20 people dead." Roger Hardy, Analysis: End of roadmap?, BBC News, August 21, 2003. According to Tariq Ali, however, the bombing was carried out by a "self-proclaimed 'Hamas' cell from Hebron, disowned and denounced by the official leadership."http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/30/gaza-hamas-palestinians-israel1 The attack put an end to the so-called Hudna that had been announced in July 2003. United States president George W. Bush sent his condolences to the victims' families. The European Commission also denounced what it called the "devastating terrorist attack" and called on the Palestinian Authority to intervene to bring a halt to such acts:
The European Commission strongly condemns last night's devastating terrorist attack in Jerusalem and expresses its sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to the Israeli Government. This is an attack on all the forces working for peace. The European Commission calls on the Palestinian Authority to do everything in its powers to prevent such unacceptable and unjustified act of violence, and urges the PA and the Israeli Government to pursue their dialogue and common efforts towards peace as set out in the Road Map.The European Commission strongly condemns Jerusalem terrorist attack, European Union @ the United Nations website, August 20, 2003.
==Aftermath==
Following the attack, the Israel Defense Forces raided Hebron and killed or arrested several individuals who they said were involved in the planning and preparation of the attack.
In 2004 a memorial plaque to the victims was erected in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood of Jerusalem. The name of the only non-Jewish victim, Maria Antonia Reslas (of blessed memory), was engraved separately from the names of the other victims, resulting in some controversy. A degrading memorial Haaretz, 16 August 2004
==Victims==
*Avraham Bar-Or, 12, of Jerusalem.
*Binyamin Bergman, 15, of Jerusalem.
*Yaakov Binder, 50, of Jerusalem.
*Feiga Dushinski, 50, of Jerusalem.
*Miriam Eisenstein, 20, of Bnei Brak.
*Lilach Kardi, 22, of Jerusalem.
*Menachem Leibel, 24, of Jerusalem.
*Elisheva Meshulami, 16, of Bnei Brak.
*Tehilla Nathanson, 3, of Zikhron Ya'akov.
*Chava Nechama Rechnitzer, 19, of Bnei Brak. 
*Mordechai Reinitz, 49, and his son:
*Issachar Reinitz, 9, of Netanya.
*Maria Antonia Reslas, 39, of the Philippines.
*Liba Schwartz, 54, of Jerusalem.
*Hanoch Segal, 65, of Bnei Brak.
*Goldie Taubenfeld, 43, 
*Shmuel Taubenfeld, 3 months, of New Square, New York.
*Rabbi Eliezer Weisfish, 42, of Jerusalem.
*Shmuel Wilner, 50, of Jerusalem.
*Shmuel Zargari, 11 months, of Jerusalem.
*Fruma Rahel Weitz, 73, of Jerusalem died of her wounds on August 23.
*Mordechai Laufer, 27, of Netanya died of his wounds on September 5.
*Tova Lev, 37, of Bnei-Brak died of her wounds on September 12.
==See also==
*Kiryat Menachem bus bombing
*Patt junction bus bombing
*Dizengoff Center suicide bombing
*Civilian casualties in the Second Intifada
==References==
==External links==
* Suicide bombing of No. 2 Egged bus in Jerusalem August 19, 2003
Category:Hamas
Category:History of Jerusalem
Category:Israeli casualties during the Al-Aqsa Intifada
Category:Terrorist incidents in 2003
Category:Terrorism in Jerusalem
Category:Palestinian suicide bomber attacks against buses
Category:2003 in Israel
he:הפיגוע בקו 2 בירושלים