A BABY girl, 18 months old, lies in hospital wrapped in bandages, 20pc of her body covered with horrible burns. She is one of the victims of the bus bombing in Hadera, Israel, two week ago. Her father is a patient in another hospital suffering grave injuries.

The saddest part of this story is that this baby girl is Arab. Her family lives in a village nearby. The city of Hadera, in the central coastal region, has always enjoyed an excellent relationship with its Arab neighbours. On any day you will find both Arabs and Jews mingling in the marketplaces, shops, banks, post office, and sitting having coffee in sidewalk cafes. The terrorist Palestinian leadership is enraged by this, claiming these Arabs are traitors. They executed one such Arab this week, claiming he collaborated with the Jews.

Did the terrorists know that Hadera is a mixed town? Did they know there was a high likelihood of Arab victims as well as Jewish? You bet they did. So why did they do this? Is it that they simply don't care about human life, even the lives of their own people?

Avi Grant Hapalmach

10/4 Ra'anana, Israel 43414 972

avigrant@computerweekly.net