2003 Café Hillel bombing

2003 Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem yes August 2023 Café Hillel bombing the Second Intifada militancy campaign Cafe Hillel bombing memorial.JPG Memorial plaque for bombing victims Israel jerusalem 31 46 53 35 13 15 The attack site הפיגוע בקפה הלל heb 31 46 53 N 35 13 15 E inline,title West Jerusalem 2003 9 9 y 23:15 UTC+2 Suicide bombing 3 - 4 kg lb suicide vest 7 Israeli civilians (+1 bomber) 50+ Israeli civilians The Café Hillel bombing occurred on 9 September 2003, when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself in Café Hillel in German Colony, Jerusalem. Seven people were killed in the attack and over 50 were injured. Cole Leonard A. Terror: how Israel has coped and what America can learn Indiana University Press 2007 10–17 978-0253000019 https://books.google.com/books?id=BzouWqFtv0AC&pg=PA9http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-%20Obstacle%20to%20Peace/Memorial/2003/Nava%20Appelbaum Nava Appelbaum Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs 9 September 2003 26 May 2019 4 September 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20190526074110/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-%20Obstacle%20to%20Peace/Memorial/2003/Nava%20Appelbaum dead A few hours prior to the bombing, Palestinian militants carried out a suicide attack in a bus stop next to the military base Tzrifin. The attack A few hours before the bombing, on 9 September, Applebaum attended the mikveh (ritual bath), as required by Halakha (Jewish law) for all brides prior to their wedding.http://www.jstandard.com/index.php/content/item/2098/ A Blessing for new Brides Goldrich Lois 22 December 2005 Jewish Standard 11 October 2010 28 May 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120528071207/http://www.jstandard.com/index.php/content/item/2098/ dead She then began helping her family with the wedding arrangements, when her father decided to take her out for a "father-daughter" talk before her wedding.Asad Talal Talal Asad On Suicide Bombing https://books.google.com/books?id=TygcrZZTX1EC&q=%22nava+applebaum%22&pg=PA69 2007 Columbia University Press 978-0-231-14152-9Edward Mickolus Mickolus Edward F. Simmons Susan L. Terrorism, 2002–2004: A Chronology https://books.google.com/books?id=LMYZAQAAIAAJ&q=%22naava+applebaum%22 2006 Praeger Security International 978-0-313-33475-7 They went to Café Hillel on Emek Refaim Street, in Jerusalem. On the day of the bombing, 9 September, security guards in the vicinity of Café Hillel were told to be on the lookout for a suicide bomber. On Tuesday evening, 9 September 2003, at 11:20 pm, a Palestinian suicide bomber approached the "Café Hillel" coffee shop in the German Colony neighborhood of Jerusalem. At around 11:20 pm, a security guard stationed at a nearby pizza parlor noticed a man walking by with a bulky square-shaped box under his shirt. He yelled at the man to stop, but the man refused. The security guard did not want to shoot him in the back, for fear that it would detonate the bomb. A few seconds later, the suicide bomber detonated the bomb close to the entrance of Café Hillel. Security guard Alon Mizrahi was attempting to prevent the bomber from entering when he blew himself up. Nava and her father were entering the cafe at that time. Nava was dead by the time she was reached by paramedics.Feiler Bruce Bruce Feiler Where God was Born: A Journey by Land to the Roots of Religion https://books.google.com/books?id=U7TzHcoZtiUC&q=%22Nava+Applebaum%22 2005 William Morrow and Company 978-0-7394-6692-6 29 Dr. David Applebaum, an emergency room doctor who had treated numerous suicide attack victims himself, was also killed.Kordova Shoshana https://www.haaretz.com/almost-too-tragic-to-be-true-1.99939 https://web.archive.org/web/20110415022701/http://www.haaretz.com/almost-too-tragic-to-be-true-1.99939 dead 15 April 2011 Almost too tragic to be true Haaretz 12 September 2003 15 January 2014 Biographies Nava (or Naava) Applebaum (also spelled Appelbaum) (he נאווה אפלבאום; c. 1983 – 9 September 2003) Purpura Philip P. Terrorism and Homeland Security: An Introduction with Applications https://books.google.com/books?id=3ItzwLVo8DwC&q=%22naava+applebaum%22&pg=PA89 2007 Butterworth–Heinemann 978-0-7506-7843-8 89 was a 20-year-old Israeli-American woman who was murdered together with her father on the evening before her wedding by a Palestinian suicide bomber. Nava was the eldest daughter of David and Debra Applebaum, the third of six children. David Applebaum was a prominent emergency department doctor well known for work on methods for assisting suicide bombing victims. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, and moved to Chicago, Illinois, as a teenager. After being ordained as a rabbi, he attended Northwestern University and graduated with a Masters in Biology. David then attended the University of Toledo Medical Center. He moved to Israel in 1982, and traveled back at times to practice in the United States. David's daughter Nava was born in Cleveland, Ohio.https://books.google.com/books?id=a5nY7X858yMC&q=nava+applebaum&pg=RA1-PA375 Congressional Record, July 20, 2005 30 December 2009 United States Government Printing Office 376 9780160848032 The family later moved to Israel, where David became chief of the emergency department and trauma services at Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center, and Nava graduated from Horev Girls High School. Applebaum first met her fiancé, Chanan Sand, when she was 17 and he was 16, at an Ezra religious youth group, where they both served as youth group advisers. A year later they were engaged, but delayed their wedding for two years.http://web2.westlaw.com/result/default.wl?rltdb=CLID_DB8490313801310&srch=TRUE&db=ALLNEWS&sv=Split&service=Search&eq=search&fmqv=s&sskey=CLID_SSSA3644930801310&method=TNC&action=Search&query=%22NAVA+APPLEBAUM%22&mt=Westlaw&fn=_top&origin=Search&vr=2.0&rlt=CLID_QRYRLT1938735801310&pbc=4BF3FCBE&ifm=NotSet&rp=%2fsearch%2fdefault.wl&cfid=1&rs=WLW10.08 'Springtime Love' Lost – Teen Mourns Fiance Slain In Suicide Blast Dan Uri 15 September 2003 New York Post As part of her two-year Sherut Leumi service (alternative national service), Applebaum worked with children with cancer. She planned on studying chemistry or genetics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and her goal was to find a cure for cancer.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1005712-2,00.html https://web.archive.org/web/20100919042808/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1005712-2,00.html dead 19 September 2010 One Last Father-Daughter Chat Van Biema David Eric Silver Elizabeth Coady 22 September 2003 Time Sand and Applebaum scheduled their wedding for 10 September 2003, in Ramat Rachel, a kibbutz south of Jerusalem.https://www.haaretz.com/almost-too-tragic-to-be-true-1.99939 https://web.archive.org/web/20110415022701/http://www.haaretz.com/almost-too-tragic-to-be-true-1.99939 dead 15 April 2011 Almost too Tragic to be True Kordova Shoshana 12 September 2003 Haaretz Funerals Applebaum's fiancé, Chanan Sand, collapsed in the emergency department of Shaare Zedek Medical Center upon hearing that his fiancée had not survived. She was buried the next day adjacent to her father in the Har HaMenuchot cemetery, in the western part of Jerusalem.https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/11/world/a-healer-of-terror-victims-becomes-one.html A Healer of Terror Victims Becomes One Myre Greg 11 September 2003 The New York Timeshttps://www.haaretz.com/news/bombing-kills-hospital-er-chief-and-daughter-1.99752 https://web.archive.org/web/20121102071701/http://www.haaretz.com/news/bombing-kills-hospital-er-chief-and-daughter-1.99752 dead 2 November 2012 Bombing kills hospital ER chief and daughter Shragai Nadav Shoshana Kordova 10 September 2003 Haaretz Hundreds of friends and relatives traveling to Israel for the wedding arrived to find that they would be attending her funeral instead, on the day she was supposed to get married.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3099638.stm Suicide attack claims top Israeli doctor 11 September 2003 BBChttp://www.sptimes.com/2003/09/11/Columns/2_more_lost_in_land_t.shtml 2 more lost in land too used to terror Taylor Martin Susan 11 September 2003 St. Petersburg Timeshttp://www.thecrimson.harvard.edu/article/2003/11/3/peace-justice-and-suicide-bombings-david/ Peace, Justice and Suicide Bombings? Shoag Daniel W. 3 November 2003 The Harvard Crimson 11 October 2010 17 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110717065351/http://www.thecrimson.harvard.edu/article/2003/11/3/peace-justice-and-suicide-bombings-david/ deadhttp://web2.westlaw.com/result/default.wl?rltdb=CLID_DB8490313801310&srch=TRUE&db=ALLNEWS&sv=Split&service=Search&eq=search&fmqv=s&sskey=CLID_SSSA3644930801310&method=TNC&action=Search&query=%22NAVA+APPLEBAUM%22&mt=Westlaw&fn=_top&origin=Search&vr=2.0&rlt=CLID_QRYRLT1938735801310&pbc=4BF3FCBE&ifm=NotSet&rp=%2fsearch%2fdefault.wl&cfid=1&rs=WLW10.08 Too CloseTo Deadly Terrorism Nelson Craig 15 September 2003 Times Union Sand attended the funeral, and placed in her grave the wedding ring he had planned on giving her at the wedding.Lash Balint Judy Jerusalem Diaries II: What's Really Happening in Israel https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3LkDBS-rPYC&q=%22nava+appelbaum%22&pg=PA119 2007 Xulon Press 978-1-60266-044-1 120–23 Assailant The assailant was Hamas member Ramez Fahmi Izz al-Din Abu Salim (short: Ramez Abu Salim), age 22, who originated from the village of Rantis, and had been a student of Birzeit or Al-Quds Open University (Al-Bireh campus),Al-Quds U. does have an Al-Bireh campus, but Al-Quds *Open* U. seems to have none. February 2025 where he acted as an Islamic Block activist. Suicide bombing terrorism during the current Israeli-Palestinian confrontation (September 2000 – December 2005) September 9, 2003 94 Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S) 11 January 2006 . He had previously been held in administrative detention and was released seven months before the attack. Aftermath Victims' families Applebaum's fiancé, Chanan Sand, was unable to date for several years after her death because of his grief, but became engaged in 2009.https://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=164262 The Dershowitz dynasty Cashman Greer Fay 15 December 2009 The Jerusalem Post Members of the Applebaum family attended the engagement party. In 2006, Nava's brother Yitzchak was in medical school.https://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=42370 Dr. David Applebaum's daughter starts medical career Siegel-Itzkovich Judy 23 November 2006 The Jerusalem Post At that time, her sister Shira was a paramedic planning on attending medical school. When Shira got married she used Nava's wedding gown as part of the canopy. Tributes and reactions Journalist Yossi Klein Halevi described the incident as an "epic tragedy", and wrote: "If a new book of the Bible were ever written about the modern return to Zion, it would have to include the story of the Applebaums." Klein Halevi Yossi 25 September 2003 The Jerusalem Post https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/432429091.html?dids=432429091:432429091&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Sep+26%2C+2003&author=YOSSI+KLEIN+HALEVI&pub=Jerusalem+Post&desc=The+historic+significance+of+American+aliya&pqatl=google The historic significance of American aliya 7 July 2017 4 November 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20121104042542/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/432429091.html?dids=432429091:432429091&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Sep+26,+2003&author=YOSSI+KLEIN+HALEVI&pub=Jerusalem+Post&desc=The+historic+significance+of+American+aliya&pqatl=google dead The poignant tragedy of a father and daughter murdered on the evening before the daughter's wedding moved Israelis, who continue to recall the tragedy years later.https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=178913 My Word: When Irish Eyes Aren't Smiling Collins Liat 19 August 2010 The Jerusalem Post 11 October 2010http://www.jewishjournal.com/articles/item/a_night_at_cafe_hillel_20041001/ A Night at Cafe Hillel Rosenbaum Matthew 30 September 2004 The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles 11 October 2010 14 October 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20121014091940/http://www.jewishjournal.com/articles/item/a_night_at_cafe_hillel_20041001/ dead A few days after the bombing, another engaged couple decided to hold their Sheva Brachot celebrations at the site of the suicide attack.https://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/wedding-party-planned-for-jerusalem-bombing-site-1.99915 https://web.archive.org/web/20121102093941/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/wedding-party-planned-for-jerusalem-bombing-site-1.99915 dead 2 November 2012 Wedding party planned for Jerusalem bombing site Sheleg Yair 12 September 2003 Haaretz The choice of venue was intended "as a sign of 'continuity'". The celebration was video-conferenced to numerous Jewish communities around the world. Numerous memorials and charity projects were undertaken in memory of Nava Applebaum.http://savannahnow.com/news/2006-06-03/chuppa-story A chuppa story; It looks like just a pretty tablecloth, held up on four poles to form a canopy Clark Felty Dana 3 June 2006 Savannah Morning Newshttps://www.jpost.com/LocalIsrael/InJerusalem/Article.aspx?id=173257 Mourning together; The theme of this year's alternative Remembrance Day ceremony, organized by the first civilian victim of the intifada, is bereaved families who have lost more than one member. Davis Barry 16 April 2010 The Jerusalem Post The top of Applebaum's unworn wedding gown was made into a covering for the Torah ark at Rachel's Tomb.Selwyn Tom Contested Mediterranean Spaces: Ethnographic Essays in Honour of Charles Tilly 2011 Berghahn Books 286 https://books.google.com/books?id=b2xtn6f8VDoC&q=nava+appelbaum&pg=PA286 29 September 2014 9780857451330Schwartz Joshua The Story of Rachel's Tomb [Hebrew: 'Al em ha-derekh: Sipuro shel Kever Rachel] (review) The Jewish Quarterly Review University of Pennsylvania Press 97 Summer 2007 0021-6682 http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/jewish_quarterly_review/v097/97.3schwartz.pdfhttp://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/114866 Photo Essay: A Visit to the Matriarch Rachel's Fortified Tomb HaLevi Ezra 7 May 2006 Arutz Shevahttps://www.jpost.com/JerusalemReport/Article.aspx?id=127630 Who Weeps for Rachel?; A Revered Holy Site for Generations, Rachel's Tomb on the Road to Bethlehem has Become a Political and Religious Icon Gross Netty C. 4 January 2009 The Jerusalem Post It is inscribed: "Nava Applebaum, A Bride for Eternity."Drawn To Mother Rachel Chabin Michele 26 September 2008 The Jewish Week The skirt of the wedding gown was formed into a wedding canopy for other couples to stand beneath during their chuppah ceremony. Dr. Paige Applebaum Farkas, a Teaneck, New Jersey, resident and second cousin to David Applebaum, and her brother, Dr. Eric Applebaum, also of Teaneck, raised money to build a special room for brides at the mikvah in the Har Homa neighborhood of Jerusalem. A memorial service honoring Nava and her father held in New Jersey one year after their deaths drew over a thousand people. The Naava Applebaum Circle of Life Endowment was established by the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, and it supports the Sherut Leumi service, in which Nava Applebaum participated.http://www.forward.com/articles/3743/ Foundation for Jewish Culture Lauds 'Brooklyn Boy' Playwright Leon Masha 1 July 2005 The Forward All Bat Mitzvah girls (12-year-old girls, who at that age become responsible for their actions according to Jewish law) of Moriah School in Englewood, New Jersey receive a book of Psalms inscribed in the memory of Nava Applebaum. A dowry fund was also established, the Naava Applebaum Kallah Fund, for brides that cannot afford the basic wedding necessities.https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/797664911.html?dids=797664911:797664911&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Feb+11%2C+2005&author=DAVE+BENDER%2C+Dan+Izenberg+contributed+to+this+article&pub=Jerusalem+Post&desc=Routing+for+Rahel&pqatl=google Routing for Rahel Bender Dave Don Izenberg 11 February 2005 The Jerusalem Post 7 July 2017 4 November 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20121104035848/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/797664911.html?dids=797664911:797664911&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Feb+11,+2005&author=DAVE+BENDER,+Dan+Izenberg+contributed+to+this+article&pub=Jerusalem+Post&desc=Routing+for+Rahel&pqatl=google dead Perpetrators On 14 March 2010, Israeli military forces caught the Hamas militant leader Maher Udda, who participated in the execution of both these suicide attacks as well as other terrorist attack.https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3862142,00.html Hamas man behind deadly attacks nabbed 14 March 2010 Ynet News In October 2011, Ibrahim Dar Musa, who was involved in the planning of the suicide attack, was released from prison as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.http://www.nysun.com/opinion/america-can-prosecute-those-terrorists-freed-by/87556/ America Can Prosecute Terrorists Freed by Israel Lewin Nathan 6 November 2011 The New York Sun In 2004, Nael Obeid, a Palestinian man, was sentenced to seven life sentences and 30 years for the part he played in the bombing. After serving 21 years in prison, he was released in February 2025 as part of a hostage-prisoner exchange during the Gaza war. Obeid fell to his death a few days later, the cause of his fall not being immediately clear. Summers Charlie Palestinian terror convict falls to his death in East Jerusalem week after release 22 February 2025 The Times of Israel https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/palestinian-terror-convict-falls-to-his-death-in-east-jerusalem-week-after-release/ 23 February 2025 See also Tzrifin bus stop attack References 2 External links Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism since September 2000: Sept 9, 2003 Tzrifin and Jerusalem suicide bombings. Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 27.09.2000-12.01.2025. Memorial video on YouTube Two separate suicide bombings kill at least 15 in Israel - published on USA Today on 9 September 2003 2nd Deadly Bomb Blast Hits Israel - published on CBS News on 9 September 2003 Attacks wreck peace hopes - published on BBC News on 9 September 2003 http://www.life.com/image/2480710 Nava Appelbaum, Victim Of Palestinian Suicide Bombing 10 Sep 2003 Life 11 October 2010 11 June 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110611075849/http://www.life.com/image/2480710 dead (pic) Category:2003 mass murders Category:2003 in Jerusalem Category:September 2003 in Asia Category:Hamas suicide bombings Category:2003 building bombings Category:Terrorist incidents in Jerusalem in the 2000s Category:Building bombings in Jerusalem Category:Israeli casualties in the Second Intifada Category:21st-century mass murders in Jerusalem Category:Terrorist incidents in Asia in 2003 Category:Attacks on coffeehouses and cafés in Asia Category:Suicide bombings in 2003 Category:Suicide bombings in Jerusalem Category:Restaurant bombings in Asia Category:September 2003 crimes in Asia Category:September 2003 in Israel