20th Anniversary of Sbarro Pizza Terror Bombing

Stand for Israel  |  August 9, 2021

Twenty years ago today, a horrific terror attack during the Second Intifada left 15 dead, hundreds wounded, and thousands more with broken hearts. Our friends at The Algemeiner tell us of the remembrances around the world for the lives lost in the Sbarro terrorist bombing in 2001:

Jewish groups and Israeli and US officials marked the 20th anniversary on Monday of the infamous Palestinian terrorist bombing of the popular Sbarro pizza eatery in Jerusalem, with some calling on the US to demand extradition of one of its masterminds to face charges for the deaths of Americans killed in the attack.

The Hamas-orchestrated bombing, which took place in 2001 at the height of the Second Intifada, killed 15 innocent people and wounded over a hundred.

The World Jewish Congress marked the occasion with a video featuring testimonies from the survivors and a tribute to the victims…

Previously, Stand for Israel shared a personal remembrance from the mother of a 15-year-old girl killed in the Sbarro attack.

And just a short while before his untimely passing, Fellowship Founder Rabbi Eckstein shared a message about how, despite attacks such as the Sbarro bombing that show Israel’s enemies glorify death and evil, as people of faith, we must do the opposite:

As discouraging as this is, I recall that the Bible lays out for us a blueprint for a different way of living, a blueprint for all of us to follow: “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

This is the choice Israel has made. She has created a system of government that works to secure democracy and liberty for all. She has embraced creativity and innovation. She respects the humanity of her enemies, even in times of war. Israeli society is imperfect, as all societies are. But it is built on a foundation that reflects a fundamental belief in the sanctity of life, rather than the glorification of death.

Dear friends, even as our enemies choose death, let us choose life. Let us pray for the day when the virulent anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel that is so common among Israel’s neighbors is a thing of the past. And let us continue to pray for the day when God will bless Israel, and the entire world, with His most precious gift of shalom, peace.