By TALYA HALKIN, DAVID RUDGEhadera fatalities 298(photo credit: Channel 2)
The five people killed in the Palestinian suicide bomber attack in Hadera's market quarter on Wednesday - three of them residents of the city - were laid to rest on Thursday. The attack marked Hadera's fifth terrorist bombing since the intifada began five years ago.
Hundreds of people attended the funeral of educator Jamil Ka'adan at the Muslim cemetery in Baka al-Gharbiya.
Many of the mourners were fellow teachers and scores of former pupils who had been taught by Ka'adan, who started in his chosen profession as a Hebrew teacher in Arab schools.
There were many expressions of anger among the mourners over the terror attack that claimed the lives of five innocent civilians, including that of the well-liked and respected pedagogue.
Ka'adan, 48, had worked for the past few years as assistant supervisor for Arab schools at the education ministry's district offices in Haifa.
He had gone to Hadera after finishing work to conduct some business matters and purchase food for the expected return home of two of his daughters from their studies at a university in Jordan.
Distraught members of the family told reporters that he did not usually shop at the Hadera market and that it was his fate that he just happened to be there at that time.
His body was initially identified at the Hillel Yaffe Hospital by emergency ward director Dr. Jalal Askar, also a resident of Baka al-Gharbiya and a close friend of Ka'adan since childhood.
It was the third tragedy to strike the Ka'adan family in the space of a few weeks. One of his younger brothers died a month ago after undergoing heart surgery and their father passed away just two weeks later, apparently because of grief.
"He was a family man who was concerned with looking after his family, his home and his friends. He dedicated most of his time to teaching and the development of his family," Idris Muassi, a close friend, told reporters.
"He never argued with anyone and never believed in the path of violence. He was always a man of peace and I'm not just saying this because he has passed away," said Muassi.
A close relative said at the funeral that Ka'adan had contributed more to Islam than Hamas and Islamic Jihad together and his murder had angered many people in the village.
Ka'adan is survived by his mother, another brother, as well as his widow, their three daughters and two sons.
Sabiha Nissim, 66, a veteran resident of Moshav Ahituv, was laid to rest in the cemetery of the small community not far from Hadera.
She had gone to the market with her husband, Aharon, as they did on a regular basis. It was also their habit to buy falafel from the veteran Barzilai stall.
Aharon Nissim left his wife briefly to purchase groceries while she waited by the falafel store. Scant moments passed before he heard the sudden and deafening blast as the suicide bomber detonated the explosives he was carrying.
Nissim told reporters that he felt intuitively that his wife had been killed and his worst fears were realized when he found her lying on the ground covered in blood.
"We used to travel to Hadera every day to do some shopping and sit and eat in the falafel shop. Now I feel very alone," said Nissim. The couple was married for 42 years and had six children and eight grandchildren.
Sabiha's brother, Ovadia, told reporters on Thursday how they lost their father in Iraq, before the surviving members of the family immigrated to Israel, when she was a baby.
"They killed our father when she was just 10 days old. It was a terrible thing and we grew up without a father until now," said Ovadia.
"She was a woman who was dedicated to home, the children and grandchildren - a housewife and a person among the best of women," he said.
Hundreds of people, including relatives and friends, attended the funeral of Sabiha Nissim at the moshav cemetery.
Perhia Mahlouf, 53, of Hadera, was laid to rest in the city's old cemetery on Thursday afternoon.
She had worked at Hadera's Bank Leumi, not far from the market, for the past 30 years. Her husband, Haim, also worked at the same branch
Family and friends said that after finishing work she had walked to the market to buy groceries for the family and had apparently stopped at the falafel store for something to eat.
Colleagues at the bank heard the explosion shortly after she left and, upon learning that it was a suicide bombing, they desperately tried to call Mahlouf on her mobile phone, but to no avail.
Eventually the bank manager went to the couple's home only to find that she was not there and that her husband had also been unable to contact her.
The family went to the local hospital but she was not on the list of wounded, and it was later on Wednesday night they learned the terrible truth - that she was among those who had been killed.
Colleagues described Mahlouf as a quiet and cultured person who enjoyed reading books, loved her home, family and the couple's two dogs.
Hundreds of people attended Mahlouf's funeral. She is survived by her husband, their son and two daughters.
During Michael Kaufman's funeral on Thursday afternoon, a barely audible voice pierced the hushed silence at the Hadera cemetery, growing louder and more anguished as the procession approached the newly-dug grave.
"I want my grandfather back," wept the young woman, one of Kaufman's four grandchildren.
A Hadera resident who immigrated to Israel from Uzebekistan 12 years ago, Kaufman (68) was killed on Wednesday afternoon in the terror attack at the Hadera market. The attack, which was committed by an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber, claimed the lives of four other victims and wounded forty others, some of them gravely. Kaufman's wife, Elizabeta, sobbed silently at his grave, supported by relatives. Stricken by grief, one of her granddaughters had to be restrained by family members, while one of her young grandsons received assistance from onsite paramedics.
"Kaufman's family was almost entirely decimated during the Holocaust," said Hadera mayor Haim Avitan. "He came to Israel in order to give his family a life here. The deaths of the terror victims oblige us to struggle for our right to live securely and peacefully."
MK Marina Solodkin (Likud) said she had come to apologize personally and in the name of the Israeli government.
"I apologize that we did not ensure Michael's personal security," Solodkin said.
"I've known him for eight years," said Simon Pezeplyotechikov, a friend of Kaufman's. "He was a good, loving man. Just a few days ago he came to visit us, and said he felt he was looking ahead to the rest of his life," Kaufman's friend told The Jerusalem Post.
While Kaufman's funeral was taking place at Hadera's new cemetery, Perhiya Mahlouf (53) was buried at the city's old cemetery. Mahlouf was killed while shopping at the market to prepare a festive meal for her daughters, two university students, in honor of the new academic school year starting next Sunday.
Exactly one hour later, the scene repeated itself with chilling precision as Ya'acov Rahmani (68) was brought to rest in a grave adjacent to Kaufman's. A native of Iran who immigrated to Israel in the 1950s, Rahmani was the father of three children and a grandfather. Rahmani was at the market helping out a friend, who had asked him to take over his stall for several hours before the terror attack.
"Ya'acov's world is over. Why does our country have to suffer this way?" mourned one family friend.
MK Moshe Kahlon (Likud) spoke at Rahmani's funeral.
"My message to the Palestinian Authority," Kahlon said, "is that we are unable to content ourselves with meaningless declarations. We demand immediate liquidation of all Jihad nests and of all those who are threatening the life of innocent people."
Kahlon also urged the Israeli government to "stop giving discounts."
"This is not the kind of reality that we can get used to," he said.
Rahmani's son-in-law Nuriel Naim, who spoke on behalf of the family, also sent a message to Sharon and his government.
"The government ministers have turned down a new path, but the enemy is still murdering us," Naim said.
Fifteen of the nearly 30 people who were wounded in Wednesday's attack remained hospitalized on Thursday - two of them with serious head wounds.
A 35 year-old woman was in critical condition in the Sheba Hospital at Tel Hashomer to where she was transferred after the attack. She was hit in the head by a piece of shrapnel and underwent a series of operations late on Wednesday.
A 21 year-old man, suffering from chest and head wounds, was reported to be in serious condition in Petah Tikva's Beilinson Hospital.
The remaining 13 casualties are being treated in Hadera's Hillel Yaffe Hospital. Three of them, two women in their 40's and 60's and a young man, were reported to be in serious condition on Thursday. The condition of two others was said to be moderate and the remaining patients were reported to be suffering from relatively light wounds.
