- Murder of Helena Rapp
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Murder of Helena Rapp 
The attack siteLocation Bat Yam promenade, Israel Date May 24, 1992
7:30 am (GMT+2)Attack type Stabbing attack Weapon(s) Knife Death(s) 15-year-old Israeli schoolgirl Helena Rapp Perpetrator Lone Palestinian assailant (Fouad Abd El Hani El Omrin). The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility 
Helena Rapp monument on Ben Gurion street, Bat Yam
Helena Rapp monument on Ben Gurion street, Bat YamThe Murder of Helena Rapp was a stabbing attack carried out on May 24, 1992, in which a Palestinian terrorist killed 15-year-old Israeli schoolgirl Helena Rapp in the center of the Israeli coastal city of Bat Yam. The attack, which shocked the Israeli public, was one of the more prominent stabbing attacks in a series of stabbing attacks that took place in Israel during the early 1990s, which signified to many in the Israeli public a deterioration of their personal security at the time.
Contents
The attack
On Sunday, May 24, 1992, at around 7:30 am, 18-year-old Palestinian militant Fouad Abd El Hani El Omrin killed 15-year-old Israeli schoolgirl Helena Rapp, by stabbing her with a knife at the corner of Ben-Gurion and Jabotinsky streets in the coastal Israeli city of Bat Yam, while she was on her way to the bus stop in order to get to school.[1][2][3]
Aftermath
The perpetrator was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack was one of the reasons that led to the targeted killing of the Islamic Jihad founder Fathi Shikaki in 1995.[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, the victim's father, devoted his life to commemorating his daughter and to 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
Main article: Gilad Shalit prisoner swap dealOn 18 October 2011 Fuad Muhammad Abdulhadi Amrin, whom was originally sentenced to 1 life sentence, was released to Gaza as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.[9][10]
References
- ^ אתר לזכר האזרחים חללי פעולות האיבה
- ^ The real two-state solution - Salon.com Mobile
- ^ Arab Who Killed 15-year-old Girl Captured Just As Mobs Converge--
- ^ Ronen Bergman, The secret war with Iran, page 215
- ^ The real two-state solution
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ The elections in Israel, 1992
- ^ Ravid, Barak. "Israel, Hamas reach Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal, officials say". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-hamas-reach-gilad-shalit-prisoner-exchange-deal-officials-say-1.389404. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ [3]
External links
- Girl Stabbed, Setting Off New Violence - The Spokesman-Review, May 25, 1992
- An Israeli Girl Is Slain, And Mobs Beat Arabs - The New York Times, May 25, 1992
- Gaza sealed after Bat Yam terror slaying schoolgirl stabbed; mobs turn on Arabs, injuring seven - Jerusalem Post, May 25, 1992
- Bereaved families: State dancing in our blood - Ynet, October 16, 2011
Prominent terrorist attacks against Israeli targets in the history of the Arab–Israeli conflict – the 1990s 1990 Assassination of Meir Kahane (November 5)1992 Night of the Pitchforks (February 14) – Attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires (March 17) – Murder of Helena Rapp (May 24)1993 Mehola Junction bombing (April 16) – Murder of Yaron Chen (August 5)1994 Afula Bus suicide bombing (April 6) – Hadera central station suicide bombing (April 13) – Attack on the Israeli embassy in London (July 26) – Kidnapping of Nachshon Wachsman (October 14) – Dizengoff Street bus bombing (October 19) – Netzarim Junction bicycle bombing (November 11) – Afula axe attack (November 30)1995 Beit Lid massacre (January 22) – Kfar Darom bus attack (April 9) – Ramat Gan bus 20 bombing (July 24) – Jerusalem bus 26 bombing (August 21)1996 First Jerusalem bus 18 suicide bombing (February 25) ‡ – Second Jerusalem bus 18 suicide bombing (March 3) – Dizengoff Center suicide bombing (March 4)1997 Island of Peace massacre (March 13) – Café Apropo bombing (March 21) – Mahane Yehuda Market Bombings (July 30) – Ben Yehuda Street Bombing (September 4)‡ indicates the terrorist attack which caused the greatest amount of Israeli casualties during the 1990s
1980s
Full list of Palestinian suicide attacks • Full list of Lebanese rocket attacks on Israel
2000sCategories:- Israeli murder victims
- 1992 in Israel
- Murdered Israeli children
- Terrorist incidents in 1992
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