Murder of Helena Rapp
Encyclopedia
The 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.
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.
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..
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. 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.
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".
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.
between Israel and Hamas.
Schoolgirl
A schoolgirl is a girl attending either primary or secondary school, generally aged between four and eighteen years old.-Academic performance:This has led in some countries to calls for greater equality for education in the school system...
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.
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 schoolgirlSchoolgirl
A schoolgirl is a girl attending either primary or secondary school, generally aged between four and eighteen years old.-Academic performance:This has led in some countries to calls for greater equality for education in the school system...
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.
Aftermath
The perpetrator was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Islamic JihadIslamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine known in the West as simply Palestinian Islamic Jihad , is a small Palestinian militant organization. The group has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel...
claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack was one of the reasons that led to the targeted killing
Targeted killing
Targeted killing is the deliberate, specific targeting and killing, by a government or its agents, of a supposed terrorist or of a supposed "unlawful combatant" who is not in that government's custody...
of the Islamic Jihad founder Fathi Shikaki in 1995..
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. Among the organizers of the riots was Baruch Marzel
Baruch Marzel
Baruch Meir Marzel is an Israeli politician. Marzel, an American-born Orthodox Jew, lives in the Jewish community of Hebron in Tel Rumeida with his wife and nine children. He is the leader of the Religious Zionism-orientated Jewish National Front party...
, 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
Or Commission
The Or Commission was a panel of inquiry appointed by the Israeli government to investigate the events of October 2000 at the beginning of the Second Intifada in which 12 Arab citizens of Israel and one Palestinian were killed by Israeli police amidst several demonstrations...
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.
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".
Following the attack, which took place during the 1992 Israeli legislative elections
Israeli legislative election, 1992
Elections for the thirteenth Knesset were held in Israel on 23 June 1992. The result was a victory for the left, led by Yitzhak Rabin's Labor Party, though their win was at least partially due to several small right-wing parties narrowly failing to cross the electoral threshold and thus effectively...
, many Israeli politicians showed up in Bat Yam and/or spoke out about the attack. The Minister of Police Roni Milo
Roni Milo
Roni Milo is an Israeli politician, lawyer and journalist, and a former Knesset member who held several ministerial positions. He was also mayor of Tel Aviv from 1993 to 1998.-Political career:...
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
Shimon Peres
GCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
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.
Release of Assailant
On 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 exchangeGilad Shalit prisoner exchange
The Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange followed an agreement between Israel and Hamas to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,027 prisoners – mainly Palestinians and Arab-Israelis, though among the prisoners released there was also a Ukrainian prisoner, a Jordanian prisoner, and a...
between Israel and Hamas.
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 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...
, 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 - YnetYnetYnet is the most popular Israeli news and general content website. It is owned by the same conglomerate that operates Yediot Ahronot, the country's secondleading daily newspaper...
, October 16, 2011