Posted : 2021-02-28 16:32
By Nicholas Goldberg
Twenty-five years ago last week, I rushed to the scene of a powerful explosion in downtown Jerusalem. A 22-pound bomb packed with nails and ball bearings and live bullets had been detonated on the No. 18 bus at 6:46 on the morning of Feb. 25.
When I got there, Orthodox Jewish men from the religious burial societies were picking up pieces of scalp and severed digits and charred flesh. A crowd of angry Israelis was shrieking, "Death to the Arabs," and demanding vengeance. I interviewed a distraught 22-year-old soldier sitting on the curb who told me he'd tried to rescue passengers, but they were on fire, stuck to the seats in the bus, their hair burning on their heads. Twenty five people died. Responsibility for the bombing was claimed by Hamas.