Fri, Jun 13, 2003 page5

• Fear sweeps Jerusalem's Jaffa Street

  • THE GUARDIAN
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  The killer set out to look like his victims. It was not the first time a suicide bomber has dressed as an orthodox Jew -- the bulky, loose clothing favored by religious men and women is good for shielding explosives -- but that did not alert anyone. No one noticed as he mingled among people at the Jewish Mahane Yehuda market, and then boarded the No. 14 bus headed along Jerusalem's central Jaffa Street, crowded with shoppers.

  Perhaps their suspicions were raised as the killer pushed his way into the rush-hour crush in the center of the bus, but by then it was too late.

  As the bus drew up at the next stop, the man blew himself to bits and killed 16 passengers.

  Hagid Stein had just stepped off the bus when the bomb detonated. "I didn't know where to run," she said, sitting on a step, trembling and crying.

  "By the time you feel the blast it's all over but you feel you just have to get away because all you can hear is people screaming. I can't believe I escaped."

  The explosion ripped apart the front of the bus, shattered the windows and lifted the roof. Body parts were thrown dozens of meters.

  Tufts of hair were scattered among shreds of flesh.

  The consensus was that it was a big bomb. "The terrorist didn't get a chance to sit down," said Jerusalem's police chief, Mickey Levy. "We are talking about a big explosive device that was set off by a suicide bomber."

  The explosion was heard across the city. Many residents would have recognized the deep thud in an instant. But if they had any doubts, those were swept away within minutes by the sirens converging from hospitals across Jerusalem.

  The paramedics pushed past the dead and walking wounded to save the most seriously injured, struggling with torn limbs or slipping deep into shock.

  Every few minutes the ambulance service upped the death toll. First it was four. Then it leapt to 10, before running swiftly to 15.

  Finally, two hours after the blast, the final count was set at 16. More than 100 people were injured, some critically, some by shards of flying glass as they sat in their offices.

  A small group of demonstrators waved handwritten protests demanding Prime Minister Ariel Sharon apologize personally to the families of the victims and blaming his embracing of the US-led "road map" to peace for the carnage.

  "It is you [foreigners] who are forcing us to compromise with terror who are responsible for this," shouted an aggressive young man with an American accent who would give his name only as Yacob.

  "There is only one answer to this. Kill all the fucking Arabs, drive them into the sea. But you want us to live with them when all they want to do is kill us."

  A police officer told him to shut up, but he kept shouting.

  Jaffa Street and neighboring Ben Yehuda shopping precinct have been a favored target of suicide bombers for two years. But the shops and cafes had filled up in recent months -- with Israelis if not tourists -- as the terror attacks eased off.

  On Wednesday fear swept over the area again. Drinkers retreated from the outside tables to the relative safety of bar stools, putting their faith in statistics and the security guards on the door.
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