Murder of Helena Rapp
1992 Palestinian terrorist attack in Bat Yam, Israel
32°01′16″N 34°44′22″E / 32.02111°N 34.73944°E / 32.02111; 34.73944
c. 7:30 am (UTC+2)
Attack type
The murder of Helena Rapp occurred on 24 May 1992 when a Palestinian stabbed 15-year-old Israeli Helena Rapp to death in the Israeli coastal city of Bat Yam. The attack shocked the Israeli public as one of the more prominent of a series of stabbing attacks that took place in Israel during the early 1990s. Following the attack, riots broke out in Bat Yam until they were dispersed by police five days later. The attacks signified to many Israelis a deterioration of their personal security. The killer was later freed as part of a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.
Attack
On 24 May 1992, at around 7:30 am, 18-year-old Palestinian Fuad Muhammad Abdulhadi Amrin stabbed to death 15-year-old Israeli Helena Rapp at the corner of Ben-Gurion and Jabotinsky streets in Bat Yam while she was on her way to her school bus stop.[1][2][3]
Aftermath
Amrin was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.[4]
Following the attack, thousands of Bat Yam residents rioted in the streets of the city for five days without significant interference, causing heavy damage to property while occasionally attacking random Arab-looking by-passers.[5] Among the organizers of the riots was Baruch Marzel, who was later sentenced to 8 months probation for his part in the riots. After 5 days, during which Helena Rapp's father Ze'ev Rapp encouraged the riots, he eventually responded to a police request to help disperse the rioters and as a result the riots subsided. In the Or Commission Israeli Chief of Police Assaf Hefetz criticized the way the police handled the rioting after Rapp's murder and claimed that the riots should have been dispersed much earlier.[6]
After the incident, Ze'ev Rapp, Helena's father, devoted his life to commemorating his daughter and to public activities as the chairman of the Israeli Victims of Terror Attacks Organization.[7]
Following the attack, which took place during the 1992 Israeli legislative elections, many Israeli politicians showed up in Bat Yam and/or spoke out about the attack. The Minister of Police Roni Milo and the leader of the right-wing nationalist Moledet party Rehavam Ze'evi were present at Helena Rapp's funeral. Labor Party politician Shimon Peres arrived in Bat-Yam and despite some concerns was welcomed by local residents. Much of the Israeli public blamed the right-winged Shamir government for the deterioration to the personal security of Israelis during this period. Videos of the rioting that took place in Bat Yam were featured in Labor Party electoral ads which blamed the deteriorating security situation on the Likud government.[8]
Release of assailant
On 18 October 2011, Fuad Muhammad Abdulhadi Amrin, who was originally sentenced to a life sentence, was released to Gaza as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.[9][10]
References
- ^ "אזרחים חללי פעולות איבה - חיפוש לפי שם, אירוע או מקום מגורים - הלנה ראפ ז"ל". Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ^ "The real two-state solution". Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ^ "Arab Who Killed 15-year-old Girl Captured Just As Mobs Converge". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ^ Ronen Bergman, The secret war with Iran, pg. 215
- ^ The real two-state solution, salon.com, 26 November 2007; accessed 19 November 2014.
- ^ Assaf Hefetz's comments, orwatch.org; accessed 19 November 2014.
- ^ Victims of Terror Attacks Organization profile, inn.co.il; accessed 19 November 2014.
- ^ The elections in Israel, 1992, books.google.com; accessed 19 November 2014.
- ^ Ravid, Barak. "Israel, Hamas reach Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal, officials say". Haaretz. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ Fuad Muhammad Abdulhadi Amrin release in Gilad Shalit exchange, shabas.gov.il; accessed 19 November 2014.
External links
- Girl Stabbed, Setting Off New Violence - The Spokesman-Review, 25 May 1992
- An Israeli Girl Is Slain, And Mobs Beat Arabs - The New York Times, 25 May 1992
- Gaza sealed after Bat Yam terror slaying schoolgirl stabbed; mobs turn on Arabs, injuring seven - Jerusalem Post, 25 May 1992
- Bereaved families: State dancing in our blood - Ynet, 16 October 2011
- v
- t
- e
Prominent terrorist attacks against Israelis in the history of the Arab–Israeli conflict – the 1990s
- Cairo bus attack (February 4)
- Assassination of Meir Kahane (November 5)
- Ein Netafim ambush (November 26)
- Night of the Pitchforks (February 14)
- Buenos Aires Israeli embassy bombing (March 17)
- Murder of Helena Rapp (May 24)
- Abduction and killing of Nissim Toledano (December 13)
- Mehola Junction bombing (April 16)
- Abduction and killing of Yaron Chen (August 5)
- Afula bus bombing (April 6)
- Hadera bus station bombing (April 13)
- London embassy bombing (July 26)
- Abduction and killing of Nachshon Wachsman (October 14)
- Dizengoff Street bus bombing (October 19)
- Netzarim Junction bicycle bombing (November 11)
- Afula axe attack (November 30)
- Beit Lid bombing (January 22)
- Kfar Darom bus attack (April 9)
- Ramat Gan bus bombing (July 24)
- Jerusalem bus 26 bombing (August 21)
- First Jaffa Road bus bombing (February 25) ‡
- Second Jaffa Road bus bombing (March 3)
- Dizengoff Center bombing (March 4)
- Murder of Yaron and Efrat Ungar (June 9)
- Island of Peace massacre (March 13)
- Café Apropo bombing (March 21)
- Mahane Yehuda bombings (July 30)
- Ben Yehuda Street bombing (September 4)
Attacks launched from the West Bank Attacks launched from the Gaza Strip Attacks launched from Lebanon Attacks launched from Jordan Attacks launched from Egypt 
2000s
‡ indicates the terrorist attack which caused the greatest amount of Israeli casualties during the 1990s
2000s
