January 29, 2004

Jerusalem Bomb Kills 10, Prisoner Swap Goes Ahead

A suicide bomber blew up an Israeli bus in Jerusalem Thursday, killing at least 10 people, as a complicated prisoner exchange between Israel and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah got underway.
[This was organized by Axis of Weasel member Germany--wonder why? Atonement for the Holocaust? Regret over the way they mishandled Black September in 1972? Persistent need to tell Jews (and everybody else) what to do? or All 3?--J.T.]

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast that peeled back part of the bus's roof, shattered windows and scattered body parts up to 50 feet away on Gaza Street near Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's official residence.

Sharon was at his ranch in southern Israel at the time. Police said the bomber died in the explosion. Dozens of wounded were rushed to hospital.
[...]
It was not clear whether the bombing in Jewish west Jerusalem was linked to the prisoner exchange, three years in the making.

Hours after the blast, Israel released some 400 Palestinian prisoners into the West Bank and Gaza and returned over its border with Lebanon the bodies of 59 Lebanese and Arab fighters killed during a 22-year occupation[Good old Rooters! They can't resist getting in a dig at Israel, especially now that their partner in crime--the BBC--has been so busted of late.--Jen] of southern Lebanon.
[...]
Earlier, some 30 Arab prisoners were flown to Germany as German mediators flew an Israeli businessman and the remains of three soldiers, abducted on a border patrol in 2000, from Beirut to Cologne for the swap.

Israeli forensic experts sent to Cologne identified the bodies of the Israeli soldiers, clearing the way for the exchange to proceed.

Most of the Arab prisoners flown from Israel were Lebanese expected to return home later in the day. A German convert to Islam jailed in 1997 as a Hizbollah agent was also freed.
[...]
The bombing came in the midst of a visit by U.S. envoy John Wolf, who has met this week with Israel and Palestinian officials to try to revive a U.S.-backed peace "road map" stalled by violence.

Palestinian militant groups had vowed revenge [Word on the street was that it was Islamic Jihad to be more specific.--Jen] for an Israeli army raid in the Gaza Strip Wednesday in which troops killed eight Palestinians, including five fighters.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie condemned the Jerusalem bombing[Is it okay to yawn now?--Jen] -- the latest in dozens that have killed hundreds of Israelis since a Palestinian uprising began in September 2000 -- and called for peace talks to resume.

Bastards.
I am so sick of these "Palestinian" killers.
They love to do these bombings when they think they're close to getting what they want, be it more of their pals being released from jail or more ambiguous road map terms with no requirement that they eschew terror killings.
Thank God they're not very bright, because all it will do will convince President Bush and right-minded Americans and Israelis that these jihadi Islamists can never give up terror and murder. Never.
For his part, PM Ariel Sharon is keeping to Israel's part of the "road map:" he's dismantling the settlements and releasing these Arab bad guys from Israeli custody, even though he knows that they should have been locked up and stayed in prison and even though taking down the settlements is probably one of the hardest things he's ever had to do.
Sharon is not going to give the Islamists or the West one single reason to complain that Israel hasn't kept to its part of the road map for peace.
While Arafat and his IslamoNazi friends will have given every reason to show that terrorist murder is their one and only tool and weapon and that for them, there can be no peace while Israel exists and Jews (and Christians) live happily on God's earth.
Keep building the fence, Israel, and God bless Ariel Sharon as he leads his nation down the road to real peace.
There will probably have to be another fight-to-the-death battle between the Paleostinians and the Israels to truly end this someday very soon, because there can't be peace until you have a war with a victor and a loser.
The smart money, including mine, is on the IDF.