A New Jersey newspaper columnist’s book takes a personal look at the bombing of a commuter bus in Jerusalem on February 25, 1996 and the larger forces behind the terrorist phenomenon.
By ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMANMike Kelly in front of Damascus Gate while researching his book.(photo credit: Courtesy)
He didn’t look like a killer.“No. Not this squat, stocky man with the hook nose, the nervous smile and the brown eyes that darted across the prison meeting room, sizing up the metal chairs, the wooden table, the prison guards and, finally, me.“But killer he was. And, as I would soon discover, Hassan Salameh was proud of the deaths he had caused.”These words open Mike Kelly’s The Bus on Jaffa Road: A Story of Middle East Terrorism and the Search for Justice.An award-winning columnist for The Record newspaper of New Jersey, Kelly wrote about the bus-bombing murders of Sara Duker (who lived in his hometown) and her boyfriend, Matt Eisenfeld, on February 25, 1996. Five-and-a-half years later, after covering the destruction of the World Trade Center just across the river from the paper’s newsroom, he took an - other look at the Duker-Eisenfeld murders and that of New Jersey resident Alisa Fla - tow, killed in a 1995 bus bombing in Gaza.“During the late 1990s, more than a dozen Americans died in terrorist attacks in the Middle East along with hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians, often at the hands of suicide bombers who blew themselves up along with their victims as an act of Islamic spiritual fulfillment and political defiance,” Kelly writes.“But the bombers who died usually did not act alone. What about those who planned or financed the attacks and built the bombs that killed so many people? Were any of them held accountable? And what of the families of those American victims? What happened to them? I decided to start with one attack – the bombing of a commuter bus on Jerusalem’s Jaffa Road on February 25, 1996.”He conducted more than 200 inter - views, read transcripts of three trials and pored over 2,000 pages of documents, memos and staff reports from Congress, the White House, and the US Departments of State, Justice and the Treasury.Significantly, Kelly uncovered new evi - dence of Yasser Arafat’s foreknowledge of the Jaffa Road bus bombing; and a link between the attacks that killed Flatow, Duker and Eisenfeld.What were the most surprising and disturbing facts uncovered in your research? The suicide bombing of the No. 18 bus on Jaffa Road was well-planned. I knew that much planning went into these at - tacks, but I was surprised at the level of training and the high degree of funding.
That operation involved more than half-a-dozen active Hamas operatives and also included deliveries of cash payments and explosives, as well as an intricate system of communication and travels between safe houses.Adding to the complexity of this op - eration was the training for Hassan Sala meh in Iran. As I was able to document, his training in bomb-making was quite extensive.One disturbing element of my research involved the recruitment of the suicide bomber of the No. 18 bus, Majdi Abu Wardeh, and the tacit knowledge of Yasser Arafat that some sort of attack was about to take place.What struck me about the recruitment of Wardeh was how easily he accepted his mission. Even after sev - eral years of heavy research into this attack, I still can - not fathom how easily he decided to become a suicide bomber. That is one reason why I visited his family at the al-Fawwar refugee camp in the West Bank.With Arafat, I realize that many Middle East experts have long suspected he had far more knowledge of terrorist attacks than he admitted. But he always man - aged to slip free of responsibility. I am proud that my book documents on some level that Arafat knew that an attack was going to take place in Jerusalem on February 25, 1996.Also disturbing in my research was how US presi - dent Bill Clinton’s administration, after first seeming to support the idea of lawsuits against terrorist na - tions, then opposed those lawsuits. The families were extremely distressed by this flip-flopping, and Clinton has never explained his position.What aspect of your research did you find most heartening? The eternal optimism and resilience of the Flatow, Duker and Eisenfeld families. Their children were brutally murdered and they had every right to be angry – extremely angry. But in all of their public statements, and in dozens of hours of interviews with me, they never fell into the rhetorical trap of condemning all Palestinians or all Muslims for what happened. I admire them greatly, and felt it was an honor to enter into the sacred ground of their private lives.In your opinion, how well did Israel handle the Hassan Salameh case? I think the Israeli military courts handled Salameh just right. As I reported in my book, Salameh wanted to be executed. He felt it was a way for him to attain his perverted place as an Islamic martyr. But the court – to its credit – opted to put him in prison for 46 consecu - tive life sentences.One of the three military judges in Salameh’s trial voted for the death penalty. The two other judges vot - ed for life in prison. I can fully understand why a judge would ask that Salameh be executed. But in the end, I think 46 consecutive life terms in prison is the right sentence.Some Israeli legal experts – notably the chief judge in Salameh’s trial – feel that Salameh may one day be freed in a prisoner exchange with the Palestinians.That may indeed happen – but I don’t think it will happen anytime soon. In the meantime, Salameh has only his jail cell for company. As Avinoam Sharon, the military prosecutor, said, Salameh’s punishment is that he will go through life alone and celibate.Do you think the landmark judgment against Iran in 1998, or the very recent Arab Bank judg - ment, will make a dent in Islamist terrorism? History has told us that these cases do not have a long-term impact on thwarting terrorism. Despite the decisions in the Flatow case (1998) and the Duker-Eis - enfeld case (2000) – and, indeed, the monetary awards of 2001 – Iran did not back away from its support of Pal - estinian terrorism. Attacks during the second Palestin - ian intifada increased dramatically, with Iran’s support.I see these court cases in another light – as an attempt by ordinary people to find some measure of jus - tice, however imperfect, in a world that does not offer much help to them. So while the Flatow, Duker and Eisenfeld cases did not have much impact on the over - all problem of Islamic terrorism, the families were able to find some justice in their own lives, I believe.Distressingly, however, these court cases reveal how the US government has shirked its duty in protecting US citizens. Ordinary citizens should not have to go to court to file lawsuits against terrorists. Their govern - ments should do that. This is one of the lessons which I hope has been learned as America continues its pres - ent war on terror.Is the US Anti-Terrorism Act flawed? What other tools might assure that American citizens can be compensated for injurious acts perpetrated by foreign actors? All laws have some flaws. But I am heartened that the latest case involving the 300 victims of Hamas terror was brought against a bank. For too long, banks and other financial institutions have looked the other way as terrorist money has passed through. Now this [Arab Bank] case puts banks on notice that they will be held responsible – and will have to pay large fines if they continue to participate in these sorts of activities.Do Western leaders fully understand the terrorism phenomenon? As we have seen with its slow and measured response in Syria in recent months and, before that, with the tragically slow and often clueless reaction to the emergence of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network in Afghanistan before the 9/11 attacks, America – and, indeed, far too many Western nations – are slow to grasp and fully understand the wider implications of Islamic terrorism. The most fundamental point that the West overlooks all too frequently is the theology of terrorism that is being promulgated by radical jihadists.As my research shows, this theology essentially calls for the murder of innocent people in the name of God.Indeed, the voices of radical jihadists have drowned out far too many moderate Islamic voices. In the name of politics, radical Islam has embraced a view of suicide martyrdom that is not supported by the Koran or in other Islamic literature.The most recent manifestation of this perverted theology began in the early 1990s, as my book points out.Yet few Islamic scholars and theologians have stepped forward to denounce the murders of innocents in the name of God or challenged the theology of suicide martyrdom.While US President Barack Obama has lately begun to encourage Muslim leaders to condemn the brutal - ity of suicide attackers and the murderous tactics of Islamic State and other groups, I fear that few Muslim leaders will have the courage to stand up and face this threat. In general, I think the West has failed to understand any of the implications of this silence.What is really driving the Hassan Salamehs of the world? Salameh is nothing more than a stone-cold killer. I think his motivations are actually nihilistic in nature, in that he finds a fundamental joy in killing people.Yes, he tells us that he was fighting as a soldier and that his bombings are justified by his Islamic beliefs. But what kind of solider was he actually? I found him to be the kind of soldier who killed unarmed people who were not engaging in war against him. I found him to be a bully and a coward. He could not really justify what he did without resorting to tired rhetoric.I suspect he will go to his grave believing to the end that he was doing God’s will by killing unarmed people who were merely riding a commuter bus in downtown Jerusalem.In the end, however, I found Salameh to be an enemy of the Palestinian cause. I have a great deal of sympathy for the suffering of ordinary Palestinian people. But I do not condone the murder of innocent people. Ultimately, I saw the story of the bombing on Jaffa Road as a case of mass murder. If the world viewed terrorism as murder and did not try to contextualize it in a political framework, then we would have a much clearer view of terrorism’s inherent dangers.By focusing on specific victims, you personalized the tragic events. As the father of two daughters, was this emotionally difficult for you? I connected with Sara, Matthew and Alisa in very personal ways, in part because I am the father of two daughters. (One of my daughters is a graduate of Sara’s alma mater, Barnard College.) But I also connected with Sara, Matthew and Alisa because I could see myself in their shoes. We were all young and idealistic once. In our youth, we saw the world as a wonderful gift to be explored and en - joyed. I think that is how Matt, Sara and Alisa saw their lives. I wanted my book to reflect some of that idealism by them.As I wrote and researched my book, I kept a photo of Matt and Sara on my desk as a reminder of their youth - fulness and also as a reminder that this book, ultimately, is about ordinary people.Will you continue writing on this topic? Sadly, I think I will be covering terrorism and its implications for years to come. As I was interviewing a contact in New York City for this book one morning in April 2013, a bomb exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. I literally set aside my book research and drove to Boston to cover the aftermath of that bombing.In the end, the singular thread that connects all of these stories is this: They are all about the murder of innocent people in the name of some sort of perverted theology.
