Dear Friends,
A memorial service was held at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Nancy Reagan Plaza on Tuesday, July 31st, to mark ten years since the terrorist bombing at the Mount Scopus Campus. The memorial was attended by Daniel Shapiro, United States Ambassador to Israel, and Christophe Bigot, the French Ambassador to Israel. Click to read Ambassador Shapiro's remarks. A photo gallery of the memorial service is available on AFHU's Facebook page.
We mark this ten-year anniversary of the bombing with sadness and remembrance of the precious lives lost.
Peter T. Willner
National Executive Director
American Friends of The Hebrew University
Memorial service marks ten years since terrorist bombing at Hebrew University
Jerusalem, July 31, 2012—A memorial service at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem today marked ten years since the terrorist bombing that killed students and staff at the University's Mount Scopus campus.
Nine students and staff members were killed in the bombing of the main cafeteria of the Mount Scopus campus in 2002: Benjamin Blutstein, Marla Bennett, Revital Barashi, David Gritz, David Diego Ladowski, Janis Ruth Coulter, Dina Carter, Levina Shapira and Daphna Spruch. Close to a hundred people were wounded.
The ceremony, which took place in the Nancy Reagan Plaza near the scene of the bombing ten years ago, opened with the Yizkor memorial prayer, followed by a reading of the victims' names by Hebrew University Vice-President and Director-General Billy Shapira.
Hebrew University President Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson said, "A decade has passed since the attack, and it is not only a time to mourn, but also a time to reflect upon the mission entrusted to us. We are entrusted with the development of knowledge that knows no shade of skin or religion. And so we say to the families, we shall endure. If depraved terrorists wish to disrupt the things upon which all human beings base their lives, they will not succeed."
Hebrew University Rector Prof. Sarah Stroumsa quoted from a poem by Yehuda Amichai, I Need to Cry, and added, "We do as we can to keep our sanity while in pain, to promote the concepts of pluralism and rational thought while in mourning, and to show empathy for others alongside our anger."
Adrian Kramer from the Rothberg International School, who at the time of the bombing served as director of student activities, described the impact the attack had on his life, and spoke in particular to the family of David Diego Ladowski, who was killed in the attack.
Ina Zussman-Masami, a Hebrew University student who was gravely wounded in the attack, recounted how a stranger, Pierre Saban, saved her life, visited her in hospital and later became an important part of her life. Saban died four years ago.
The French Ambassador to Israel, Christophe Bigot, spoke of the French and American citizen, David Gritz, an only child and gifted student who was killed in the bombing. He noted that a scholarship has been established in David Gritz's memory at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (Paris Institute of Political Studies), to enable the best and brightest Israeli students to pursue postgraduate education at the Institut. "I see this scholarship as a symbol of the enduring bond between our academic communities, in France and Israel, and of the strong response that our two countries give to terrorism… Our intellectual ties and common pledge to peace and security will always be stronger than violence and barbarism," he said.
The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro, spoke of the staff and students killed in the attack. Referring to the Americans who were killed, he said, "The connections between the American and Israeli people built by Marla, Ben, Janis, David, and Dina, this closeness could not and cannot be taken away. In fact, a decade has passed and the connections we feel for each other are only stronger." He added that he and his wife are proud graduates of the Hebrew University, which continues to accept students to its ranks from around the world.
The French and American ambassadors laid wreaths in tribute to the citizens of their countries who were killed in the attack.
The Kaddish prayer was recited by Itzik Barashi, the brother of bomb victim Revital Barashi, who had worked in the Faculty of Law.
After the ceremony, wreaths and flowers were placed, and participants lit candles, in memory of the victims.
For information, contact:
Dov Smith, Hebrew University Foreign Press Liaison
02-5881641 / 054-8820860 (+972-54-8820860)
dovs@savion.huji.ac.il
Orit Sulitzeanu, Hebrew University Spokesperson
02-5882910 / 054-8820016
orits@savion.huji.ac.il |
