PA has paid $294,332 to the Sbarro bombers
PA has paid $294,332 to the Sbarro bombers
- 17 years after the suicide terror attack that left 15 dead, the bomb-builder and the suicide bomber's family continue to be rewarded with monthly payments from the PA
- PA terror payments to them and a third participating terrorist have reached more than $294,332 (1,020,570 shekels)
- PA law conditions any peace agreement with Israel on the release of all the terrorist prisoners, among them the bomb-maker of the Sbarro bombing, Abdallah Barghouti, who in total murdered 67 people.
By Maurice Hirsch, Adv. and Itamar Marcus
17 years ago today a suicide bomber entered the Sbarro pizza shop in downtown Jerusalem, detonated his suicide vest and murdered 15 people. The murdered in the August 9, 2001 bombing included 7 children as well as a couple and three of their children, an American citizen and a Brazilian citizen. (See their names and pictures below.) 130 people were injured. The suicide bomber was Izz al-Din Al-Masri. His family has received $50,124 as a reward for his suicide bombing.
The terrorist who planned the attack and brought the bomber to Sbarro was Ahlam Tamimi. Tamimi was arrested in September 2001 and received 16 life sentences. In 2011, Tamimi was released as part of the deal to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from his Hamas captors. For her time in prison she has been rewarded by the PA with salary payments of at least $52,681.
The suicide belt was built by Hamas bomb- builder Abdallah Barghouti. Barghouti was arrested in May 2003, and received 67 life sentences - 15 of them for building the bomb used to murder the people in Sbarro. He has received salary payments from the PA of at least $191,526.
By September 2018, the PA will have cumulatively rewarded Barghouti, Tamimi, and the family of Al-Masri with at least $294,332.
PA law mandates that every terrorist imprisoned by Israel receive a monthly salary for the full duration of his/her time in prison and often even after his/her release. The PA also pays monthly allowances to the families of terrorist so-called "Martyrs." By declaring a murderer as a "Martyr", the PA is saying that he did an exemplary act according to Islam, for which he will be rewarded in the afterlife by Allah.
Israeli interviewer: "Who chose Sbarro [as the target]?"
Tamimi: "I did. For nine days I examined the place very carefully and chose it after seeing the large number of patrons at the Sbarro restaurant. I didn't want to blow [myself] up, I didn't want to carry out a Martyrdom-seeking operation (i.e., a suicide attack). My mission was just to choose the place and to bring the Martyrdom-seeker (i.e., the suicide bomber). [I made] the general plan of the operation, but carrying it out was entrusted to the Martyrdom-seeker. ... I told him to enter the restaurant, eat a meal, and then after 15 minutes carry out the Martyrdom-seeking operation. During the quarter of an hour I would return the same way that I had arrived. Then I bade him farewell. He went inside, he crossed the road and went to the restaurant, and I went back the way I had come... You have to know something: a Martyrdom-seeker has a very special character, and I was amazed at his great wish to carry out the operation, his great wish to pass over to a different life. How beautiful it is when you make a person - [starts the sentence again] [Suppose] there's a poor person and you give him a lot of money. He will be happy and you yourself will be happy that you realized for him the happy life that he wanted. My job was to realize, for this Martyrdom-seeker, the happy life that he wanted."
Interviewer: "Didn't you think about the people who were in the restaurant? The children? The families?"
Tamimi: "No."
Tamimi: "I have no regrets, and no Palestinian prisoner regrets what he or she has done. We were defending ourselves. What are we supposed to regret? Should we regret defending ourselves? Should we regret that the Israelis killed one of us so we killed a different one of them? We have no regrets."
Interviewer: "Do you know how many children were killed in the restaurant?"
Tamimi: "Three children were killed in the operation, I think. [Smiles.]"
Interviewer: "Eight."
Tamimi: "Eight?! [Smiles.] Eight."
Tamimi: "I did. For nine days I examined the place very carefully and chose it after seeing the large number of patrons at the Sbarro restaurant. I didn't want to blow [myself] up, I didn't want to carry out a Martyrdom-seeking operation (i.e., a suicide attack). My mission was just to choose the place and to bring the Martyrdom-seeker (i.e., the suicide bomber). [I made] the general plan of the operation, but carrying it out was entrusted to the Martyrdom-seeker. ... I told him to enter the restaurant, eat a meal, and then after 15 minutes carry out the Martyrdom-seeking operation. During the quarter of an hour I would return the same way that I had arrived. Then I bade him farewell. He went inside, he crossed the road and went to the restaurant, and I went back the way I had come... You have to know something: a Martyrdom-seeker has a very special character, and I was amazed at his great wish to carry out the operation, his great wish to pass over to a different life. How beautiful it is when you make a person - [starts the sentence again] [Suppose] there's a poor person and you give him a lot of money. He will be happy and you yourself will be happy that you realized for him the happy life that he wanted. My job was to realize, for this Martyrdom-seeker, the happy life that he wanted."
Interviewer: "Didn't you think about the people who were in the restaurant? The children? The families?"
Tamimi: "No."
Tamimi: "I have no regrets, and no Palestinian prisoner regrets what he or she has done. We were defending ourselves. What are we supposed to regret? Should we regret defending ourselves? Should we regret that the Israelis killed one of us so we killed a different one of them? We have no regrets."
Interviewer: "Do you know how many children were killed in the restaurant?"
Tamimi: "Three children were killed in the operation, I think. [Smiles.]"
Interviewer: "Eight."
Tamimi: "Eight?! [Smiles.] Eight."
[Official PA TV, Oct. 23, 2011]
Since her release in the Shalit deal, Tamimi lives in Jordan. Tamimi has repeatedly stated that she does not regret her involvement in the terror attack. When asked in an interview broadcast on a Jordanian website if she would participate in or carry out another terror attack, she responded:
"Of course. I don't regret what happened, absolutely not. That is the path; I give myself for the sake of Allah, to Jihad for Allah. I carried out [my mission] and Allah made me successful: You know the number of victims who were killed. All that was thanks to the success from Allah. Do you expect me to abandon what I did, saying [I regret it]? Regret is something that is out of the question. If time could go backwards, I would carry out what I did, in the same manner."
[ammonnews.net (Jordanian website), Oct. 19, 2011]
The 2004 PA law of Prisoners and Released Prisoners, in addition to codifying in law the PA practices of paying salaries to prisoners, conditions the signing of any peace agreement on the release of all Palestinian terrorist prisoners, including mass murderers like Adballah Barghouti.