Beyond Images	Challenging myths and presenting facts about Israel
THE FAMILY OF NATIONS UNDER FIRE: Victims of Palestinian violence from 18 countries
London - revised version published on 2 March 2004 Beyond Images Ref: 79	Click to Print

Israel hosts students, pilgrims, and tourists from all over the world. It is also home to many foreign migrant workers. In total, citizens of 18 countries other than Israel have been killed in Palestinian attacks since September 2000 (the information below is taken from the website of Israel's Foreign Ministry):-

• United Kingdom : Scottish medical student Jonathan Jesner was killed by a nail-packed suicide bomb while travelling on a central Tel-Aviv bus on 19 September 2002 . Hamas claimed responsibility.
  
  
• Ecuador : A 33 year old Christian pilgrim from Ecuador , Patricia Navarrete, was shot dead on 19 November 2003 , and four other pilgrims were wounded, by a gunman who crossed the Israeli-Jordanian border in Southern Israel , and opened fire on them.
  
  
• USA: Mrs Goldie Taubenfeld from New York, the mother of 13 children, was among 23 people killed in the suicide bus bombing in Jerusalem of 19 August 2003, while she was visiting Israel for a wedding (see Beyond Images Briefing 68 ). Her three month old son was also killed. 31 year old American graduate student and expectant mother Shoshana Greenbaum was among the 19 victims of the Sbarro pizzeria bombing in Jerusalem on 9 August 2001 . And three American students, Marla Bennett (24), Ben Blutstein (25) and Dina Carter (37), were among 10 students killed in the bombing of the student cafeteria at the Hebrew University on 31 July 2002 . Hamas claimed responsibility for each of these bomb attacks.
  
  
• French-US dual citizen: 24 year old student David Gritz, carrying French-US dual citizenship, was also killed in the Hebrew University bombing.
  
  
• Australia : 15 year old Malka Chana Roth , who carried both Australian and US citizenship, was killed in the Sbarro pizzeria attack of 9 August 2001 (see USA above) .
  
  
• Greece : On 12 June 2001 Father Georgios Tsibouktzakis, a Greek Orthodox monk from a monastery in the Judean desert, was shot dead by Palestinian gunmen while driving near Jerusalem .
  
  
• Ukraine : two Ukrainian teenagers, Alexei Lupalu and Sergei Pancheskov, were among 21 mainly teenage victims of the suicide bombing by Hamas of the Dolphinarium disco in Tel-Aviv on 1 June 2001 . A Ukrainian foreign worker was among 23 people killed in the Tel Aviv bus station bomb attack of 5 January 2003 (an attack carried out jointly by the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and Islamic Jihad).
  
  
•  China : Two Chinese women (of 32 and 34) were among 6 people killed by a suicide bomber at the entrance to Jerusalem 's main open-air market (104 were wounded). Two Chinese workers were killed in a double-suicide bombing in central Tel-Aviv bus station on 17 July 2002 . Three Chinese migrant workers were among the 23 victims of the Tel-Aviv bus station suicide bombing of 5 January 2003 .
  
  
• Bulgaria : A 34 year old Bulgarian man died in the Tel-Aviv bus station bombing of 5 January 2003 . A Bulgarian construction worker was shot dead while driving near Jenin on 30 June 2003 .
  
  
• Ghana : a 43 year old Ghanaian migrant worker, Steven Cromwell, died in the Tel-Aviv bus station bombing of 5 January 2003 .
  
  
• Rumania : Two Rumanian builders were killed in a roadside bomb attack on 10 May 2001 while repairing vandalised fencing in the Gaza Strip. A Rumanian tourist was among the 11 victims of a suicide bomb attack on a Jerusalem bus on 21 November 2002 , which was mainly carrying teenagers to school. A Rumanian foreign worker was among the 23 victims of the Tel-Aviv bus station bombing of 5 January 2003 (together with nationals from the Ukraine , China , Bulgaria and Ghana – see the information above).
  
  
•  Argentina : Two new immigrants from Argentina , aged 15 and 70, were killed in an Islamic Jihad bomb attack on a shopping centre in the central Israeli town of Kfar Sava on 4 November 2002 .
  
  
• Eritrea and Ethiopia : a 56 year old Eritrean man was among 17 people killed in a Hamas bus bombing on one of Jersusalem's main streets on 11 June 2003 . An Ethiopian woman of 35 was among 11 killed in the suicide attack on a bus in the central Jerusalem district of Rehavia on 29 January 2004 (an attack carried out by the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade).
  
  
• Philippines : A Filipino woman of 42, Rosario Reyes, was among 15 people killed in a suicide bus bombing bomb in Haifa on 2 December 2001 . Filipino women of 37 and 42 were killed in a bus bombing in Northern Israel on 4 August 2002 , and a Filipino worker was among the 23 killed in the No2 bus bombing in Jerusalem on 19 August 2003 . Each of these attacks was carried out by Hamas.
  
  
• Turkey : On 26 March 2002 Palestinians gunmen shot dead Major Cengiz Soytunc from Turkey , who was serving in the United Nations observer force in Hebron .
  
  
• Switzerland : A Swiss woman member of the UN observer force, Catherine Berreux, was shot dead in the same attack.
  
  
• Sweden: a Swedish woman of 79, Perla Hermele, was among the 30 people killed by a Hamas suicide bomber while she was taking part in a Passover festive meal at the Park Hotel in the central Israeli town of Netanya on 27 March 2002 (see also Beyond Images Briefing 8).
  
  
• USA : three American diplomatic personnel were killed in a massive roadside bomb while travelling in the Gaza Strip.

Conclusion

Israel has a duty to protect its own citizens – whether Jewish, Christian, Muslim or Druse. And it also has a duty to protect non-Israeli citizens who are physically present in the country. Governments of the 18 countries listed above, and indeed all other members of the international community, need to acknowledge Israel 's legitimate rights in this regard. So too should all those who believe that the right to life, regardless of nationality, religion or race, is the greatest human right of all.