A Least 20 Injured in Israel Bombing

By GREG MYRE
.c The Associated Press

JERUSALEM (Aug. 12) - A suicide bomber blew himself up on the patio of a restaurant near the northern Israeli coastal town of Haifa, killing himself and wounding up to 20 people, Israeli authorities said.

The bombing resembled a Palestinian suicide attack Thursday at a Jerusalem pizzeria that killed 15 and wounded about 100. However, in that attack the assailant went inside and his bomb sprayed shrapnel and nails throughout the densely packed restaurant.

In Sunday's attack, the bomber set off his explosives on the patio outside the restaurant, shredding an awning, overturning tables and chairs and leaving the patio covered of the Wall Street Cafe covered with blood.

The force of the blast was less powerful than if it had taken place inside, and almost all the injuries were light, police and rescue workers said in Kiryat Motzkin, a suburb north of Haifa, about 50 miles north of Tel Aviv.

As with previous bomb attacks, Israeli officials said that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat bore ultimate responsibility for his refusal to arrest Palestinian militants.

``Arafat believes he can continue to support this wave of terrorism against Israeli civilians without any international pressure or condemnation,'' said Dore Gold, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. ``Israel cannot tolerate this trail of terror.''

Sharon's government responded to Thursday's attack by taking over Palestinian political offices and security buildings in and around disputed east Jerusalem.

Israel's security forces maintained a tough stance in the area Sunday, with the army shutting a Palestinian communications center and police pushing back demonstrators for a third straight day outside a Palestinian political headquarters now under Israeli control.

Palestinians called for a ``day of rage'' Monday to protest the Israeli crackdown in east Jerusalem and its suburb of Abu Dis.

``Israel opened the battle for Jerusalem and we will resist this new aggression,'' Ahmed Qureia, speaker of the Palestinian parliament, told a news conference. ``We will not forget until they withdraw from each centimeter of Jerusalem.''

Israel has claimed all of Jerusalem since capturing the eastern sector in the 1967 Mideast war, while the Palestinians want it as a capital of a future state.

About 40 protesters, most of them Palestinians, pushed and shoved with Israeli police in the street outside Orient House, a building that has served as the unofficial Palestinian headquarters in east Jerusalem.

Also, Israeli troops with automatic rifles entered the Palestine Telecommunications building and told workers to leave within minutes, employees said. The office, which handles Palestinian telephones in the Jerusalem area, is part of a Palestinian compound in Abu Dis, on the edge of east Jerusalem. The Israelis took control of other buildings in the compound Friday.

The Israeli takeover of Orient House was criticized by the United States, European nations and Arab governments. U.S. diplomat David Satterfield was holding talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders Sunday in a bid to ease tensions.

i disagree, israel has turned into a big group
of pussies {cats}. how many more of thes attacks are they going to put up with?

This bombing-assassination conflict can't go on forever, but I can only see 2 ways to end it.

1.  Israel kicks every Arab out, initiating a war where victory is uncertain because every Arab nation for 1000 miles joins in.  All or nothing.

2.  Bush steps in and helps negotiate something.  Very unlikely he'll try BEFORE a war actually breaks out, because he knows any attempt will fail anyway.  He'll only step in after the shooting starts.

All in all, things look real bad for Israel.  It looks like they have to make a decision about which course will hurt them the least.  The Palestinians look like they have a lot to gain, but they'll never be happy unless they have it all.

These PLO guys just don't seem to get it.

The Israeli's are not playing lay down for no reason. They are putting up with this stuff simply because world opinion is still sympathetic to the Palestinians. The truth is that with each bombing the Palestinians look more vicious and more obstinate. They now appear to be the ones obstructing "Peace".

The reality is that there never will be peace in the region. These people have hated each other for thousands of years and will continue to do so as long as each occupies the others "Homeland". It's a no win situation for both, but worse for the Palestinians.

Hitler was the last guy to have a free run at the Jews. They have vowed "never again" and I think they mean it. Since the establishment of the state of Israel, every Arab attack has been decisively defeated. There is no current feeling among the Arab states to get their asses kicked again over some landless Palestinians who blow up kids, mothers and babies. The Palestinians are not even claimg to attack military targets with a military objective. They just say they are "frustrated."

Soon, they will go too far, with an attack that is so heinous that the Israelis will have the excuse they need to go in and clean them out. The Palestinians will be set back fifty years and their political cause will lose any sense of legitimacy. The common people will be the big losers while Arafat and his guys still yap on about Jihad.

I never understood the point of blowing yourself up and taking only a few with you. If you are bent on going down with your victims the best way is wide spread of chemicals in crouded areas or going to Africa and bring a massive Ebola case back. In this way is hard to detect, more victime and even indoors nobody is safe.

Cerberus?

You think so?  You think that the other Arab states would stay out if Israel really got serious about evicting the Palistinians?

Israel can't kick out the Palestinians! Who would do all of their manual labor? Duh????!!!
DaMan

Russian Jews who want to work their way out of poverty and the Lebinese Christians that have been driven from their own country by the Syrians!

Duh!!!![rolleyes]

Well, ArmdLbrl, since the Israelis have enough manpower to take care of their own manual labor requirements (at least according to your information), then they really SHOULD kick out the Palestinians! That SHOULD bring about a peaceful resolution to the situation..........

SHOULDN'T IT?!!!!!

BTW!  Didn't the Israelis try to enforce a really strict entry control program on Palestinians for a short time in the recent past before they gave it up?! Did it work?  Who gave in? Hmmm???!!!!!

DaMan

They gave it up, because the US pressured them to give it up, in order to get talks going again.

To bring in more Russian Jews and Lebinese Christians they would have to build settlements in the West Bank and Gaza to house them. And we keep trying to get them to not do that for the sake of "peace".

Yet another thing Bill Clinton did to fuck up the world while trying to make a "legacy" for himself.

ArmdLbrl, I appologize, if I sounded like a "smartass"!

I recognize this bombing in Haifa as a regretable tragedy in a continuing conflict.

I wish I had an answer for peace in the region!  BUT, I DON'T!

DaMan

 

The way I look at it, whose side would Israel back if the U.S. gov. went tyrannical? With groups like the ADL there is no question what would happen.

They both can destroy each other for all I care.

The oil must flow.

Damn right and the cheaper the better!

Silly me, I didn't realize Israel or the Palestinians had anything to do with our oil supply. Do you really think OPEC would stop selling us oil over our support of Israel? How long have the most recent clashes been going on? And in that time, what has happened to the price of gasoline where you live? I rest my case.

Face it, the rest of the Arab world will do nothing about or for the Palestinians, other than pay lip service to the idea of a Palestinian homeland - and that only because the desired homeland is in Israel. They want absolutely nothing to do with Palestinians themselves, because to the rest of the Arabs the Palestinians are the "niggers" of the Arab world. They're just a convenient excuse to spout anti-Israeli rhetoric and support various (and largely ineffective) anti-Israeli terror organizations. But no Saudi or Kuwaiti prince will EVER cut production or sale of oil over ANYTHING the Israelis do to the Palestinians, short of nuking them - they like the comfortable lifestyle they live, and know exactly what put them there (it's not Islamic unity, either!)