Post by Kaffir Nation on Sept 26, 2008 6:35:19 GMT -7
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080925/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_professor_wounded&printer=1
Israeli professor wounded in Jerusalem bomb attack
By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer
Thu Sep 25, 10:57 AM ET
A pipe bomb exploded Thursday outside the home of a prominent Israeli scholar and outspoken critic of Jewish West Bank settlements, lightly wounding him in what police suspect was an attack by Jewish extremists.
Investigators found posters in Professor Zeev Sternhell's neighborhood offering a $320,000 prize to anyone who kills a member of Peace Now, a dovish Israeli group whose views Sternhell shares.
If extremists were behind the attack, it would be one of the worst instances of political violence inside Israel since an opponent of peace negotiations with the Palestinians murdered Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995.
Human rights groups say settlers have been increasingly using violence against Palestinians and Israeli soldiers, in what appears to be an attempt to deter Israeli authorities from making any attempt to evacuate settlements.
The settlement movement fervently opposes the peace talks and rejects the territorial withdrawal a deal would require.
A person close to Sternhell's family said, without elaborating, that the professor had received threats in the past. She spoke on condition of anonymity because of the incident's political sensitivity.
The bomb was planted on the doorstep of Sternhell's home in a quiet Jerusalem neighborhood, exploding when he opened the door, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. The assailants were not apprehended.
Sternhell had minor shrapnel wounds in one leg and will remain hospitalized at least until Friday, authorities said.
An internationally known scholar on fascism and a Holocaust survivor, he was awarded the country's highest honor, the Israel Prize, this year. The award drew criticism from settlers and their supporters.
National police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said investigators believe the attack was ideological.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, an activist with a fringe settler group calling itself the National Jewish Front, said "I don't denounce this incident, but say categorically that we are not involved."
In a statement, Peace Now identified Sternhell as a "veteran supporter" and said Israeli authorities shared responsibility for the attack for not cracking down on settler violence in the West Bank.
Peace Now's head said he was placed under police protection after the attack, but Rosenfeld could not confirm that.
The attack drew condemnation from Israeli politicians, including some from hard-line parties.
Prime Minister-designate Tzipi Livni said in a statement that Israel could not gloss over the attack, which she described as "intolerable."
"It's the responsibility of the state and its people to denounce these events before they occur," Livni said.
Settlers regularly clash with Palestinians and Israeli peace activists in the West Bank, but the use of weapons against political opponents in Israel is uncommon.
There have, however, been precedents. A pro-settlement extremist shot and killed Rabin, who was spearheading efforts to strike a peace deal. Another extremist killed a member of Peace Now with a grenade at a 1983 peace protest.
Israeli professor wounded in Jerusalem bomb attack
By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer
Thu Sep 25, 10:57 AM ET
A pipe bomb exploded Thursday outside the home of a prominent Israeli scholar and outspoken critic of Jewish West Bank settlements, lightly wounding him in what police suspect was an attack by Jewish extremists.
Investigators found posters in Professor Zeev Sternhell's neighborhood offering a $320,000 prize to anyone who kills a member of Peace Now, a dovish Israeli group whose views Sternhell shares.
If extremists were behind the attack, it would be one of the worst instances of political violence inside Israel since an opponent of peace negotiations with the Palestinians murdered Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995.
Human rights groups say settlers have been increasingly using violence against Palestinians and Israeli soldiers, in what appears to be an attempt to deter Israeli authorities from making any attempt to evacuate settlements.
The settlement movement fervently opposes the peace talks and rejects the territorial withdrawal a deal would require.
A person close to Sternhell's family said, without elaborating, that the professor had received threats in the past. She spoke on condition of anonymity because of the incident's political sensitivity.
The bomb was planted on the doorstep of Sternhell's home in a quiet Jerusalem neighborhood, exploding when he opened the door, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. The assailants were not apprehended.
Sternhell had minor shrapnel wounds in one leg and will remain hospitalized at least until Friday, authorities said.
An internationally known scholar on fascism and a Holocaust survivor, he was awarded the country's highest honor, the Israel Prize, this year. The award drew criticism from settlers and their supporters.
National police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said investigators believe the attack was ideological.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, an activist with a fringe settler group calling itself the National Jewish Front, said "I don't denounce this incident, but say categorically that we are not involved."
In a statement, Peace Now identified Sternhell as a "veteran supporter" and said Israeli authorities shared responsibility for the attack for not cracking down on settler violence in the West Bank.
Peace Now's head said he was placed under police protection after the attack, but Rosenfeld could not confirm that.
The attack drew condemnation from Israeli politicians, including some from hard-line parties.
Prime Minister-designate Tzipi Livni said in a statement that Israel could not gloss over the attack, which she described as "intolerable."
"It's the responsibility of the state and its people to denounce these events before they occur," Livni said.
Settlers regularly clash with Palestinians and Israeli peace activists in the West Bank, but the use of weapons against political opponents in Israel is uncommon.
There have, however, been precedents. A pro-settlement extremist shot and killed Rabin, who was spearheading efforts to strike a peace deal. Another extremist killed a member of Peace Now with a grenade at a 1983 peace protest.