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Yehuda Shoham
Site of the killingSite of the killing (the West Bank)
Location	Eli, West Bank
Date	June 5, 2001 100:00 pm
Attack type	Stoning attack
Weapons	Large rock
Deaths	One
Perpetrators	Unknown Palestinian assailants

The murder of Yehuda Shoham refers to the death of American-Israeli infant Yehuda Shoham, who was 5 months old when, on 5 June 2001, he suffered fatal injuries during a stoning attack by Palestinians, while returning home seated in the family car near the Israeli settlement of Eli in the West Bank. Yehuda died of severe head injuries from the stone which smashed into his skull, and his six-day struggle for life made headlines in Israel. In a letter to the United Nations, Israel's permanent representative wrote of the incident as a "reprehensible act of terrorism" , noting that it followed Israel's declaration that it would desist from military action against Palestinian targets, and that PLO leader Yasser Arafat had undertaken to stop violence and terrorism.

Death

The incident occurred on 5 June 2001, as Benny and Batsheva Shoham and their only child Yehuda approached Eli after paying a shiva call.

Near Eli, Palestinians hiding at the roadside hurled rocks at the car which broke through the car's windscreen and crushed the infant's skull. The father continued driving, worried about an ambush, and at a nearby intersection, the couple noticed their baby's head injuries. Batsheva performed mouth to mouth resuscitation on Yehuda until the arrival of paramedics.

Yehuda was taken to an intensive care unit at the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, unconscious and with severe head injuries. He was attached to a respirator for nearly a week before dying of severe brain damage on July 11. During his time in the hospital, Yehuda's parents gave him a second name, "Chaim," which means life, hoping that he would live. While in the hospital, Yehuda was visited by then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Background

Since the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa intifada, 8 months earlier, 484 Palestinians and 108 Israelis had been killed. On May 22, Sharon declared a unilateral ceasefire and refrained from retaliating against against Palestinian attacks. On Friday June 1, a suicide bombing outside a Tel Aviv disco occurred which killed 21 people, mainly Israeli teenagers who had immigrated from Russia. The day after, Saturday 2 June, Yasser Arafat's call for a cease-fire staved off Israeli retaliation.

The aftermath of Yehuda's wounding

When news of Yehuda's wounding spread Sharon was urged by far-right settlers to retaliate. Israel had in the meantime taken a variety of measures to reduce tension, with Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer citing a "significant reduction in the number of attacks". Though Palestinians would be subject to strict closure confining them to their towns, Israel eased some travel restrictions and Palestinians were to be allowed to return from Jordan and Egypt, raw materials would be permitted to enter and exit the Palestinian territories, and Palestians would be allowed to return to their jobs in an industrial zone near the Erez crossing point. Palestinian security commanders travelled to trouble spots in the Gaza Strip to consult with local officers over the cease-fire enforcement. Though reluctant to become involved in the conflict, the U.S. dispatched C.I.A. director George Tenet, who was scheduled to meet separately with the Israeli and Palestinian sides on Thursday 7. On the eve of his visit, Wednesday 6, Palestinians were outraged when Ariel Sharon called Arafat a "murderer" and "pathological liar" in an interview addressing the Russian community that had been angered at his failure to retaliate for the disco bombing. The broadcast was carried on Israeli television. Though given the red-carpet treatment abroad, he added, Arafat did not act like a head of state but rather like the chief of terrorists and murderers.

The wounding of Yehuda angered Israel's 200,000 settlers who urged Ariel Sharon to end Israel's "policy of restraint", and abandon the ceasefire. The Independent suggested that the incident would be cited by many Israelis as reason for stepping up military measures. The morning after Yehuda's wounding, at least 300 hundred settlers, arriving in buses, assailed two villages adjacent to Shiloh, Assawiya, and Luban al-Sharkiya, which lay under curfew, and, in the presence of, and according to local testimony, with the assistance of the IDF, fired a wheat harvest, a hothouse, a carpentry shop and a school, stole tools and shot a Palestinian child in the stomach. There were rock-throwing battles between settlers and Palestinians at the site of the attack on the Shohams' car during which one Israeli and seven Palestinians were injured.. In addition, settlers in Hebron also attacked local Palestinian shopkeepers. The settlers had been a focal target of Palestinian militancy during an eight-month uprising. Two settlers were arrested by Israeli police as a result of the riots.

On Thursday 7, speaking to reporters at a rally urging Ariel Sharon to retaliate for the attack on Yehuda and other recent attacks, Yehuda's father said "Unfortunately, our government is showing a lot of weakness in its response to terrorism".. He also declared that:-

This is our land, these are our roads, and if we are afraid of driving on them we will be afraid of driving to Tel Aviv and Netanya also.

Funeral and Reactions

The funeral procession for Yehuda with settlers gathering in front of Ariel Sharon's office in Jerusalem with the child's body carried before them. As Sharon stepped up to a podium to address them, settlers shouted "Vengeance!" and "Go to war".Prime Minister Sharon spoke to the funeral procession outside his office, and, acknowledging the settlers' impatience with a ceasefire, said:

If we stand firm and grit our teeth, and carry on even when the tears are choking us, we will win... I am not here to make a speech, but to weep, to weep together with you. May the memory of Yehuda be blessed.

Sharon also asked for prayers for the infant, and condemned the Palestinian Authority for inciting violence.

From there the procession walked to the northern West Bank settlement of Shilo where Yehuda was buried.

One of Yehuda's cousins said, "Yehuda was just a baby, without sin or enemy, yet he was killed for one reason only, he was a Jew on his way home in Eretz Yisrael." In a letter to the United Nations, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Yehuda Lancry outlined Israel’s position, which affirmed that the death of Yehuda Shoham constituted a “represensible act of terrorism” that took place just over two week after Israel had declared that it would refrain from initiating military action against Palestinians, and barely a week after Yassir Arafat had undertaken to fight violence and terrorism..

In Yehuda's memory, his parents decided to collect donations for dormitories at the yeshiva in Shiloh. His parents also established the Yehuda Fund in January 2002 "in their son's memory."

References

1. "Caught in the cross fire". The Washington Times. Associated Press. September 11, 2002. Retrieved August 09, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
2. ^ "Yehuda Shoham". MFA. Retrieved August 07, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
3. ^ "'It's as if we've been abandoned'". Jerusalem Post. 06-07-2001. Retrieved August 07, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
4. ^ "Settlers' baby dies after Palestinian stoning". The Independent. June 12, 2001. Retrieved August 07, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
5. ^ "Letter dated 11 June 2001 from the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General" (PDF). UN. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
6. "Disproportionate number of Anglos slain; Olmert praises families' dignity". Haaretz. Retrieved August 07, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
7. Singer, David and Grossman, Lawrence (2003). American Jewish Year, Book 2002. VNR AG. p. 561. ISBN 0874951178.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
8. "'Arafat must be defeated,' protesters say. Three Israelis wounded in shooting near Ramallah; Shilo baby fights to survive after stoning". Jerusalem Post. 7 June 2001.
9. Philips, Alan (June 12, 2001). "Israeli settlers mourn baby killed in stoning". The Telegraph. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
10. ^ "Settlers blame Sharon for baby's death". Hobart Mercury. 13 June 2001. p. 14.
11. Mark Lavie, 'U.S. sending CIA director for security talks,' at Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 6 June, 2001.
12. "Settler rampage makes CIA chief's peace mission harder". The Scotsman. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
13. Mark Lavie, 'U.S. sending CIA director for security talks,' at Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 6 June, 2001.
14. ^ Nomi Morris (7 June 2001). "Settlers attack Palestinian village - Injury to baby triggers fury". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 12 August 2012. Cite error: The named reference "fury" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
15. Ron Dudai,'Free Rein: Vigilante Settlers and Israel’s Non-Enforcement of the Law,', B'tselem, October 2001 pp9-11:'Israeli security forces were present throughout the events but did not prevent the violence. In fact, they prevented Palestinians from defending themselves, and even joined the settlers in their violence. Testimonies given to B’Tselem indicate that the soldiers also prohibited fire engines and ambulances from reaching the scene.'
16. "Sharon attack blows away uneasy calm". The Birmingham Post. 7 June 2001.
17. Jayson Keyser (6 June 2001). "Sharon supporters warn they're tired of Israeli restraint". Associated Press Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
18. Sevareid, Susan (7 June 2001). "Injury to baby triggers rampage by Israeli settlers". Seattle Times. p. A10.
19. "Israelis urge Sharon to End Restraint Plan". Press of Atlantic City. 7 June 2001. p. A3.
20. "Jewish settlers in West Bank urge revenge for dead baby". Chicago Sun-Times. 12 June 12 2001. p. 25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. Sevareid, Susan (7 June 2001). "Injury to baby triggers rampage by Israeli settlers". Seattle Times. p. A10.
22. Sevareid, Susan (7 June 2001). "Injury to baby triggers rampage by Israeli settlers". Seattle Times. p. A10.
23. Frantz, Douglas (12 June, 2001). "Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Break Off After 4 Hours". NYT. Retrieved August 10, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
24. Harow, Ari (June 14, 2001). "My Cousin Yehuda". Aish. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
25. "Yehuda Fund". Yehuda Fund. Retrieved August 07, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

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