Yuri Gushchin, 18 Eighteen-year-old Yuri Gushchin’s murderers kidnapped and murdered him – solely because he was Jewish. On the morning of July 23, 2001, Yuri went to work at his summer job for a building contractor. When he finished, he went to Jerusalem to "hang around", as he often did. His parents were used to the fact that Yuri liked to spend a lot of time out of the house, often spending the night at friends’ homes. Yuri’s parents began to worry, however, when the boy’s employer told them he did not show up for work the next morning, and when they heard on the radio that the body of a young Israeli man had been found near Ramallah. Israeli security forces managed to track down the killers, who reconstructed what happened. On the night between July 23 and 24, at two o’clock in the morning, Yuri set out for the Jerusalem Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall and had a cup of coffee at the Rimon cafe. There he met four Palestinians, three of whom were youths from the area of Kalandia, whom he had met before. The four Palestinians, who had been planning to abduct and murder an Israeli for some time, plied Yuri with drink. Afterwards, they asked him to accompany them because they wanted to show him an apartment they said needed to be refurbished. Yuri, in his naivete and perhaps under the influence of the alcohol, agreed. The five youths traveled to Ramallah. There, the leader of the group, Abu Zeida, told his friends in Arabic, “Wait here, we are going to kill him. ”Yuri asked,“ Where am I?” and his Palestinian acquaintances told him, “You are in Shuafat.” When Abu Zeida returned, the group drove to the Al Birah industrial zone. There they bound Yuri’s hands and feet. Abu Zeida ordered him to turn around, and then shot him in the back of the neck. The investigation of those who took part in the murder revealed that Abu Zeida had initiated the abduction. He offered one of the other youths, a cousin, 2,000 shekels for every Jew he would murder. Yuri had immigrated to Israel with his family in 1991 from Moscow. He studied in elementary school and high school in Israel and six months before his death, transferred to evening school. Yuri was very friendly and was liked by all.    Aliza Malka, 16, killed in a drive-by shooting on Mount Gilboa On August 9,2001, at about 8:30 at night, terrorists opened fire at a car near Kibbutz Merav on Mount Gilboa. Five girls from the kibbutz were in the car at the time – the driver, who was in national service, and four teenaged girls, aged 14 to 16. The car was riddled by dozens of bullets. Aliza Malka, 16, a charming girl, was killed on the spot. Another passenger was seriously wounded, and two others were lightly hurt.The assailants apparently fled after the shooting to the nearby Jenin area.    Naftali Ben Zion Lanzkron, 13, and Eliran Rozenberg, 14 Killed waiting for a school bus On the morning of March 28, 2001, just before seven o’clock, seven teenagers were waiting for a school bus in a gas station near the Neveh Yemin junction, not far from Kfar Saba. They were going to the Bnei Hayil Yeshiva High School in Kedumim. “We were waiting there together, ”related one of the boys,“ when suddenly a man with a black beard came up to us and tried to talk to a couple of my friends. I was standing a bit on the side. Suddenly, I heard an explosion and flew backwards. When I got up, I could see my friends lying on the ground. They were screaming and full of blood.” Two of the wounded boys died on the spot – Naftali Lanzkron, 13, and Eliran Rozenberg, 14. A helicopter took the other injured boys to a nearby hospital. Among the wounded were Shay Inger, 13, who was very seriously wounded; Natanel Hershkowitz, 16, moderately wounded in his eye and shoulder; and Raphael Zommer, 15, and Hananel Touito, 12, who were lightly hurt. Naftali Lanzkron had celebrated his bar mitzva just two and half months before he was killed. He was the youngest of 10 children – a good-natured boy and excellent athlete. On the evening before the attack, he told his brother Yehuda, “Tomorrow there will be a terror attack on my school bus.” His brother dismissed his fears, calling the whole thing “nonsense.” Eliran Rozenberg-Zayat did not know on the morning of his death that a surprise was waiting for him at the yeshiva – a certificate of excellence for his academic achievements. His teacher had prepared the certificate and told Eliran’s parents about it, asking them to keep it a secret so they could surprise the boy at school.    1 2 3 4 5  6 7 8  9 10 11  12 13 14  15