Memorial Ceremony Marks 8th Anniversary of Hebrew University Attack

Memorial Ceremony Marks 8th Anniversary of Hebrew University Attack

A memorial ceremony marking the eighth anniversary of the terror bombing attack at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which claimed nine lives, was held today at the site of the attack on the Mount Scopus campus.

Nine students and university staff members were killed in the attack on the main cafeteria of the Mount Scopus campus on July 31, 2002: Benjamin Blutstein, Marla Bennett, Revital Barashi, David Gritz, David Diego Ladowski, Janis Ruth Coulter, Dina Carter, Levina Shapira and Daphna Spruch. Close to a hundred people were wounded.

Hebrew University President Menahem Ben-Sasson said of the inclined tree that is a memorial to the event  that it “denotes something that has been lost, on the one hand, and the need to resume life, on the other hand. We didn’t know if it would hold up, but it has, like us and like you.” Noting that those killed came from various parts of the world, Ben-Sasson said, “There is nothing like that list to explain what a university is – they came from Boston, Paris, San Diego, Argentina, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv – all of these worlds are found here every day.”

Hebrew University Rector Prof. Sarah Stroumsa spoke of the importance of remembrance and of noting the passing of the years since the terrible event. She said that it was particularly important to do so “for those who are likely to forget, for those young people who were not here then – and so we remind them; but the remembrance is also intended for those in mourning, to remind them that others are able to put this behind them and that it is possible to carry on.” 

Eliad Moreh, who was a student of art at the university at the time of the attack, spoke of her feelings and the loss of her good friend, David Deigo Ladowski: “The wounds have healed, the scars and the loss remain.…Over the years I have learned to live with the scars and the longing. Life has slowly returned to normal. That fateful Wednesday sometimes seems distant and the sharpness of the memory becomes blurred, but sometimes it wakes me with nightmares.”