JERUSALEM: ISRAELI COMPANIES OFFER TRAINING ON HOW TO COPE WITH SUICIDE BOMBS

Record ID: 397870

  • Title: JERUSALEM: ISRAELI COMPANIES OFFER TRAINING ON HOW TO COPE WITH SUICIDE BOMBS
  • Date: 8th November 2002
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (RECENT JUNE 2002 FILE)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) SLV/SV OF AFTERMATH OF SUICIDE BOMBING (6 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 23rd November 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JERUSALEM
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Crime,Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA4ZCL7OVN6RS9BPR7BW5MIWCL4
  • Story Text: What do you if you meet a suicide bomber? Shoot him in the head or bite his neck so that he bleeds to death? It's an unfortunate sign of the times in contemporary Israel that companies offering training on how to cope with suicide bombs are doing a roaring trade.
    The carnage and mayhem of a suicide bombing earlier this year in downtown Jerusalem. A sight that has unfortunately become more familiar as the conflict with Palestinians enters its third year.
    The body count is piling up. More than 200 Israelis have lost their lives at the hands of Palestinian militants willing to take their own lives and those of the crowds around them with nail packed home-made bombs. Thousands more have been injured.
    Here at Police headquarters in Jerusalem, Superintendent Gil Kleiman admits that from the point of view of the militants the campaign has had some success.
    Unlike a mechanical weapon, the human bomb can change course or direction at any time he says. Its sheer unpredictablility merely adds to the danger.
    "As opposed to a cruise missile which has a warhead that has been programmed in advance, now we're dealing with an explosive device hooked up to a human mind which is programmed every second by his own mind," he says.
    This is the kind of situation that is now part of every day life in Israel: you are waiting by a lift. A man with a bag gets out. But there's no shopping in this one. Instead, it's full of explosive. Laced with nails, stones and sharp objects -- shrapnel to better tear the flesh of its victims.
    Israeli police say that they are having great success in finding the bombs, the bombers and their supporters before they can be let off. But he admits that it would be nearly impossible to stop all of them all of the time.
    Enter this man. He's Gil Itay -- a self-defence expert, whose company called Israel Security Solutions, is facing an avalance of demand for courses to teach security guards and ordinary people how to deal with a suicide bomber.
    The police are extremely cautious about advising civilians to 'have a go' but Gil says it may be their only choice between life and death.
    With the help of a mock bomb belt that could be worn under clothing, he has an increasingly attentive audience for his lessons about how to go in for the kill. And a kill it often must be, he says. That is the only way to effectively neutralise a suicide bomber who is intent on destroying himself.
    A trip to his central Jerusalem gym is a trip into the murky world of efficient killing. Does your friend have a gun? Immobilise the suspect and shoot him in the head.
    If all else fails, Gil says, try biting deep into his neck. You'll sever the jugular vein. Your bomber will bleed to death within two minutes.
    But there are no guarantees.
    Twice last month, vigilant Israelis spotted Palestinians with bomb belts under their shirts and confronted them. The bombs went off, but in both cases enough of a warning was given to prevent widespread carnage.
    Police are cautious about praising such actions: those who 'have a go' could end up dying themselves.
    And there would certainly be little defence for someone who killed an innocent person just because they thought a bomb was being carried.
    But for Gil and thousands of Israelis who think like him, it's a simple issue: if someone is trying to kill you, make sure you kill them first.
    That's certainly the view of some restaurant owners in Jerusalem, whose businesses have suffered badly as a result of the bombing.
    "I'd probably stop a suicide bomber," says Rafi Nachum, a restaurant owner. "Either with my body or a weapon."
    These days, it's nearly unheard of to enter one of the quiet restaurant gardens of Jerusalem without first passing security. And even then, clients are obviously apprehensive.
    And with cause. The Moment Cafe, one of the most cosmopolitan drinking holes in Jerusalem was hit earlier this year. It had security. A total of 11 people died.
    A painful memory that in the world of terror politics, no guarantee is ever absolute.
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