Ben Yehuda Street bombings

A series of attacks were perpetrated or ordered by

The attacks took place during the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, after the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine in November 1947 and before the Israeli Declaration of Independence in May 1948.

On February 22, 1948, three British Army trucks led by an armoured car driven by Arab irregulars and British deserters exploded on Ben Yehuda Street killing from 49 to 58 civilians^[1][2] and injuring from 140 to 200.^[3][4][5][6] The bomb may have been intended to kill members of the Furmans (Palmach convoy escorts) who lodged in the Atlantic and Amdursky Hotels but had left on patrol shortly beforehand.^[7] In addition to the two hotels, the Vilenchick Building and the Kupat-Milveh Bank were destroyed.^[7] The bomb had been created by Fawzi al-Qutb. The convoy was led by a Jerusalemite militant, 'Azmi al-Ja'uni, who spoke fluent English and could pass himself off as a British officer.^[4] Two British deserters, Eddie Brown, a police captain who claimed that the Irgun had killed his brother, and Peter Madison, an army corporal, had been persuaded to join the attack, also by the promise of substantial financial rewards.^[8]

Aftermath

A leaflet stating that the explosion was in response to an Irgun bomb attack three days earlier, in

In the ensuing confusion, Jewish residents immediately blamed the British for the attack. David Ben-Gurion, on visiting the site of the carnage, has been cited as putting some responsibility for this Arab attack on the shoulders of Jewish thugs, stating, "I could not forget that our thugs and murderers had opened the way."^[10] The Irgun spread word ordering militants to shoot on sight any Englishman.^[11] By day's end, eight British soldiers had been shot dead, while a ninth was murdered while laid up in a Jewish clinic for treatment of a wound.^[3] Lehi also reacted several days later by blowing up a train full of British soldiers as it drew out of Rehovot station, killing 27.^[3]

The day after, on 23 February, a Jewish offensive, deploying mortars, was launched against the Arab neighbourhood of

On Friday, July 4, 1975, a refrigerator that had five kilograms of explosives packed into its sides exploded on Zion Square, a main city square connecting Ben Yehuda Street and Jaffa Road. Fifteen people were killed and 77 injured in the attack.^[13] Ahmad Jabara, who was responsible for placing the bomb, was arrested and sentenced to life and thirty years in prison, but was released by Israel in 2003 after serving 27 years as a gesture to Arafat, who then appointed him his adviser on prisoners affairs.^[14] He died in Ramallah in 2013.^[14]

On November 13, 1975, an explosive charge went off near Cafe Naveh on Jaffa Road, near the pedestrian mall. Six people were killed and 40 injured.^[15]

1976 (1 killed)

On April 9, 1976, a car bomb was dismantled on Ben Yehuda Street shortly before it was to have exploded.^{[citation needed]}

On May 3, 1976, thirty-three passers-by were injured when a booby-trapped motor scooter exploded at the corner of Ben Yehuda and Ben Hillel Streets. Among those injured were the Greek consul in Jerusalem and his wife. The following day, on the eve of

Three 14-year-old girls were killed in the attack: Sivann Zarka, Yael Botvin and Smadar Elhanan.[19] Elhanan was the daughter of peace activist Nurit Peled-Elhanan and the granddaughter of Israeli general and politician Mattityahu Peled.^{[citation needed]}

The family of Yael Botvin, a U.S. citizen, filed a lawsuit in the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran.^[20]

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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ben Yehuda Street bombing (1948).

• Suicide bombing at the Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall in Jerusalem - December 1, 2001
• Mandate period
  • Ben Yehuda Street Bombing
  • [1] Archived 2004-10-12 at the Wayback Machine