Soccer Dad

Sbarro's rememberance

Two years ago when we were in Israel, my wife and two daughters and I went to Sbarro's. I took this picture of the plaque. The Hebrew simply says "Remembering the darkness that fell upon us ..." and gives the date of the 20th of (the Hebrew month) of Av 5761 (2001). Today is the 4th anniversary of the deaths of Giora Balash, Zvika Golombek, Shoshana Yehudit Greenbaum, Tehila Maoz, Frieda Mendelsohn, Michal Raziel, Malka Roth, Mordechai Schijveschuurder, Tzira Schijveschuurder, Ra'aya Schijveschuurder, Avraham Yitzhak Schijveschuurder, Hemda Schijveschuurder, Lily Shimashvili, Tamara Shimashvili, Yocheved Shoshan, Aliza Malka, Tzahi Grabli, Kobi Nir, Gil Oz, Sharon Ben-Shalom and Yaniv Ben-Shalom.

At the time it was the most shocking of the many terror attacks that had been perpetrated against Israel by the Palestinians during that first of year of the "Aqsa intifada or Oslo war.

Ben Zion Nemmett whose daughter was injured in the atrocity wrote a haunting essay "Remembering Shema Yisrael."

The Roth family, whose daughter Malki was killed that day in Sbarro as she ate lunch with her best friend Michal Raziel, who was also killed, created a foundation Keren Malki in their daughter's memory. The Roths who have a disabled child created a foundation to carry on the work that Malki did. Malki had been a big help with her sister and worked with other disabled children. The foundation is devoted to helping families cope with their disabled children. The parents, Arnold and Frimet Roth frequently write and speak of their tragedy.

At Keren Malki there are a number of articles available from the media by both parents, including the recent rememberence by Frimet Roth on the occasion of her daughter's 4th Yahrzeit. Though I was no fan of the Washington Post's Israeli correspondent at the time, Lee Hockstader, he presented a very effective and affecting profile of Arnold Roth a week after the terror attack, "The Suicide Bomber Took Our Daughter's Life But Not Our Convictions."

Jack Kelley's harrowing and sympathetic reporting of the attack for USA Today was fabricated. He may have been close to the scene but much of what he described never happened.

Students at Al Najah University showed their sympathy with a tastefully done re-enactment so they could relive the experience of killing Jews (scroll down). A spokesman for the university compares it to playing sports.

Finally it's worth noting that in the wake of this atrocity Charles Krauthammer wrote "Mideast Violence: The Only Way Out" pretty much suggesting the disengagement as PM Sharon eventually carried it out.