Shalhevet Pass
Encyclopedia
The murder of Shalhevet Pass was a shooting attack which was carried out on March 26, 2001 in Hebron, in which a Palestinian
sniper
killed the ten-month-old Israel
i infant
Shalhevet Pass. The event shocked the Israeli public mainly because the Palestinian sniper was intentionally aiming for the baby.
The murder became a "potent Israeli symbol as an innocent victim of the raging violence".
in a playground at the entrance to the Avraham Avinu neighborhood in Hebron
, where she and her family lived. A Palestinian sniper opened fire with a high-powered rifle from the Abu Sneinah neighborhood on the hill opposite. Shalhevet was killed instantly. The baby's mother grabbed her and ran with her, only to find that blood was running down her hands. One of the sniper's bullets penetrated the baby's head, passing through her skull, and hit her father as well. Shalhevet's young father Yitzchak Pass, a student, who had been pushing the stroller, was also seriously wounded minutes later by two bullets.
Press accounts indicated that at the time of the shooting: "The ... playground was swarming with children because new sand had been delivered to the sandbox." Two other girls playing in the sandbox reportedly had bullets go through their clothing and narrowly escaped injury, while a third reportedly had her finger grazed by a bullet.
, produced vocal outrage in Israel and abroad, mainly because the Palestinian sniper was intentionally aiming for the baby. The nation mourned the killing of the baby.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
condemned the attack and sent his condolences to the Pass family. Sharon also stated that he saw the Palestinian Authority responsible for the attack.
The Jewish community in Hebron demanded that the Israeli army reoccupy the Abu Sneineh neighborhood in Hebron, and the Pass family even stated that they would not bury their baby until the IDF would reoccupy the Abu Sneineh neighborhood.
After the murder of Shalhevet Pass, the Jewish community in Hebron looted and burned shops at the western area of Hebron as well as buildings of the Waqf
. During the two months that followed the murder of Shalhevet Pass three shooting attacks were carried out against Palestinians vehicles in which one Palestinian was killed and seven were wounded. An unknown body named "Gilad Shalhevet" took responsibility for the attacks and stated that they were carried out in revenge for the murder of Shalhevet Pass.
In 2003, Yitzhak Pass was captured along with his brother, Matityahu Shabu, while they had explosives in their possession. As a result, Yitzhak was convicted of possession of weapons and was sentenced to two years in prison. The court noted that it was not proven that Yitzhak and Matityahu's true intention was to "ideological motivated and designed to avenge Arabs" but because they did not provide an explanation for their actions the court concluded that they possessed the explosives for an illegal purpose.
member Mahmud Amru.
In December 2004 a military court convicted the killer and sentenced him to three life terms.
According to the Israeli government, an investigation concluded that the professional snipers had intentionally targeted the baby. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
said:
In the verdict the judges expressed their shock of the brutality of the murder:
ran the story with the headline "Jewish toddler dies in West Bank". HonestReporting
ran an article criticizing the downplaying of the murder, and said that when it contacted The Washington Post, the paper switched to an updated headline of "“Jewish Baby Shot Dead on West Bank”".
The Voice of Palestine
, the Palestinian Authority's official radio station, reported that the report of the girl's shooting death was a lie, and that instead the girl's mother had murdered her own baby.
at a concert in Hebron, and was written by his brother Rabbi Manis Friedman
.
Palestinian political violence
Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence undertaken to further the Palestinian cause. These political objectives include self-determination in and sovereignty over Palestine, the liberation of Palestine and establishment of a Palestinian state, either in place of both Israel and...
sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
killed the ten-month-old Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i infant
Infant
A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
Shalhevet Pass. The event shocked the Israeli public mainly because the Palestinian sniper was intentionally aiming for the baby.
The murder became a "potent Israeli symbol as an innocent victim of the raging violence".
The murder
On March 26, 2001, at 4:00 pm, Shalhevet was seated in her strollerStroller
Stroller may refer to:*A form of baby transport*Stroller , men's daytime semiformal wear*Stroller , showjumping champion...
in a playground at the entrance to the Avraham Avinu neighborhood in Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
, where she and her family lived. A Palestinian sniper opened fire with a high-powered rifle from the Abu Sneinah neighborhood on the hill opposite. Shalhevet was killed instantly. The baby's mother grabbed her and ran with her, only to find that blood was running down her hands. One of the sniper's bullets penetrated the baby's head, passing through her skull, and hit her father as well. Shalhevet's young father Yitzchak Pass, a student, who had been pushing the stroller, was also seriously wounded minutes later by two bullets.
Press accounts indicated that at the time of the shooting: "The ... playground was swarming with children because new sand had been delivered to the sandbox." Two other girls playing in the sandbox reportedly had bullets go through their clothing and narrowly escaped injury, while a third reportedly had her finger grazed by a bullet.
Aftermath
The murder of Shalhevet Pass, which came relatively early in the Al-Aqsa IntifadaAl-Aqsa Intifada
The Second Intifada, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada and the Oslo War, was the second Palestinian uprising, a period of intensified Palestinian-Israeli violence, which began in late September 2000...
, produced vocal outrage in Israel and abroad, mainly because the Palestinian sniper was intentionally aiming for the baby. The nation mourned the killing of the baby.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
condemned the attack and sent his condolences to the Pass family. Sharon also stated that he saw the Palestinian Authority responsible for the attack.
The Jewish community in Hebron demanded that the Israeli army reoccupy the Abu Sneineh neighborhood in Hebron, and the Pass family even stated that they would not bury their baby until the IDF would reoccupy the Abu Sneineh neighborhood.
After the murder of Shalhevet Pass, the Jewish community in Hebron looted and burned shops at the western area of Hebron as well as buildings of the Waqf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...
. During the two months that followed the murder of Shalhevet Pass three shooting attacks were carried out against Palestinians vehicles in which one Palestinian was killed and seven were wounded. An unknown body named "Gilad Shalhevet" took responsibility for the attacks and stated that they were carried out in revenge for the murder of Shalhevet Pass.
In 2003, Yitzhak Pass was captured along with his brother, Matityahu Shabu, while they had explosives in their possession. As a result, Yitzhak was convicted of possession of weapons and was sentenced to two years in prison. The court noted that it was not proven that Yitzhak and Matityahu's true intention was to "ideological motivated and designed to avenge Arabs" but because they did not provide an explanation for their actions the court concluded that they possessed the explosives for an illegal purpose.
The capture and the trial of the killer
The Palestinian Authority initially arrested the sniper but released him after a short while. On December 9, 2002 the Shin Bet managed to capture the sniper – the TanzimTanzim
Tanzim is a militant faction of the Palestinian Fatah movement.-Overview:The Tanzim militia, founded in 1995 to counter Palestinian Islamism, is widely considered to be an armed offshoot of Fatah with its own leadership structure...
member Mahmud Amru.
In December 2004 a military court convicted the killer and sentenced him to three life terms.
According to the Israeli government, an investigation concluded that the professional snipers had intentionally targeted the baby. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
said:
The fact that they could pick off the baby and then the father makes this a hideous, deliberate, cold-blooded murder. Snipers are not just gun-toting youth... If Arafat had wanted, the sniper would not have been there.
In the verdict the judges expressed their shock of the brutality of the murder:
"It was enough for one bullet, fired from a sniper rifle, to end the life of the infant Shalhevet Pass, who up to that event was unknown to the wide public, and just lived her life as all other children, until one day as the evening came she was hit in her head, and her she died, and Shalhevet whom was still small and and in her infant stage, was sentenced to death by a vile killer whom intentionally, using a Telescopic sightTelescopic sightA telescopic sight, commonly called a scope, is a sighting device that is based on an optical refracting telescope. They are equipped with some form of graphic image pattern mounted in an optically appropriate position in their optical system to give an accurate aiming point...
, pulled the trigger. The picture of the shot baby is on our table, is engraved in our minds and does not give peace to our souls. We can not understand and we can not accept the unbearable ease in which the killer decided to harm a helpless person... We the judges are only humans and we can not see anything else but image which emerges is our senses, an image full of hate, blood and bereavement. We must not accept this image and we need to do everything we can to condemn it."
Official reactions
Reactions in the media
The Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
ran the story with the headline "Jewish toddler dies in West Bank". HonestReporting
HonestReporting
HonestReporting is a non-governmental organization that monitors the media for what it perceives as bias against Israel. The organization has affiliates in the United States, UK, Canada, Italy, and Brazil...
ran an article criticizing the downplaying of the murder, and said that when it contacted The Washington Post, the paper switched to an updated headline of "“Jewish Baby Shot Dead on West Bank”".
The Voice of Palestine
Voice of Palestine
The Voice of Palestine is a radio station based in Ramallah. It is a subsidiary of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, under the control of the Palestinian Authority. The station was originally known as the Voice of Palestinian Revolution before the 1993 Oslo Accords, and was launched on 17...
, the Palestinian Authority's official radio station, reported that the report of the girl's shooting death was a lie, and that instead the girl's mother had murdered her own baby.
In popular culture
A song was dedicated to the memory of "Baby Shalhevet", sung by Avraham FriedAvraham Fried
Avraham Shabshi Hakohen Friedman better known by his stage name, Avraham Fried, is a popular musical entertainer in the Orthodox Jewish community.-Career:...
at a concert in Hebron, and was written by his brother Rabbi Manis Friedman
Manis Friedman
Manis Friedman is a Chabad Lubavitch Hassid. He is a Torah scholar, rabbi, author, counselor and speaker and is the dean of the Bais Chana Institute of Jewish Studies....
.
External links
- Palestinians Kill Baby Girl In West Bank - published on The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
on March 27, 2001 - Mourners rage at Shalhevet's funeral - published on The Jerusalem PostThe Jerusalem PostThe Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
on April 2, 2001 - IDF vows to catch Hebron baby-killer - published on The Jerusalem PostThe Jerusalem PostThe Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
on March 28, 2001 - Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs profile
- Israeli Department of Education profile - published on education.gov.il
- Critique of original AP report on the incident - published on aish.com