Friday, March 07, 2008

Sydney Morning Herald: Palestinians Celebrate Jerusalem Yeshiva Massacre

Griff Witte writes in the Sydney Morning Herald about reactions to the recent mass killings:
ANGUISH in Jerusalem. Celebration in Gaza and among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. These images - both in reaction to the gun massacre of eight Jewish students in Jerusalem - tell the story of shattered hope.

It was the deadliest attack in Israel in nearly two years, and the Islamic movement Hamas praised it as "heroic" and a "natural response to Israeli crimes in Gaza", but stopped short of claiming responsibility.

Police said Alaa Abu Dheim, a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem who was once a driver for the seminary, had slipped inside with an AK-47 assault rifle and a pistol hidden in a box and started shooting.

In Hamas-ruled Gaza, thousands of Palestinians poured on to streets to celebrate, firing shots in the air. A loudspeaker in Gaza City echoed the Hamas message: "This is God's vengeance."

But in Jerusalem, Mark Regev, spokesman for the Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, said: "Tonight's massacre is a defining moment. The people celebrating have exposed themselves for what they really are: hateful extremists."