Bot at 19:41, 1 July 2023

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[[File:Ben Yehuda 1948 - 2.jpg|thumb|300px|Car bomb explosion on Ben Yehuda Street, Jerusalem, February 22, 1948]]

The '''Ben Yehuda Street bombings''' refer to a series of attacks perpetrated or ordered by [[Palestinian Arabs]], some of them acting as [[suicide bombers]], on civilians in downtown [[Jerusalem]], from February 1948 onwards. The attacks took place before the declaration of the [[Israel|State of Israel]]'s establishment in May 1948, and were carried out on [[Ben Yehuda Street (Jerusalem)|Ben Yehuda Street]], a major thoroughfare, later a [[pedestrian mall]], named for the driving spirit behind the revival of [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] in its [[Modern Hebrew|modern form]], [[Eliezer Ben Yehuda]].

==1948 (49-58 killed)==
{{Infobox terrorist attack
|title = 1948 Ben Yehuda Street bombing
|image=
|caption=
|location = [[Ben Yehuda Street (Jerusalem)|Ben Yehuda Street]], [[Jerusalem]]
|target = Pedestrian shopping mall
|date = February 22, 1948
|time-begin=
|time-end=
|timezone=
|type = [[car bomb]]s
|fatalities = 58
|injuries = 123
|perps=
}}

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<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qf6AAAAAQBAJ|title=Social Mobilization in the Arab/Israeli War of 1948: On the Israeli Home Front|last=Naor|first=Moshe|date=2013-08-21|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136776489|page=140|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-wwPNjSnxcYC&pg=PA113|title=Encyclopedia of Terrorism|last=Chalk|first=Peter|date=2012-11-01|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313308956|page=113|language=en}}</ref> and injuring from 140 to 200.<ref name="Levenberg" >Haim Levenberg, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sxvHK-Cq2RwC&pg=PA202 ''Military Preparations of the Arab Community in Palestine, 1945-1948,''] Psychology Press, 1993 p.202</ref><ref name =Radai>Itamar Radai, ''Palestinians in Jerusalem and Jaffa, 1948: A Tale of Two Cities,''Routledge, 2016 pp.47-48.</ref><ref>[[Larry Collins (writer)|Larry Collins]], [[Dominique Lapierre]], 'O Jerusalem,' Granada Books 1982 pp.177-183</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The faithful city: the siege of Jerusalem, 1948|first=Dov|last=Joseph|author-link=Dov Yosef|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1960|lccn=60-10976|oclc=266413|url=https://archive.org/details/thefaithfulcity0000unse/page/36/mode/2up|url-access=registration|page=37|quote=... it was possible ... [that the] drivers [were] from the more than two hundred deserters who had already joined the Arab force [as opposed to being officially sanctioned by the British Army]}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Milstein">{{cite book | author = Uri Milstein | title = History of Israel's War of Independence | volume = III | pages = 109–113 | publisher = University Press of America | year = 1998}}</ref> In addition to the two hotels, the Vilenchick Building and the Kupat-Milveh Bank were destroyed.<ref name="Milstein"/> 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.<ref name="Radai" /> 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.<ref>Collins, Lapierre, ''Oh Jerusalem,'' pp.179-180.</ref>

===Aftermath===
A leaflet stating that the explosion was in response to an Irgun bomb attack three days earlier, in [[Ramla]], on the 19th of February, was distributed the following evening. It was signed by [[Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni|Abd al-Qadir]], who assumed responsibility for the operation.<ref name="Levenberg" /><ref>Radai, [https://books.google.com/books?id=tKY0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA63 p.47, p.63, n.115]</ref> Abd al-Qadir himself, in Cairo the day after, left a statement to [[Al-Ahram]] to the same effect and the [[Army of the Holy War]] High Command reiterated the declaration in Palestine.<ref name="Radai" /> [[Husayn al-Khalidi]], secretary of the [[Arab Higher Committee]], deplored the act as 'depravity unfit for the Arab spirit,'<ref name="Radai" /> while the Committee itself, in an attempt to distance itself from the incident, tried to throw doubt on the authenticity of Abd al-Qadir's public statements.<ref name="Radai" />

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."<ref>Ahron Bregman [https://books.google.com/books?id=-HpwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 ''Israel's Wars: A History Since 1947,''] Routledge, 2016 p.20, contextualizing the reference as an allusion to the activities of members of the Irgun and the [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]].</ref> The Irgun spread word ordering militants to shoot on sight any Englishman.<ref>Collins, Lapierre, ''O Jerusalem!,'' p.182.</ref> 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.<ref name="Levenberg" /> Lehi also reacted several days later by blowing up a train full of British soldiers as it drew out of [[Rehovot]] station, killing 27.<ref name="Levenberg" />

The day after, on 23 February, a Jewish offensive, deploying mortars, was launched against the Arab neighbourhood of [[Musrara, Jerusalem|Musrara]], in Jerusalem, killing seven Arabs, including an entire family. The Arabs believed it was in revenge for the Ben-Yehuda Street bombing, though, according to Israeli historian Itamar Radai, at the time the Jews and their official institutions blamed only the British for the incident.<ref>Radai p.51.</ref>

==1971==
September 8, 1971: A grenade was thrown into the entrance of Cafe Alno on Ben Yehuda Street. It did not explode and there were no injuries.

==1974==
December 12, 1974: An explosive device went off in Ben Yehuda Street. Thirteen people were injured lightly to moderately.

==1975 (15 killed)== 
{{Infobox terrorist attack
|title = 1975 Ben Yehuda Street Bombing
|image=
|caption=
|location = [[Zion Square]], leading onto Ben Yehuda Street, [[Jerusalem]]
|target = Pedestrian shopping mall
|date = July 4, 1975
|time-begin=
|time-end=
|timezone=
|type = [[Time bomb (explosive)|time bomb]]
|fatalities= 15
|injuries = 77
|perp = Ahmed Jabara, aka Abu Sukar
}}
On Friday, July 4, 1975, a [[Zion Square refrigerator bombing|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.<ref name=short>{{cite news |url= http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=101419 |title=A short history of terror |first= Yair |last= Sheleg |date=3 December 2001 |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090519235532/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=101419 |archive-date= 2009-05-19}}</ref> 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 [[Yasser Arafat|Arafat]], who then appointed him his adviser on prisoners affairs.<ref name=Ramallah/> He died in [[Ramallah]] in 2013.<ref name=Ramallah>{{cite news |author= Elior Levy |title= 1975 Jerusalem bombing terrorist passes away in Ramallah |date=17 July 2013 |url= https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4406049,00.html |publisher= Ynetnews |access-date=31 May 2020}}</ref>

On November 13, 1975, an explosive charge went off near Cafe Naveh on Jaffa Road, near the pedestrian mall. Seven people were killed and 45 injured.

==1976==
On April 9, 1976, a car bomb was dismantled on Ben Yehuda Street shortly before it was to have exploded.

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 [[Yom Ha'atzmaut|Independence Day]], the municipality organized an event at the site of the attack, under the slogan "Nevertheless."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=101419|title=A Short History of Terror |publisher=[[Haaretz]]}}</ref>

==1979 (1 killed)==
On January 1, 1979, a car bomb was found opposite Cafe Atara on the pedestrian mall and was neutralized about half an hour before it was to have blown up.

On March 24, 1979, one person was killed and 13 people were injured when an explosive charge blew up in a trash can in Zion Square.

==1981==
On May 2, 1981, a police [[sapper]] was moderately injured by an explosive charge that had been placed in a trash can near Cafe Alno.

==1984==
On August 15, 1984, a car bomb was discovered on Ben Yehuda Street and defused about 10 minutes before it was to have exploded. In the car were about 12 kilograms of explosives and three kilograms of iron nails.

==1997 (5 killed)==
{{Infobox terrorist attack
|title = 1997 Ben Yehuda Street Bombing
|image=
|caption=
|location = Ben Yehuda Street, [[Jerusalem]]
|target = Pedestrian shopping mall
|date = September 4, 1997
|time-begin=
|time-end=
|timezone=
|type = [[suicide bombers]]
|fatalities= 5 (+ 3 suicide bombers)
|injuries=
|perps = [[Hamas]]
}}
On September 4, 1997, three [[Hamas]] [[suicide bombers]] simultaneously blew themselves up on the pedestrian mall, killing five Israelis. The bombing was carried out by Palestinians from the village of [[Asira ash-Shamaliya|Asira al-Shamaliya]].<ref>[http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/07/0222230 Democracy Now! | "The Dominion of Death": An Israeli Mother Who Lost Her 13-Year Old Daughter in a Suicide bombing Speaks Out Against Israel] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061122195145/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03%2F04%2F07%2F0222230 |date=November 22, 2006}}</ref>

Three 14-year-old girls were killed in the attack: Sivann Zarka, Yael Botvin and Smadar Elhanan.<ref>[http://icarusfilms.com/new2000/bomb.html The Bombing, a documentary film on the 1997 Ben Yehuda Street bombing] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091020192816/http://icarusfilms.com/new2000/bomb.html |date=2009-10-20 }}</ref> Elhanan was the daughter of peace activist [[Nurit Peled-Elhanan]] and the granddaughter of Israeli general and politician [[Mattityahu Peled]].

The family of Yael Botvin, a U.S. citizen, filed a lawsuit in the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran.<ref>[http://www.nefafoundation.org/documents-civil.html Botvin v. Islamic Republic of Iran] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091107081408/http://www.nefafoundation.org/documents-civil.html |date=November 7, 2009 }}</ref>

A [[default judgment]] of $251 million in compensatory and punitive damages was awarded to the relatives of Americans killed in the attack. There were few assets of the Iranian government in the United States following the judgment. The plaintiffs threatened to seize valuable Persian artifacts located in [[Chicago]] museums and sell them for proceeds, leading to the [[Chicago's Persian heritage crisis]], as well as suing the account of the [[Bank Melli Iran]] in the [[Bank of New York]], but having the United States Department of Justice speak as [[amicus curiae]] in support of Bank Melli, advising that the bank had no responsibility for turning the funds over, resulted in a ruling against the students.<ref name="sun">''[http://www.nysun.com/article/66227 U.S. Helps Iranian Bank Withdraw, Then Seeks To Freeze Funds]'', Josh Gerstein, The [[New York Sun]], November 9, 2007</ref>

==2001 (11 killed)==
{{Infobox terrorist attack
|title = 2001 Ben Yehuda Street Bombings
|partof = [[Second Intifada]]
|image=
|caption=
|location = Ben Yehuda Street, [[Jerusalem]]
|target = Pedestrian shopping mall, responding paramedics
|date = December 1, 2001
|time-begin=
|time-end=
|timezone=
|type = [[suicide bombers]] and a [[car bomb]]
|fatalities= 11 (+ 2 suicide bombers)
|injuries = 188
|perps=
}}
On December 1, 2001, two [[suicide bombers]] detonated themselves on Ben Yehuda Street, followed by a car bomb set to go off as paramedics arrived.<ref name=Baum>{{cite book |first= Noa |last= Baum |title= A Land Twice Promised: An Israeli Woman's Quest for Peace |publisher= Workman Publishing |year= 2016 |isbn= 9781944822095 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KOG4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT184 |access-date=31 May 2020}}</ref>{{dubious|The source is not ideal, but is now apparently the only available one for this info. Gets number of victims wrong, unless perps added to victims, which is a POV and huge stretch.|date=May 2020}} The suicide bombers killed eleven victims aged 15 to 21,<ref name=MFA2001/> including a number of soldiers out of uniform,{{cn|date=May 2020}}{{dubious|The MFA source mentions lists one, "Sgt. Nir Haftzadi". Maybe based on age, or media not available online?|date=May 2020}} and 188 were injured. Hamas claimed responsibility,<ref name=MFA2001>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2001/12/Suicide%20bombing%20at%20the%20Ben-Yehuda%20pedestrian%20mall http://www.mfa.gov.il] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040618133459/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2001/12/Suicide%20bombing%20at%20the%20Ben-Yehuda%20pedestrian%20mall |date=2004-06-18 }}</ref> stating that it was in retaliation for the killing of senior [[Hamas]] militant Mahmud Abu Hanoud. A Hamas spokesman in Gaza stated that these bombings did not assuage its lust for vengeance and that it would carry out further bombings.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/dec/11/israel1 Israeli blunder kills two children], [[The Guardian]], December 11, 2001.</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/dec/03/israel Bombers leave Arafat facing toughest battle], [[The Guardian]], December 3, 2001.</ref> Lawsuits were filed against [[Arab Bank]], [[NatWest]] and [[Crédit Lyonnais]] alleging that they channelled money to [[Hamas]].<ref name=Preston>{{cite news|last1=Preston|first1=Julia|title=Hurt by Hamas, Americans Sue Banks in U.S.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/15/nyregion/15hamas.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=16 August 2015|work=New York Times|date=15 April 2006}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ben Yehuda Street bombing (1948)}}
*[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2001/12/Suicide+bombing+at+the+Ben-Yehuda+pedestrian+mall.htm Suicide bombing at the Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall in Jerusalem - December 1, 2001]
*Mandate period
**[http://www.zionism-israel.com/dic/Ben_Yehuda_Bombing.htm Ben Yehuda Street Bombing]
**http://www.jerusalem-archives.org/period4/4-10.html

{{Israeli-Palestinian Conflict}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben Yehuda Street Bombings}}
[[Category:Mass murder in 1948]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 1975]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 1997]]
[[Category:Explosions in 1948]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 2001]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Suicide bombing in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]
[[Category:Car and truck bombings in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]
[[Category:Terrorist attacks attributed to Palestinian militant groups]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in 1948]]
[[Category:Palestinian terrorism]]
[[Category:1948 in Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:20th century in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Hamas suicide bombings]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Jerusalem in the 1990s]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Jerusalem in the 2000s]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1975]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1997]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Asia in 2001]]
[[Category:1940s in Jerusalem]]

Ben Yehuda Street bombings - Revision history

Bot at 19:41, 1 July 2023