Jordanian investigators meet with survivors of border attack

JERUSALEM, April 7 (JTA) — Members of a Jordanian investigative committee met this week with teachers and students who participated in a fateful field trip during which a Jordanian soldier opened fire on a group of Israeli schoolgirls. The soldier shot and killed seven Israeli schoolgirls, and wounded six others, while they were on a field trip last month to a border site, Naharayim, called “The Island of Peace.” The island was transferred to Jordan under the 1994 peace treaty, but the area, a popular tourist destination, is leased by Israel. The Jordanian panel investigating the incident met with the teachers and students this week at Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem, for discussions later described as being held in a pleasant atmosphere, according to Israel Radio. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Jordanian delegation presented one of the teachers and three of the students with watches as gifts from the Jordanian army. An Israeli committee appointed by the Education Ministry is also investigating the incident to determine who, if anyone, is responsible for taking the students to Naharayim. Israeli media reports said this week that Education Ministry directives regarding visits to the site were unclear.