Remembering the dead. Passover massacre in Netanya, 2002

11 years ago today, on the eve of Passover, Abdel-Basset Odeh, a Hamas suicide bomber broke into the Park Hotel in Netanya, Israel murdering 30 civilians, and injuring hundreds more.  We remember:


- Shula Abramovitch, 63, of Holon
- David Anichovitch, 70, of Netanya
- Sgt.-Maj. Avraham Beckerman, 25, of Ashdod
- Shimon Ben-Aroya, 42, of Netanya
- Alter Britvich, 88, of Netanya
- Frieda Britvich, 86, of Netanya
- Andre Fried, 47, of Netanya
- Idit Fried, 47, of Netanya
- Miriam Gutenzgan, 82, of Ramat Gan
- Amiram Hamami, 44, of Netanya
- Perla Hermele, 79, of Sweden
- Dvora Karim, 73, of Netanya
- Michael Karim, 78, of Netanya
- Eliezer Korman, 74, of Ramat Hasharon
- Yehudit Korman, 70, of Ramat Hasharon
- Marianne Myriam Lehmann Zaoui, 77, of Netanya
- Lola Levkovitch, 70, of Jerusalem
- Sarah Levy-Hoffman, 89, of Tel-Aviv
- Furuk Na'imi, 62, of Netanya
- Eliahu Nakash, 85, of Tel-Aviv
- Chanah Rogan, 90, of Netanya
- Irit Rashel, 45, of Moshav Herev La'et
- Clara Rosenberger, 77, of Jerusalem
- Yulia Talmi, 87, of Tel-Aviv
- St.-Sgt. Sivan Vider, 20, of Bekaot
- Zee'v Vider, 50, of Moshav Bekaot
- Ernest Weiss, 80, of Petah Tikva
- Eva Weiss, 75, of Petah Tikva
- Anna Yakobovitch, 78, of Holon
- George Yakobovitch, 76, of Holon

Passover: Adding a New Dayenu to our seder

In many households, it is part of the Passover tradition to add new songs and stories to the seder. For years we added a fourth matzah, to remind ourselves of the struggles of the Soviet Jews. For 5 years we remembered and prayed for the safe return of Gilad Shalit, reminding each other that until all of us are free, none of us are free. The seder is a reminder that our history and our heritage as Jews is ongoing. The story is not over.

The American Zionist Movement has suggestions to complete and modernize Dayenu. It calls upon the Jewish People to give thanks for the return to Israel and for all of the accomplishments of the Jewish People since the establishment of the State.

From the American Zionist Movement.



"If we had returned to Israel after two thousand years and had not established the State of Israel. Dayenu.

If we had established the State of Israel and not founded cities and made the sesert bloom. Dayenu.

If we had founded cities and made the desert bloom and had not absorbed millions of Olim. Dayenu.

If we had absorbed millions of Olim and had not revised the Hebrew language. Dayenu

If we had revised the Hebrew language and not developed a unique Israeli culture. Dayenu.

UPDATE:

( At my seder, it was uniformly agreed that the next two passages were a bit over the top. We'll likely skip them for the second night)

If we had developed a unique Israeli culture and had not established a myriad of social action organizations to improve Israeli society. Dayenu.

If we had established a myriad of social action organizations to improve Israeli society and had not developed innovative technologies to benefit the whole world. Dayenu.

If we had done all of this and even more but had not returned to Israel -Could we still say Dayenu? "

Official Palestinian promotion of terrorism

The Palestinian Authority has just honored the terrorist mastermind responsible for the 'Passover Massacre' which claimed the lives of 30 innocent Israeli citizens attending the traditional Passover meal at Netanya's Park Hotel on March 27, 2002.

Despite an often voiced Palestinian commitment to end the glorification of terrorists and incitement to violence, on March 28 Issa Karake, the Palestinian Authority Minister of Prisoners' Affairs, visited the family of Hamas suicide-bomb mastermind Abbas Al-Sayed, awarding them with an official, festive plaque, in celebration of the anniversary of the massacre.

This honor is not the only example of official Palestinian glorification of violence. In recent weeks, the Palestinian leadership named a youth soccer competition in Ramallah after Wafa Idris, the first female suicide bomber. Similarly, they named a square in El Bireh, as well as two schools and a summer camp, in honor of Dalal Mughrabi, commander of the March 11, 1978 massacre of 38 bus passengers on Israel's coastal road.

Read more here