The Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that a Muslim has murdered 4 Israelis in a homicide bombing in Tel-Aviv:

An Israeli woman in shock, after a Muslim homicide bomber murdered 4 and injured over 50

A terror attack took place this evening in Tel Aviv killing at least 4 people and injuring 50. Magen David Adom emergency medical services has stated that 10 people are in serious to critical condition.

An American male tourist and a French female tourist were among the wounded, according to Israel police.

Israel radio reports that a suicide bomber attempted to enter Mike's Place, a seafront coffee house near the US Embassy in Tel Aviv.

Intial reports state the security guard at the restaurant tried to wrestle the terrorist to the ground when the terrorist detonated his explosives. The security guard survived the attack and is presently fighting for his life in hospital, according to the Israel police. [...] "Again we have witnessed yet another terror attack on innocent civilians," said Kleiman.

"The Israeli police have information that these terror attacks will continue to take place. We can't stop one hundred percent of these attacks from taking place, but we have been very successful in preventing the majority from taking place," said Kleiman.

Kleiman added that 115 Palestinian terror suicide attacks were attempted in 2002 in which many of these attacks had been foiled by Israeli security forces.

"Mike's Place', an American bar in Tel-Aviv, and the target of a Palestinian homicide bombing

While most of the Western media is reporting on how the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have a new "Prime Minister", Mahmoud Abbas, Arafat's thugs continue their campaign of death and terror.

Mr. Abbas has declared that he will attempt to stop the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas from deliberately murdering Israeli women and babies. I hope that's true, but I seriously doubt it.

In the meantime, the Israeli army will continue to hunt down the murderous Islamic Palestinian terrorists wherever they are.

I copy the full article below as well as a letter LGF has published that describes "Mike's Place", the bar that was hit. For more pictures, click here.

Terror attack in Tel Aviv, 4 dead, 50 wounded
By JOEL LEYDEN, Apr. 30, 2003
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?
pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/
ShowFull&cid=1051586938174

A terror attack took place this evening in Tel Aviv killing at least 4 people and injuring 50.

Magen David Adom emergency medical services has stated that 10 people are in serious to critical condition.

An American male tourist and a French female tourist were among the wounded, according to Israel police.

Israel radio reports that a suicide bomber attempted to enter Mike's Place, a seafront coffee house near the US Embassy in Tel Aviv.

Intial reports state the security guard at the restaurant tried to wrestle the terrorist to the ground when the terrorist detonated his explosives. The security guard survived the attack and is presently fighting for his life in hospital, according to the Israel police.

Supt. Gil Kleiman, spokesperson of the Israel police, told the Jerusalem Post that the explosion was a powerful one which killed two civilians and the suicide bomber.

"Again we have witnessed yet another terror attack on innocent civilians," said Kleiman.

"The Israeli police have information that these terror attacks will continue to take place. We can't stop one hundred percent of these attacks from taking place, but we have been very successful in preventing the majority from taking place," said Kleiman.

Kleiman added that 115 Palestinian terror suicide attacks were attempted in 2002 in which many of these attacks had been foiled by Israeli security forces.

Israel radio reports that the suicide bomber had detonated a lethal waist belt explosive which destroyed the restaurant's entrance, leaving only broken glass and twisted metal hanging from the ceiling.

An eyewitness at the scene told Israel radio that she saw people running out of the cafe with their clothes on fire.

Police, medical and fire emergency personnel are still arriving at the scene. All of the wounded have been evacuted to hospitals.

The terror victims are being taken to Wolfson, Tel Hashomer and Ichlov Hospitals.

A similiar terror attack took place less than a mile away in June 2001 when 21 people were killed and 120 were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a disco near Tel Aviv's Dolphinarium along the seafront promenade.

An emergency hotline telephone number has been established by the City of Tel Aviv at: 1255036666

The owner of the bar, Gal Ganzman, his shirt covered with blood, said he was standing behind the bar when he heard the explosion. "I'm alive, I'm fine," he said.

"One of the waitresses lost an arm but she's still alive."

An eyewitness identified only by his first name, Gil, told Army Radio that the guard at the restaurant prevented the bomber from entering.

"Mike's Place" is a well-known Tel Aviv night spot that features live music.

The bomb went off just after 1 a.m. Wednesday (2200 GMT Tuesday), when seafront restaurants and nightspots are often full of people.

Tel Aviv hospital official Gabi Barabash, said the victims were young. He said that unlike other attacks, most of the injuries were burns. In contrast, in the past, suicide bombers have often carried explosives laced with nails and screws to maximize the damage.

On April 24, a security guard at a train station north of Tel Aviv stopped a bomber and was killed when the attacker set off his explosives.

David Baker, an official in the Israeli Prime Minister's office, said that the attack was evidence that "Palestinian terrorism has not been reined in."

He said that the "new Palestinian government must seize this opportunity to stop these terror attacks, and it must be done now."

Earlier Tuesday, Israeli troops killed three terrorists and a bystander, even as the lawmakers gathered in Ramallah to confirm Abbas and his Cabinet.

A senior U.S. State Department official said after Abbas' government was approved by a 51-18 with three abstentions that the "road map" to Palestinian statehood would be unveiled soon.

A diplomatic source said the presentation to
both sides could come Wednesday or Thursday.

In his maiden speech, Abbas, 68, stuck to traditional Palestinian positions toward negotiations with Israel. But he also pledged to disarm militias and enforce the rule of law promises that could set up a violent showdown between the Palestinian Authority and militant groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Nancy Beck condemned the terror bombing in Tel Aviv.
"There can be no excuse for the violence and terrorist attacks the Israeli people have been forced to endure," she said, adding that the U.S. goal is a Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report)

Kathryn Jean Lopez at The Corner received a letter from a reader named “IDF Guy” that I think needs to be circulated widely, so I’m reprinting it here. The murdering barbarians who perpetrated today’s terrorist attack in Tel Aviv were almost certainly sending a message of hatred and death not only to Israel, but to the United States as well.

[Mike's Place] is one convenience store away from the extremely well-secured American embassy. It is owned by two Israeli/American brothers--Assaf and Gil and caters almost exclusively to American expats--tourists, long term residents, embassy staff and even American forces ages 18-80 (literally). Assaf plays the blues in a band called Southbound Train, a band that has given many of us who have spent time in Israel a desperately needed taste of home. He is also a consummate bartender in the "Sam Malone" style.

They throw one heck of a Fourth of July party.

Mike's Place started in Jerusalem where it was the bar of choice amongst a generation of American kids spending their junior year abroad at the Hebrew University. Mike's was one of the only bars to have survived the horrible blow that the Jerusalem (and Israeli) hospitality industry has encountered since the intifada started. Their expansion to a second Tel Aviv location on the beach at a time when there are almost no new bar openings defied conventional wisdom, but was a natural as many of us "seculars" find ourselves spending more time in Tel Aviv.

Do any of you out there know the Talking Heads song "Heaven"?...well that is Mike's Place...everyone knows you, they're always playing your favorite song, but in the end nothing really happens--and that's precisely what is so great.

I really don't know what to say... so many people I know (myself included) have had so may great times there. People have met their wives there. It's the only place where you can see a yeshiva student from LA, an African-American soldier, and an Israeli just back from Thailand sharing a stage belting the lyrics to Sweet Home Alabama "where the skies are so blue." Mike's had become a really important and unique part of the thriving and important live music scene in Tel Aviv that keeps many of us grounded. Hebrew not spoken here, yet frequented by Israelis who love the Americans that hang out there and American culture.

I wish I could have waxed more eloquent for your readers, but at this point I'm still waiting to go through that inevitable wince we all get when we first see that the names of the victims have been released. I just hope my buddies are OK. ...

I don't want to make any accusations about why this bomb went off here and why now. But whoever bombed it knew exactly what this place was and what kind of people were in it. It should give Americans pause to think.

Tell me again how this “roadmap” is going to work.

UPDATE: From Israpundit, here’s the website of Mike's Place.

Posted by David Melle
 Link to this page |   Email this entry |   digg this