JPost.The attack was greeted with celebrations in Hamas-controlled Gaza...

U.S.: Peace talks must go on despite J'lem massacre
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Corresponent, Haaretz Service and News Agencies

Mourners grieving at the funeral for Doron Maharata, 26, killed in a terrorist attack at a Jerusalem yeshiva on Thursday. (Nir Cafri)

The White House on Friday urged Israel and the Palestinian Authority to continue peace talks despite a shooting attack in a Jerusalem yeshiva in which eight students, most aged 15 to 19, were killed on Thursday.

"The most important thing is that the peace process continue and that the parties are committed to it," a White House spokesman said. "There's nothing to explain that an attack of this nature ... deserves anything less than condemnation," the spokesman added. The U.S. had previously said Libya - currently chairing the Security Council - blocked the United Nations from condemning the killing as a "terrorist attack", calling for "balanced action".

The attack was greeted with celebrations in Hamas-controlled Gaza, where an IDF offensive that ended on Monday killed more than 100 Palestinians, including many civilians. The IDF offensive was aimed at halting rocket fire from Gaza at the Israel town of Sderot and other communities near the Gaza border which killed three Israelis and injured dozens.
"It was extremely disheartening to see people in the streets in Gaza and elsewhere celebrating [the Jerusalem massacre]. That was fairly disgusting actually," the spokesman said. Israel said peace talks would continue with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who denounced Thursday's attack. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Thursday's attack an act of terror and depravity, and told Abbas in a phone call Friday that she would do everything in her power to restore calm as soon as possible, his aides said. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday joined the international calls to condemn the incident, declaring that the world must combine forces to stop those looking to derail the Middle East peace process through violent means.

"Those who wish to stop the peace process by violence should be stopped from doing so by the combined voices of people throughout the world," he said, adding: "The way to answer those people of violence is to move forward the peace process as quickly as possible." The U.S. had drafted a statement that was discussed at an emergency UN Security Council session, called to discuss the yeshiva massacre.

"The members of the Security Council condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack that took place in Jerusalem March 6, 2008 which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of Israeli civilians," said the draft statement. The U.S. delegation had hoped the 15-nation council would unanimously support the text but Libya, backed by several other council members, prevented its adoption.

"We were not able to come to an agreement because the Libyan delegation with the support of one or two others did not want to condemn this act by itself but wanted to link it to other issues," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters after the council meeting. Khalilzad rejected that the yeshiva attack was related to the IDF's actions in Gaza.

He said killing students in a school was different from the unintentional killing of civilians during fighting with Hamas militants in the strip. Dan Gillerman, the ambassador of Israel, which is not on the council, had harsh words for Libya. He referred to it as the country responsible for the 1988 bombing of Pam Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed some 270 people. "Unfortunately, this is what happens when the Security Council is infiltrated by terrorists," he said, referring to the council's failure to adopt the U.S. statement. Libya's deputy ambassador, Ibrahim al-Dabbashi, dismissed Gillerman's attack.

"We don't need a certificate of good conduct from the Israeli terrorist regime," he said. He also said the council should not speak about the Jerusalem attack while ignoring the Gaza situation. "If the council should take any action, it should be a balanced action and should condemn the killing in Gaza as well as the killing in Jerusalem," al-Dabbashi said.

Israel: Peace talks to go on

Meanwhile, Israel said it would continue with U.S.-backed peace talks with the Palestinians despite a terrorist attack at a Jerusalem yeshiva that killed eight people.

"These terrorists are trying to destroy the chances of peace but we certainly will continue the peace talks," Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said. For his part, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the shooting attack. "President Mahmoud Abbas condemns the attack in Jerusalem that claimed the lives of many Israelis and he reiterated his condemnation of all attacks that target civilians, whether they are Palestinians or Israelis," said Abbas aide Saeb Erekat. In Gaza, Hamas welcomed the terrorist attack.

"We bless the [Jerusalem] operation. It will not be the last," Hamas said in a statement. United States President George W. Bush late Thursday condemned the terror attack saying "I condemn in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attack in Jerusalem that targeted innocent students at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva.

This barbaric and vicious attack on innocent civilians deserves the condemnation of every nation." He later called Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to "extend my deepest condolences to the victims, their families and to the people of Israel. I told him the United States stands firmly with Israel in the face of this terrible attack." U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also condemned the attack, calling it an "act of terror and depravity."

Rice said she spoke with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to express U.S. condolences to the people of Israel and the families of the victims of the Thursday night attack against rabbinical students in Jerusalem. "The United States condemns tonight's act of terror and depravity," Rice said in a statement.

"This barbarous act has no place among civilized peoples and shocks the conscience of all peace loving nations. There is no cause that could ever justify this action." U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton condemned the events, saying: "My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families who are suffering the loss and horror of this despicable act of terrorism.

"The United States and the international community must make clear that such deplorable acts of terrorism will not be tolerated and we must continue to stand with Israel in its fight against terror," she said. Her rival candidate Senator Barack Obama also condemned the attack, saying that he strongly condemns "this cowardly and outrageous attack.

The United States must strongly support Israel's right and capability to defend itself. Today, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, and with the Israeli people who defeat these terrorists every single day that they go about their daily lives." British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said "the reports tonight of killings at a seminary in Jerusalem are shocking. They add to the toll of civilian life lost in recent days.

They are an arrow aimed at the heart of the Peace Process so recently revived. They should and will be deplored by all decent people everywhere." "No words can provide comfort for the families. The only way to honor the memory of those who have died is to build a Middle East free from the power of the gun through a political process in which the peaceful majority drive out the murderous minority," he added.

"I have tonight spoken to the Israeli Foreign Minister and passed on my deepest condolences to her. I set out the solidarity of the British people with the shocked citizens of Israel and recommitted the British Government to work with all those committed to peaceful means and peaceful goals in the Middle East," he concluded.

Gazans celebrate news of attack

In Gaza City, residents went out into the streets and fired rifles in celebration in the air after hearing news of the attack on the yeshiva. "Those celebrating this massacre are enemies of peace and coexistence," said David Baker, a government spokesman. "Much like the Palestinian rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, this is an indiscriminate attack against Israeli civilians." Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski told Channel 2 television, "It's very sad tonight in Jerusalem - many people were killed in the heart of Jerusalem." United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday also condemned the attack.

Members of the UN Security Council convened for an urgent meeting to discuss the attack later Thursday. "The secretary general condemns in the strongest terms today's savage attack on a Jewish seminary in west Jerusalem, and the deliberate killing and injuring of civilians," a UN statement said. "He extends his condolences to the families of those killed."

"The secretary general is deeply concerned at the potential for continued acts of violence and terrorism to undermine the political process, which he believes must be pursued to achieve a secure and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians, based on a two-state solution," the statement said. Amnesty International on Friday issued a statement condemning Thursday's attack. ?We absolutely condemn this deliberate attack on Israeli civilians as a gross abuse of international humanitarian law, said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Director for the Middle East and North Africa. ?We demand that all armed groups immediately cease the targeting of civilians.? In the statement, Amnesty International also called on the Israeli Government to refrain from carrying out attacks that endanger Palestinian civilians in response to the attack.

"The lives of Palestinian civilians, who bear no responsibility for yesterday's attack in Jerusalem, should not be put in jeopardy as a result, and the population of the Occupied Palestinian Territories should not be subjected to further collective punishment by Israeli forces," said Smart.

"The Israeli authorities must adhere to international humanitarian law and human rights standards in any action they take in response to last night's attack, even though that attack demonstrated a disregard for the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law." In a statement on 2 March 2008, Amnesty International said: "It is high time that the leaders of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority took effective steps to prevent and punish attacks on civilians in Israel, but their failure to do so does not make it legitimate for the Israeli authorities to launch reckless air and artillery strikes that wreak such death and destruction among Palestinian civilians.

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