Barry Shaw – This Pesach we will remember them
At Pesach, fifteen years ago, Netanya suffered what became known as the Passover Massacre when a Palestinian suicide bomber walked into the banqueting hall of the Park Hotel and blew himself up as citizens gathered for the Seder service which recalls the Jewish people’s liberation from cruelty and oppression to a land of their own.
My sharpest recollections when I visited the hall the following day was the recessed floor. It was used as a dance floor for celebrations held at the hotel. It had become a red pool.
The burst sprinkler system had flooded the floor. The water was mixed with red wine from smashed bottles and the blood of the victims.
When I looked up I saw that a knife, with the power of the blast, had flew off one of the tables and embedded itself into a concrete ceiling block.
A knife has certainly punctured our heart since then, and a knife has been aimed at our throats by the devious Palestinians ever since.
30 civilians were killed and over a hundred injured in this awful terror attack.
This was only one of too many acts of Palestinian terror that targeted our small resort town on the clifftops of the Mediterranean.
We created the Netanya Terror Victims Organisation to help in our small way those who had been affected by dastardly acts of Palestinian hatred and violence against us.
This hateful terrorism continues to be promoted and executed today. Fifteen years later, I will spare a thought for all those who are still damaged or mourning loved ones this Pesach.
Barry Shaw is the Senior Associate for Public Diplomacy at the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies. He was one of the co-founders of the Netanya Terror Victims Organisation and the author of ‘Hamas, BDS and Anti-Semitism.’
