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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Ma'Alot Massacre of 22 Israeli Children


Nadene Goldfoot
On May 15, 1974, 3 armed Palestinian terrorists belonging to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine but dressed in Israeli uniforms  snuck into Israel at night from Lebanon and  attacked Ma'alot, located in the Western Galilee of Israel, only 6 miles away from the Lebanese border.  It was quite close to Safed, where I lived from 1980-1985.  Terrorists had taken 115 people hostage which ended with 25 dying. 

First they had attacked a van and killed two Israeli Arab women.  Then they entered an apartment building in the town and killed a 4 year old, Eliahu,  and his parents, Fortuna, 7 months pregnant  and Yosef Cohen. Their 5 year old daughter, Miriam, was wounded.  (This is why my apartment in Safed had bars on our living room windows as we were at ground level).  Several more people were killed along the route. 

After this slaughter they headed for the Netiv Meir Elementary School, where high school students from Safed were boarded who were on a field trip,  to take 105 children and 10 adults there as hostage.  This was to demand the release of 23 Palestinian militants from prisons in Israel and 3 other prisoners of which the Japanese Kozo Okamoto was one.  He was a part of the 1972 Lod airport Massacre.   Otherwise,  they would kill the students.  6:00 pm that same day was the deadline.   Students were forced to sit on the floor at gunpoint, looking at explosive charges near them. 

 The deadline could not be met, so the decision was made for the Golani Brigade to storm the school.  The terrorists had killed 22 children and 3 adults with grenades and automatic weapons during the takeover.  68 were injured in the melee.  In the end the 3 terrorists were killed.  The children were buried in Safed.  10,000 mourners attended.  Seven years later I taught English at the junior high in Safed while my husband taught in the high school.  Some of the teachers had been students in the massacre.  No one forgot as the cemetery is a reminder.

Last week the Palestine Authority (PA) TV broadcast tributes to these same terrorists (DFLP).  They glorified the terrorists as "Martyrs,".  They have been doing such things all along with honoring these same terrorist group last year as well.  They actually glorify the ma'alot massacre of murdering 22 children when they were in school!  This happens to be the anniversary of DFLP's founding, so broadcast such vileness 10 times just last week.  These "Heros" were in a collage which showed the 16 pictures of the men with their weapons.  What they called "Operations in northern Palestine" is in truth "terror attacks in northern Israel."

This is the type of morality these terrorists exhibit.  Knowing where their minds are, how can there be any Americans or Europeans, for that matter, that side with them and praise them?  Does this mean that most of the world thinks as they do? 

Ilana Turgeman, Rachel Aputa, Yocheved Mazoz, Sarah Ben-Shim'on, Yona Sabag, Yafa Cohen, Shoshana Cohen, Michal Sitrok, Malka Amrosy, Aviva Saada, Yocheved Diyi, Yaakov Levi, Yaakov Kabla, Rina Cohen, Ilana Ne'eman, Sarah Madar, Tamar Dahan, Sarah Sofer, Lili Morad, David Madar and Yehudit Madar and one unknown were high schools students killed in this attack.

Resource: http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=6520
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma'alot_massacre

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