David Kohane, the 15-year-old French-Jewish youth killed in a terrorist grenade attack in Antwerp Sunday afternoon, was buried yesterday in the Dutch city of Putte where several relatives live. The boy’s father, who witnessed the killing of his son who was boarding a bus for a summer camp, recited the kodish. Over 100 people attended the ceremony, described by witnesses as “dramatic,” with dozens of police cars and Dutch sharpshooters guarding the cemetery.
Similar measures were taken by the Belgian authorities. Police are now guarding Jewish organizations throughout the country. The Belgian government reportedly ordered special measures to prevent any risk of further bloodshed.
Belgian Premier Wilfried Martens, telegraphed the president of the Antwerp Agudat Israel branch, Salomon Klagsbad, yesterday to express his personal and the Belgian government’s condolences. He asked that the victims’ parents be informed that the Belgian government will take all necessary measures to “prevent acts of violence whatever their origin or reason.” Close to 20 children and adults, mainly Orthodox Jews who are members of Agudat Israel, were wounded in the attack.
YOUNGSTER IS PARTIALLY PARALYZED
Most of the wounded, with the exception of 13-year-old Joshua Erblich, are now described as out of danger. Erblich is still in critical condition and partially paralyzed. Doctors said that close to 40 pieces of shrapnel are believed to have entered his brain. The camp counselor, Janine Pollak, in her eighth month of pregnancy, is described as “resting comfortably” in the hospital which she is due to leave within a few days.
The terrorist, who gave his name as Abdel Wahid, born in Damascus, told police investigators that he had acted alone but on behalf of “The Revolutionary Fatah,” an organization previously unknown. He said he arrived in Antwerp from Rome Sunday with a forged Moroccan passport made out in the name of Zayed Nasser and planned to leave Belgium immediately after the attack.
Police investigators tend to believe that he did not act alone. But they are trying to find out where he obtained the two grenades as well as the heavy caliber pistol and 18 bullets which he carried at the time of his arrest. Meanwhile, Jewish organizations have demanded the immediate closing of the Palestine Liberation Organization offices in Belgium. The Brussels office of the PLO denied any involvement in the attack.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
