'When They Said "Three Dead," I Said "Allah Be Praised"...'

From the antipodean J-Wire service comes the following article by bereaved parents Frimet and Arnold Roth, whose young daughter Malki was among fifteen persons killed by a bomb in Jerusalem planted by Hamas terrorists.  It concerns Ahlam Tamimi, one of the terrorists released by Israel in order to procure Gilad Shalit's release :

"Please spend two minutes and 46 seconds in watching the edited extract of a television  interview with the woman who planned and executed a massacre of innocent civilians, most of them children, eleven years ago. Following the killings, she went to her place of work which happens to have been a television studio, and calmly read the evening news bulletin, starting with a report of the massacre that she herself had perpetrated some hours earlier.

After an intense criminal investigation, she was arrested less than two months later and charged with the murders of fifteen people, along with a host of other felonies. She was convicted and sentenced to sixteen terms of life imprisonment. But as a result of cynical political deal, she was freed (not pardoned) and released to the land of her birth where she has become a celebrity. Her recent wedding to her cousin, another unjustly freed murderer, received live television coverage and broad media attention. Not only a celebrity but a hero. [My emphasis here and below]

A still from the video (more on J-Wire)

Watch how the woman’s face radiates the joy that comes from recounting how the death toll grew steadily in the hour or so that she spent fleeing the scene via public transport, unhindered by the police. Absorb the message of how members of the public, unaware the murderer was seated beside them, expressed happiness at the deaths of anonymous children.

Imagine the feelings of the families of the innocents murdered by a person like this as they see her achievements celebrated and honored, as they listen to the prideful boasting of an unrepentant killer whose only regret is that she did not manage to kill more. She has confessed over and again since being allowed out of captivity. There can be absolutely no doubt that her deeds are an inspiration to countless others seeking the glory and vindication that her society has delivered to her.

Ahlam Tamimi, a very happy person, lives in complete and unfettered freedom in the Kingdom of Jordan from where she has traveled several times in the ten months since her release to such places as Tunisia, Lebanon and Qatar to give public speeches. She hosts a television program of her own that is broadcast by satellite throughout the Arabic-speaking world. She married her cousin in June.

Among the fifteen people murdered by her on August 9, 2001 is our daughter Malki who was fifteen years old. A sixteenth victim, the young mother of a two year old child, has remained in a vegetative state since being injured in the attack.

What should a civilized society do in the wake of this woman’s story?'

The video, which went to air in July, has just been translated and edited by MEMRI; see it and more stills here

Online Petition To Prevent The Release of One of The Terrorists Due For Release In the Shalit Exchange

The petition (in which time is of the essence) concerns Ahlam Tamimi, whose victims (15 killed and 130 wounded) include the fifteen-year-old Malki Roth.

Explains Malki's father, Arnold Roth:

'Ahlam Tamimi was not the driver of the Sbarro restaurant suicide bomber. On the day of the massacre (9th August 2001), she personally transported the bomb (10 kg) from a West Bank town into Jerusalem, concealed inside a guitar case. Taxi cabs brought her and an accomplice by the name of Al Masri, a young, newly-religious fanatic, to an Israeli security checkpoint and from there into Jerusalem. To reduce suspicion, they dressed as Israelis and the bomb was not detected. Tamimi, who inspired, planned and engineered the Sbarro attack, personally led her "weapon" - Al Masri - to the target she had carefully selected at Jerusalem's busiest intersection.

The target was a pizza restaurant, selected because it was located in the heart of Jerusalem and on a hot summer vacation afternoon it would be teeming with women and children. Tamimi instructed Al Masri to wait fifteen minutes before detonating the explosives to give her sufficient time to flee the scene safely. He followed her orders. As to this being (as some journalists have implied) an act of momentary madness or lack of sound thinking, take into account that a short time prior to Sbarro attack, Tamimi carried out a 'dry run', placing an explosive inside a downtown Jerusalem supermarket (Hamashbir Lazarchan) which exploded causing damage but resulting in no injuries.

According to a journalist I met who had interviewed her some years ago, she is a charismatic and influential woman who played a central role in Neve Tirza, until now the prison for Palestinian Arab female security prisoners. And, he told me, a monster.'

The logic behind the petition is that if one specific terrorist is removed from the list of those due for release, namely Ahlam Tamimi, it may prompt a much more thorough thinking process about the real damage that will flow from this agreement. The official Israeli version of the to-be-freed list goes out some time tomorrow (perhaps after Shabbat) via the Israeli Prison Service website. If the petition sponsors can obtain a substantial number of supporters by then, they may be able to have some influence over what ensues.

The petition is online here

Giulio Meotti has an article on the prisoner exchange here, entitled "Why Did Israel Betray Its Victims".

"How Can They Sleep At Night, Knowing The Peril They Have Brought Onto Their People?": A Bereaved Mother On The Israeli Cabinet's Prisoner Release Swap

There has been much written already on the deal that will see the kidnapped young soldier Gilad Shalit freed by Hamas  in exchange for the release by Israel of over 1000 Palestinian prisoners.

Melanie Phillips has written a characteristically incisive piece here on the subject.  So, too, has Elder of Ziyon here.

Among the prisoners to be released is the person who took the life of Malki (pictured), the teenage daughter of Arnold and Frimet Roth, of Melbourne and Jerusalem.  They blog here, and The Malki Foundation commemorates the daughter they lost so tragically.

Observes Frimet Roth today:

'Along with the entire nation, I am relieved and happy that Gilad Shalit will be returning home imminently. But I am shocked and deeply pained that this is being achieved by the mass release of cold-blooded murderers.

One of them is Ahlam Tamimi, a proud terrorist and the unrepentant murderer of my fifteen year old daughter, Malki. Tamimi transported the 10 kg. bomb, handed it to her accomplice and then led him on foot to the door of the target she had selected, Jerusalem's crowded Sbarro restaurant. Seven men and women and eight children perished. 130 people were injured. She was sentenced to sixteen terms of life in prison.

Tamimi declared that she does not regret what she did. She actually smiled when told the number of children whose lives she took. 

With today’s decision to free the terrorists, prime minister Netanyahu, a savvy politician to the core, conveys to us his disdain for the lives of ordinary citizens like my Malki; his disrespect for Israel's justice system; and his lack of regard for the soldiers who faced death in order to apprehend the terrorists about to be freed.

 Which rational soldier or police officer is going risk his life in the future to defend us from the monsters like Tamimi, sworn to murder still more Jews?

The prime minister is quoted this morning saying that his "heart goes out" to Israel’s many terror victims. His actions and those of his cabinet suggest otherwise. How can they sleep at night, knowing the peril they have brought onto their people?'