Bat Mitzvah massacre

The Bat Mitzvah massacre was a terrorist attack in Hadera, Israel, on Thursday, January 17, 2002, in which a Palestinian gunman, 24-year-old Abdul Salaam Sadek Hassouneh, killed six people and wounded 33 at a Bat Mitzvah celebration, a traditional Jewish celebration held for a 12-year-old girl.[1][2]

Bat Mitzvah massacre
Part of the Second Intifada militancy campaign
The attack site
LocationHadera, Israel
DateJanuary 17, 2002 (2002-01-17)
9:45 pm (GMT+2)
Attack type
Mass shooting, massacre, murder-suicide, suicide bombing
WeaponsM16 assault rifle
Deaths7 (including the perpetrator)
Injured33
PerpetratorAbdul Salaam Sadek Hassouneh
(al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility)

Attack

The attack took place at 9:45 pm (GMT+2) as guests were departing.[3] The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades assumed responsibility for the attack, claiming it was vengeance for the killing of its leader Raed Karmi. An Israeli police spokesman said the man, apparently on a suicide mission, had thrown several grenades into the Armon David wedding hall, where the Bat Mitzvah celebration had taken place, and detonated explosives on himself. A belt filled with explosives was found on the attacker.[1]

Victims

Media coverage

The Al Jazeera television network was criticized for bias in coverage of the massacre, failing to note that the victims were attending a bat mitzvah and that the gunman crashed the event at a crowded banquet hall, and failing to mention the number of people killed by Raed Karmi when covering his assassination several days earlier, which would have provided context for the story.[5]

Perpetrator

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the attacker, 24-year-old Abdel Salam Hassouna, was from a village near Nablus and launched the attack to avenge the death of Raed Karmi.[1]

After the attack a video made earlier by the attacker was released, in which he is seen declaring: "I am doing this to avenge all the Palestinian martyrs."[5]

Official reactions

Involved parties

 Israel

 Palestinian territories:

International
  •  United States: the US government condemned the Hadera attack "in the strongest possible terms," calling it a "horrific act of terrorism."[3]

See also

References

  1. Bat mitzvah massacre in Israel leaves seven dead, Phil Reeves, 18 January 2002
  2. Jackson, Brian A. (2007). Breaching the Fortress Wall: Understanding Terrorist Efforts to Overcome Defensive Technologies. Rand Corporation. ISBN 9780833039149.
  3. Gunman kills 6 Israelis; jets fire missiles in response, January 18, 2002. CNN
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2013-11-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Perspectives on war. Hickey, Neil, Columbia Journalism Review, March 1, 2002


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