It was a bright, sunny day in the summer of 2009.*
It was in that period when the monthly death toll
It was in that period when the monthly death toll
from Oslo passed its 1100 mark. The four remaining
Knesset Members of the Israeli Labor Party were
calling for more goodwill gestures by Israel and
concessions to the PLO. Meretz and Peace Now
were demanding that Israel seriously consider the
latest peace offer from the Palestinians to convert
Israel into a web site. Meanwhile, the Americans
were demanding that Israel exercise self-restraint
after the latest bus bombings.
The State Department had just floated a new diplomatic
compromise proposal that would involve running the
border separating Israel from Palestine down Shenkin
Street in Tel Aviv.
*
And it was right after the 1000th Israeli bus was blown
And it was right after the 1000th Israeli bus was blown
to pieces by a Palestinian suicide bomber.
The bomber of that 1000th bus had come from the West
Bank town of Tul Karem, as the standard videotape of
his bravado broadcast on Palestine Television showed.
Only three hours after the 1000th bus exploded, 14 well-
Only three hours after the 1000th bus exploded, 14 well-
placed car bombs in Tul Karem exploded in unison.
There were dozens of casualties. The death toll from
these car bombs reached 49, nearly half of whom
were not wanted terrorists.
*
Later that day, a mysterious message was passed
Later that day, a mysterious message was passed
on to the BBC's Palestine news desk operating out
of Jaffa. The message claimed a group calling itself
the 'Triple T,' shorthand for the 'Terrorize the Terrorists'
organization, had placed the car bombs there.
*
The news of the car bombings aroused immediate
The news of the car bombings aroused immediate
fury from everywhere around the world. The Americans
denounced this horrific terrorism as serving as an obstacle
to striking a peace deal between Israel and the PLO,
one that was just around the corner.
The Israeli government insisted it had no knowledge of
the perpetrators of the bombings, but did not rule out
that they were PLO car bombs meant for Israel that had
simply exploded prematurely, and in any case promised
to run its own investigation. The PLO and its affiliates in
Palestine issued their usual shrieking oaths of vengeance.
***
(under October 9)
***
Steven Plaut är professor vid universitetet i Haifa
och flitig författare. Berättelsen är hämtad från hans
Sverige (Tack !)
