Malki's parents: Letters, interviews, op-eds, essays, articles, speeches

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Chronicle of a Barbaric Massacre

Frimet and Arnold Roth's lives were entirely private up until the murder of their daughter. Since August 2001, each of them - in somewhat different ways - speaks out or writes publicly, trying to alert people everywhere to the ugliness and threat of terror, to remind them of Malki's life and ambitions, and to generate support for the work of the Malki Foundation. This page contains a selection of magazine and news articles, speeches, interviews and essays by the Roths since Malki's murder. [This page is updated frequently, with the most recent article or speech at the top. Last updated 26-Dec-09]

Israel's Bloody Choice John Lyons, Middle East correspondent for The Australian, Australia's national daily, interviews Arnold Roth. "Most parents know the experience of having a child out of contact if they are fighting a war. An understanding the army has with its soldiers is that if they are captured or killed, the government will do everything to bring them home. But as the public has begun focusing on the price that will be paid for Shalit -- the release of up to 1000 Palestinian prisoners -- the debate has become more complicated. Tamimi's name is in the media as being on Hamas's wish list. "Take a look at what were about to hand over to them," Arnold Roth tells The Australian. "We're going to release from prison people who not only have done the most hideous, barbaric things but are deeply committed to doing them again. "I can't find a better example of that than the woman who engineered the massacre at the Sbarro restaurant. It's hard for me to say her name." Originally published in "The Australian" Newspaper on 16th December 2009. The full text of the article is reproduced here.

The Right to Independent Living Frimet Roth's op-ed piece in the 17th March 2009 edition of the Jerusalem Post calls for a greater degree of support for the right of Israelis with special needs to live within the community rather than suffer the cruel kindness of institutionalization. "More than 600,000 Israeli citizens, over 10 percent of the population, have disabilities. They patiently await the arrival of full equality..." More

Downplaying terror in the media and in life Frimet Roth's 21-Dec-08 op-ed on the website of Israel's leading newspaper argues that the media and its professionals are leading Israeli society into a very dangerous place. "Confronting the depths of Hamas' evil can be painful. And burying your head in the sand can be awfully tempting. But we are all grown up now. If the terrorism of our neighbors is downplayed, widespread complaisance will set in. How can any government garner support for crucial deterrent and responsive strategies from a tranquilized public? Journalists and editors, do your job." More

Paris conference addresses the threat to human rights At an international conference in Paris to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Arnold Roth was one of the invited speakers: "Though it is not so fashionable to say so, I believe there is such a thing as the war against terrorism – and it is not going well. In fact, it is going very badly for everyone except the terrorists. Its victims are not only the children blown up in restaurants, and their parents, but also civil society in every country." The full report of the November 2008 event is here.

At United Nations symposium on terror victims, Malki's life is remembered Keren Malki co-founder Arnold Roth was one of eighteen international speakers invited to address a special one-day discussion at United Nations headquarters convened by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in September 2008. The subject was terrorism and its victims, and the event was widely covered by the global media. "Malki, your mother and brothers and sisters and I, your community and your nation can never comprehend hatred and intolerance as vicious and powerful as those that ended your life. We learned from your smile. We were inspired by your love of helping children with disabilities. We established the Malki Foundation in your memory." More

Project Amnesia In an op ed published in Haaretz newspaper (16-May-08) Frimet Roth writes that Jerusalem's city hall acts as if it would prefer we forget our fallen loved ones. "Somehow we can find a way to survive the diversion of a few prospective tourists to Greece or Turkey. But we cannot survive the consequences of forgetting our terror victims." More

Arnold Roth Addresses Terror Victims (21-Jan-08) The 4th International Congress of Terror Victims took place in Madrid, Spain in January 2008. Arnold Roth's speech is here. Extract: "Your country, like mine, has continued to suffer from the ongoing barbarism and viciousness of the terrorists [and] has found it necessary to take defensive measures which conflict with our desire to live a free and unrestricted life. The tension, the divisions and the debate which result from these measures have become an increasingly weighty factor in the lives of many communities. We have to learn to deal with these issues because they will not disappear in the foreseeable future. We have every reason to believe, in fact, that they will become larger and more serious. This is because the terrorists are not losing the battle..." More

Victim’s father to speak on terrorism (New Jersey Jewish Standard 27-Mar-08) Arnold Roth wishes he hadn't earned his billing as "a world-renowned expert on the victims of Islamic terrorism." He'd prefer to stay home with his family in Israel instead of spreading sobering news around the world. But because his middle child, Malki, was blown up by a terrorist on Aug. 9, 2001 in a Jerusalem pizza shop, this former Australian lawyer feels he has no choice. That is what brings him to Cong. Kol HaNeshamah in Englewood on April 5 for a Lunch & Learn session following Shabbat services. More

Lethal Word Games Frimet Roth's op-ed appears in Haaretz 4-Jan-08: "We, and the rest of the community of terror victims, must also continue to stir our leaders from their amnesia. It is a sad testament to the morality of our society that nobody else seems bothered by their impending releases. For us, though, the memories of the second intifada's terror tsunami are painfully vivid. We know that the most lethal of the terrorists are not the bombers or shooters. Those are merely the puppets of the true murderers: the leaders and the planners who were always careful to survive - the Ahlam Tamimis." [Click for an offline PDF version. A scanned image of the printed article is here.]

Parents Of Terrorist Victim Comfort Others In its Channukah (5-Dec-07) edition, the Jewish Press (NY) published a profile of Keren Malki. "One very grateful woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Jewish Press that when her three-year-old son was born with cerebral palsy “everyone in the hospital said he would be a vegetable... Against the odds, she and her husband commenced therapy... “then we ran out of money… It was totally beyond me and my husbands’ salaries.” Which is when she discovered Keren Malki." The entire text of the Elliott Resnick piece is here.

After Sbarro’s, A New Resolve  The Jewish Week, New York, in its 16-Nov-07 edition profiles Keren Malki and the Roths in an article by Curt Schleier. "This story doesn’t end where you might expect, with anger and grief alone. As an outgrowth of the tragedy, the Roths founded the Malki Foundation in their daughter’s memory. The foundation helps Israeli families provide home care for their disabled children. But the story didn’t start here either. It began almost 35 years ago in New York City." The full article is here and online on the Jewish Week website here. An offline PDF version of the printed page is here.

Historical Amnesia An op-ed article by Frimet Roth appears in the 23-Sep-07 edition of Haaretz, and reprinted in the ThisOngoingWar blog written by Frimet and Arnold Roth. Under the title The dangers of historical amnesia, Frimet deals with issues of memory and remembering, and about differences between the United States and Israel. "It's been six years since 9/11, and Americans have been reexamining their attitudes toward the victims. Some believe enough energy has been expended on remembering. Last week, for instance, Time Magazine's Jeffrey Kluger asked "when is enough enough?" and noted with apparent agreement: "Some have suggested that we discontinue the moments of silence and solemn speeches and all the other [9/11] ceremonies." I imagine remembering does grow tiresome after six long years. I say "imagine" because, as even Kluger conceded, "The families need no calendrical gimmick to feel their loss." As a bereaved mother, I fall into that category. For us, every day is a fresh reminder." More

Knowing the Enemy As an invited speaker and Israel's sole representative, Arnold Roth addressed a 9/11 memorial conference arranged by the French anti-terrorism organization Mouvement Pour la Paix et Contre le Terrorisme in Paris on 11th September 2007. Here's how it starts: "Earlier this summer, my wife and I were stunned to see a photograph of a young woman staring at us from the website of the New York Times. There was an article – a review of a film about Palestinian Arab terrorists who are in Israeli jails. It was illustrated by a glamorous picture of an unusually attractive young woman, nicely dressed and with a gentle, lovely smile. She is a sweet-faced woman of 27. She is in the picture because she was the engineer of a massacre in which a man with a guitar case on his back walked into a restaurant in the center of the capital city of my country and exploded. His guitar case, which she acquired for him, was not for music but for death. It was filled with explosives. The young man went to his 72 virgins happier than at any other moment in his life. And the young woman, who was 21 years old, went from the scene of the massacre in which fifteen people died, mostly children and babies, and rushed back to her job as a news reader for Palestinian television. There, she calmly reported on the carnage and destruction in Jerusalem without mentioning her role. She is the murderer of my daughter. She is today serving multiple life-sentences in jail and, as the article makes clear, she is confident she will be released soon as part of a deal between the Palestinian Authority and the government of Israel. She may be right." The full text of his speech in English is here. The French translation is here.

The sixth anniversary of Malki's death was marked by the traditional azkara ceremony at the graveside on Sunday 5th August 2007 (the actual Hebrew anniversary fell the previous day, which was the Sabbath). The text of Frimet Roth's brief speech (in Hebrew) is here.

Mastermind of bombing that killed Malki to feature on film Australian Jewish News 23-Jul-07 (Melissa Singer) A FILM featuring the mastermind of the 2001 Sbarro pizzeria bombing in Jerusalem, which claimed the life of Australia-born Malki Roth, will screen at the 2007 Melbourne International Film Festival. Hot House, by Romanian-born film-maker Shimon Dotan, takes audiences inside four Israeli high-security prisons and inside the minds of convicted Hamas terrorists. One of those featured is Ahlam Tamimi, who is serving 16 consecutive life sentences for her part in organising the 2001 attack, which killed 15 innocent people. The film will screen twice at the festival, on July 30 and August 5. Arnold Roth, the father of 15-year-old Malki, told the AJN this week that while he and his wife hadn’t seen the film – “It’s more than we can face” – the publicity surrounding it is “driven by a malevolent anti-Israel agenda”. Roth, whose family made aliyah in 1988, said Dotan’s “empathetic” view of the prisoners (“He never utters the word ‘terrorist’”) “is completely lacking an encounter with victims”. “It’s as if those pushing the lens onto the practitioners of terror believe the hatred that drives the killers is purifying and noble. The grief and pain of those of us left to mourn the destroyed lives of our loved ones are somehow less pure and discomforting to some. “The degree to which we glorify, sanitise and ennoble terrorists is going to be highly influential in how successful we are stopping them. Hot House should be measured against that test.”

Glamor Pictures Under the headline "Sbarro victim parents counter photo with photo", the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, an international news service, has publicized (21-Jul-07) the efforts of Frimet and Arnold Roth to protest the glamorization of terrorists, and of their daughter's killer in particular. ""It's presumably HBO's publicity department that was responsible for creating and distributing a glamour-style photograph of a smiling, contented-looking young woman in her twenties to promote the movie," Frimet and Arnold Roth say in the email they have asked friends and supporters to forward to others. "That female is our child's murderer." Click to read the article.

Television debate: Should Israel give up Palestinian prisoners in order to secure the release of Israeli hostages? It's one of the most vexing issues of the day in this country: does it make sense to open the gates of Israeli jails and release convicted Palestinian Arab prisoners now. And if yes, what do people hope is going to be achieved by it? Naomi Hazan, former Knesset member and Professor of Political Science and a well known human rights advocate and Frimet Roth, whose daughter Malki was murdered in the suicide bomb attack in Jerusalem's Sbarro cafe in August 2001, discuss with Infolive.tv's Margot Dudkevitch the compelling issue, taking into account that it is a year since soldiers Gilad Schalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were abducted by terrorists. The painful but compelling issue raises many questions. This program was originally broadcast on 26-Jun-07 by Infolive.tv "This being Israel, the debate is a lot closer to the bone than the abstract sort of airey-fairy discussion that sometimes goes on in other places. One of the names being touted for release in the current initiative happens to be that of a convicted murderer who was involved in the murder of the Roths' daughter. Prof. Hazan has very definite views about whether and why that convicted felon ought to go free now, right now. (And about whether he's actually a political prisoner.) Frimet Roth has a different position." The streaming video of the debate was originally posted here.

Diary Each June, Jerusalem's Ramot Community Centre holds a musical concert in memory of Malki z"l. Frimet Roth, Malki's mother, was the guest speaker at this year's concert on 21st June 2007. Frimet spoke in Hebrew about the hand-written, and very moving, diary that Malki left behind when she was murdered. (Text of Frimet's speech here.)

Talk Radio Looks at Terror: On 20th March 2007 Arnold Roth was a guest on the Janet Parshall's America syndicated national talk-radio program (Salem Radio Network). The program's website calls it host, Janet Parshall, "one of the only conservative talk shows in America hosted by a woman. A thought provoking, interactive radio that allows listeners to exchange information and learn. Guests include Senators and Representatives; authors and film producers; Catholics, Protestants and Jews; pro-family advocates, historians, public policy experts and national leaders." The first part of the 30 minute interview is here as a digital stream (MP3). [Offline version here.]

Speaking on Behalf of Victims of Global Terror Arnold Roth was invited to speak to audiences in several cities of the United States during March 2007 as a guest of Camera, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America. CAMERA is a media-monitoring, research and membership organization devoted to promoting accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East. "Those who were and are desperate are people like my wife and me; like the five or six thousand other Israelis who have lost a parent, a sibling or a child since the start of the Arafat War of Terror in September 2000. Desperate is the right word, the only word, for people who will do anything, and are willing for anything to be done, if only there will be peace with the people who live on the other side of the fence, and an end to the hateful destruction of constructive, useful, beautiful lives... If terror victims have a voice, it's a voice of clarity and determination, of optimism and hope. But it's not heard much and our societies are paying a steep price for that." The text of Arnold Roth's speech is here.

"Disabilities are not just willed away" The case for Israel's disabled suffered an embarrassing setback as a result of an even more embarrassing Israeli political scandal. Frimet Roth expresses her repugnance in this op-ed article originally published in the Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz (6-Mar-07). It's republished here.

"We're Desperate for Peace" Arnold Roth is interviewed by Ritula Shah of "The World Today" on BBC radio, commenting on the visit to the Middle East of US Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice (5-Oct-06).  The audio interview is here (requires MP3-capable player)

Longing and Remembering Monday 14th August 2006 marked the fifth anniversary of Malki's death. As every year, the family and friends gathered at the gravesides of Malki and her friend Michal Raziel z"l. Frimet Roth delivered a brief eulogy in Hebrew. The text is here.

A Caring Legacy of the Sbarro Bombing The Jewish Chronicle (London, 11-Aug-06) looks at the evolution of the Malki Foundation, formed in the wake of a tragedy. The profile includes an interview with the foundation's co-chair, Arnold Roth. "How the parents of a girl killed in the blast overcame their grief to help disabled children." [Text of article] [PDF] [JPG] The full text of the article is reproduced on our site here.

India Focuses on Terror Like Israel, India finds itself in the cross-hairs of terrorists, the depths of whose hatred and barbarity defy comprehension. Last month in Mumbai, India's most important commercial centre, 207 people were murdered in a series of co-ordinated terror bombings on commuter trains during a period of eleven minutes in the morning rush hour. Thousands more were injured. And hundreds of millions of Indians were left wondering - along with the citizens of Bali, Madrid, London and Tel-Aviv - what could possibly motivate such boundless, unfathomable contempt for human life. A few days later, a journalist for the Times of India, visited Israel and interviewed Arnold Roth. The interview was published in the 25th July 2006 paper edition of the Times of India (click here for online vrsion). The full article is here.

Does Interpal Fund Terrorism? In an extraordinary Panorama programme, the BBC exposes what the UK authorities have been unable to see for years; the blatant exploitation of a charitable guise by Interpal and other Hamas-related bodies. We have the full transcript of the television programme here and a link to a streaming video of the entire highly-disturbing one-hour film. Hamas and its tentacles planned and executed the massacre at the Sbarro restaurant. The BBC makes a persuasive case that some of the people exposed in this programme are supporters of terror and financiers of Hamas's global activities despite their protestations to the contrary. Panorama's investigative journalism raises - and by implication, answers - serious questions about their involvement in the murderer of hundreds of Israeli civilians, including Malki Roth. More.

Remembering - Five Years after the Sbarro Massacre Frimet Roth interviewed several families who, like her own, still grieve after the deaths of their loved ones in the Sbarro restaurant massacre of 9th August 2006. Marking the fifth anniversary of the day on which fifteen innocent people were murdered (a sixteenth remains unconscious five years later), Frimet's article appears in Haaretz and (in slightly shorter form) on the website of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The full text of the article is here.

Radio Round Table Arnold Roth took part (27-Jul-06) in a round-table discussion on the Lebanon Hezbollah war situation on Australia's ABC National Radio. The program is called Late Night Live with Phillip Adams, and it's available for audio-streaming. More details here. Other guests: Isabel Kershner, Associate Editor at the Jerusalem Report; author of "Barrier: The Seam of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict". And Prof. Naomi Chazan, professor of political science at Hebrew University; former senior member of the Israeli parliament (Knesset) between 1992 and 2003.

Arnold Roth was an invited speaker at the opening of the One Family Center in Jerusalem on May 16, 2006. His comments are here. Extract: "What is the comfort for loss of one’s child?" Two years ago, I had the privilege of traveling to a European city with three other Israelis; all of us victims of terror through losing friends, family or limbs. This was the first ever gathering of victims of terror from all over the world. We hardly knew what to expect. For myself, the only terror victims I had come to know since the murder of my daughter were people who live in my immediate neighborhood – there are six such families – or other Israelis whom I met through gatherings of bereaved families arranged by One Family, by Bituach Leumi and by other local organizations. I wondered whether we would find a common language; whether the fear and the pain we have gotten to know in our own lives would be reflected in the lives of others from different places and different backgrounds." More

Remembering Our Children Arnold Roth delivered an invited speech in Jerusalem on 1st May 2006 to a Yom Hazikaron (memorial day) event arranged by Keren Hayesod and United Israel Appeal groups from Canada and Australia. "Remembering has always played a focal role in Jewish life, irrespective of how religious or nationalistic or secular we may be as individuals. Yom Hazikaron became a formal institution fixed in the national calendar by a law of the Knesset with a date of its own, only in 1963. As the national day on which we remember those who died saving our country, it is placed as close as a day can be to Yom Ha’atzma’ut – establishing a very Jewish and a very Israeli tension between public celebration and mournful solemnity. I don’t know of another society on earth - or in history - that has deliberately set out to highlight the proximity of two such sharply opposed states of mind." More

Institutionalization Is Not the Answer "Profoundly disabled people progress faster and better, maximizing their potential, in small community-based settings." The Jerusalem Post, in a Friday magazine cover story, gives an entirely uncritical promotion to a new and very large institution for disabled people located far south of Beer Sheva in Israel's Negev desert. Frimet Roth's article, published in the Jerusalem Post (29-Jun-06) is critical of the planners and supporters of the Aleh Negev facility. Her article is here.

Keep Barghouti in Jail (Jewish Press NY 28-Apr-06) Frimet Roth writes: "Will last week's Tel Aviv suicide bombing bang some sense into this government's treatment of jailed terrorist Marwan Barghouti? It's not very likely. Nothing, it seems, can derail Israel's plan to release Barghouti, a convicted murderer... Unless we speak out, Barghouti will be released and our government will "fail better" than in the past. The consequences will be far grimmer than they were this Passover."

Passover Bombings... Again "Sitting at my desk in Jerusalem tonight, I am thinking about the media and trying to make sense of two events. The larger by far is that, again, a Palestinian Arab walked into an Israeli restaurant this afternoon and detonated a bomb. The reports say nine dead, sixty injured." An open letter from Arnold Roth to the Friends of Keren Malki email list on 17th April 2006, a few hours after the bombing of a restaurant in Tel-Aviv. More

A White Rose in the Arab World  Frimet Roth wrote this essay for Front Page Magazine (6-Apr-06): "While Palestinian terrorism rages on, a new Arab “White Rose” – much like the World War II German student Nazi resistance of that name – has been sprouting. Not many Israelis have acknowledged its existence. But it is high time we did our bit to help this brave flower blossom." More

Aggressors and Victims on Both Sides of the Wall Freelance journalist Vincent Graff, writing in The Independent (UK) says "in election week, Israelis and Palestinians agree on one thing: the Western media is biased". Quoting Arnold Roth: "In Western countries, the broad perception of Israel is of it being powerful and privileged," said Roth. "For someone like me, whose daughter was murdered by people who danced in the street afterwards, it is hard to take that viewpoint." [PDF] If the article is no longer online, view a local copy here. Roth's letter to the editors of The Independent was published in the print edition of the paper on 9-Apr-06. A faxed copy of that page is here [PDF].

"Is the Voice of the Terror Victims Being Heard?" Julian Marshall of the BBC's Newshour program (14-Feb-06) interviewed Arnold Roth and a Colombian terror victim, Jaime Felipe Lozado, both of them attending the Valencia congress of terror victims. Hear the 8 min. radio interview.

'Kid-driven' Philanthropy The inspiring story behind 'Points for Peace', a basketball tournament organized by Jewish students in Dallas, Texas, that raises money for good causes - this year, for Keren Malki [Dallas Morning News, 24Feb-06] See also "Students Against Terrorism Will Shoot Hoops for Hope" (Richardson Neighbors - Dallas News, 26-Feb-06; go to page 25 of the pdf edition)

"Time for the United Nations to Finally Condemn Terror Uunequivocally"  Addressing the 3rd International Conference of Terror Victims in Valencia, Spain on 13th Feb 2006, Israel's representative Arnold Roth reviewed the UN's history of failures to condemn terror and called for terror victims to find their voices and demand to be heard. More

Free Barghouti? FrontPage Magazine's website carries an essay by Frimet Roth (21-Feb-06): "Two years ago this government entrusted Barghouti to Israel’s criminal justice system. It is high time for him to serve out his sentence in the manner envisaged by those judges without any interference from our politicians. How encouraging it would be for justice to prevail over short-sighted politicians in this region. It so rarely happens." More

Terrorist Victims Gather in Valencia, Spain (Associated Press syndicated report from Valencia, Spain, 13th February 2006) "When you bring terrorism victims together, you find that we have a common language, a common pain," said Arnold Roth, an Israeli who lost his 15-year-old daughter in a suicide blast at a Jerusalem restaurant... Terrorism has changed almost everything in my life, and since then I remind people, even in my country, how essential it is to stop terrorism," Arnold Roth said, adding: "Terrorism goes beyond politics and that's what victims are totally aware of." [PDF version here] [This syndicated news report was re-published widely in the Washington Post, ABC News in the United States, CBS News, Guardian Newspaper, BBC and many other media channels.] Immediately after the completion of the Valencia congress, the BBC interviewed Arnold Roth for the daily Newshour program on the BBC World Service. The audio interview is here.

Put Marwan Barghouti Back in Jail (7th February 2006) Frimet Roth, writing in Israel Insider: "The hot and heavy courtship of Marwan Barghouti by the Israeli government is no secret. After Hamas' victory, to court Barghouti is to court disaster. Barghouti  Click for the full Israel Insider article: Put Barghouti Back in Jail. Or go to the same op-ed article on the Keren Malki site.

Frimet Roth is interviewed in the Times Newspaper, London (28th January 2006) "In a country that has lost more than 430 citizens to Hamas suicide bombs in the past five years, many believe the decision to withdraw from Gaza gave Hamas a huge boost. “For them, that was a clear indication that the way of terror was worthwhile,” Mrs Roth said." More

Hamas and the Palestinian Elections On the eve (24th January 2006) of the Palestinian elections, Arnold Roth was interviewed by James Reynolds of BBC24 television and, as well, by Roger Hearing of BBC World Service. Excerpt: "The Palestinian leadership for years has engaged in corruption of a kind that most people living outside the area don't understand. Whatever you say about Hamas, they mean what they say and they say what they mean. They're not interested in reaching an agreement with Israel... they want us dead... We should have nothing to do with Hamas." Hear the BBC radio interview from here [MP3].

With Tributes Like This, Who Needs Terror Attacks? Spielberg's Munich "This film is bad news in itself. Let's not exacerbate the damage, as the Prime Minister's office already has, by joining the sycophant bandwagon." A 26th December 2005 op ed article by Frimet Roth, first published on Israel Insider. More

"Israel Prepares to Release Palestinian Murderers": In a front-page article in Israel Insider, Frimet Roth raises a very troubling concern: "Voices within the Israeli government and media are doggedly whittling away at a long-standing cornerstone of Israeli policy: No pardons for Palestinian murderers... It is my hope that those of us who do still remember and grieve for our losses, will not sit silent. Those who have not yet joined Sharon on his suicidal slide down the slippery dip of unrequited concessions must block this impending move. We who know what the toll of Barghouti's recidivism would be, must make our protests heard. " More

"The Checkpoints are Absolutely Essential" Letter from Frimet and Arnold Roth to the editors of "In Jerusalem". Subject: "School Crossing", an essay by Nathan Burstein on the Kalandiyah Crossing. "How we wish we could escort our child, Malki, to school and wait with her on line like Fuad and his daughter Aris.  But we never will." More

Revealing a Modern Blood Libel: Frimet Roth's letter to Jerusalem Post, 16th September 2005: "If there was any single cause of this intifada, it was that [France 2 television] al-Dura footage. More

Azkara 25-Aug-05: At the graveside ceremony (the Azkara) marking the fourth anniversary of Malki's death, Frimet Roth made a brief speech in memory of her greatly-loved daughter. (The text is in Hebrew.)

On the 4th anniversary of Malki's death, her mother wrote for the Jerusalem Post: My Daughter's Yahrzeit. "Malki suffered through 10 months of Palestinian violence before she perished in the suicide bombing... She would note in her diary the details and victims' names in every terror attack the day they occurred. In one entry she explained: "I experience it [the war] on my flesh." Malki was only 15 when she felt that empathy with her people. If only our elderly decision-makers could demonstrate her maturity. [View the Jerusalem Post's printed page in PDF and JPG forms] 22-Aug-05

Frimet Roth writes about the lessons learned from the massacre at the Sbarro restaurant four years earlier: Nine Reasons to Remember Ninth August "Four years ago, Hamas taught the world some valuable lessons. On Aug. 9, 2001, the terror organization dispatched a suicide bomber to the center of Jerusalem where my family and I live. Fifteen innocents were killed, and 150 wounded at the Sbarro restaurant. My precious 15-year-old daughter, Malki, was one of the dead. The Sbarro massacre shattered the following myths about terrorism and how to thwart it." An edited version, under the title "Lessons From The Sbarro Bombing" is published in the 12th August 2005 edition of the New York Jewish Week.[View the Jewish Week's printed page in PDF and JPG formats.] [Hebrew version]

With Blood on their Hands? The plan for a third mass-release of Palestinian Arab prisoners from Israeli jails has Frimet Roth, like many other Israelis, deeply worried and disturbed. "Every aspiring terrorist-in-training now understands the new rules of the game. Israel, which has long refrained from imposing the death penalty, has now removed the one meaningful deterrent in their path: extended prison terms. How much time will the perpetrators of next month's terrorist bombing spend in Israeli prison before their early exodus?" Frimet's op-ed piece, "Our's is a Life Sentence" is here and is published by Sydney University's Online Opinion.

The Netherlands-based Christians for Israel organization (with operations in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia) reprinted a speech by Arnold Roth in the Spring 2005 edition of its quarterly newsletter: Terror Victim's Message to Europe: Desperate for Peace: "Like almost every Israeli I have ever met, terror victim families want to see the Palestinian Arabs live productive lives, travel in safety, obtain a good education for their children, make money, receive good medical care. The miserable reality of their daily lives is far from what we wish them - and this brings absolutely no happiness or comfort to our side. The opposite is true."

Frimet Roth's essay Keeping Murdered Israeli Children in Our Hearts appeared on Israel's Memorial Day, 11th May 2005, in Front Page Magazine: "Nobody wants peace and calm here more than the parents who know what losing a child is like. It is the continued grief and remembering that will spur us to strive to achieve that goal."

The Herald-Sun (Melbourne, Australia) daily newspaper profiled the Malki Foundation and interviewed Arnold Roth in this Mark Dunn article (2-Apr-05) under the title Turning Grief into Relief: "The Malki Foundation helps several hundred families care for their severely disabled children at home rather than be forced to place them in institutional care in Israel." (A scan of the published page is here.)

Aish.com published (20-Mar-05) Arnold Roth's essay on Jewish history, Purim, and the mysterious significance of the age 15 in the lives of Malki Roth, her father and her grandmother. "Those of us raised in the shadow of the Holocaust, and who have experienced the tragedy of a child's death by hatred, struggle to understand the nature of the Divine role in our lives as individuals and as a people. There are times, according to Jewish wisdom, when you need to know that G-d's hand is at work even when the evidence is difficult to see, even when there are more questions than answers." Click to go to the article on the Aish.com website.

► The same article, translated into Dutch, is here.

Arnold Roth represented Israel at the Second International Congress of Terror Victims which took place in Bogota, Colombia during February. Arnold Roth's speech to the congress is reproduced here. (Spanish language translation here.) A New York Times (20-Mar-05) report provides the context (NYTimes.com registration required). 'Arnold Roth, whose 15-year-old daughter, Malki, died in a suicide bombing in Jerusalem, said he was appalled when television news producers wanted to pair him in interviews with the father of the bomber who killed his daughter. "It is an entirely bogus comparison, creating a false symmetry between the person who did the killing and the victim," he said. "It betrays a factual and moral confusion in the media that leads to the dehumanization of the victims." ' [An offline version of the NYT article is here.]

In an essay, Terrorism and Art, Frimet Roth writes for FrontPageMag about recent disturbing developments in the world of theatre and art. "If Israel's friends would show a smidgen of that zealousness in addressing the hearts and minds of the European and American public we might not be in our present predicament. One opinion poll after another has revealed that Europeans hold Israel in rock-bottom esteem." More

13-Jan-05 Arnold Roth is interviewed in a Jerusalem Post feature story "UN creation of register for fence claims raises ire". "...Our concern for the lives of our children forces Israeli society to take a much more balanced – I would say a more honest and mature – approach. This is not the UN's finest hour," he said." Offline copy is here.

Letter to editors of Co-op News (UK) 10-Jan-05: 'A "right of return" if it means anything at all can only mean injecting Palestinian Arabs into Israel, and not into that emerging Palestinian state. Can you see how unhelpful to peace such a slogan is?' Arnold Roth. Full text here. Click for a scanned copy of the original published page.

A Message for Europe: Arnold Roth was invited (12-Dec-04) to address the opening dinner of a mission to Israel and the Palestinian territories of parliamentarians from all over Europe. The mission was organized by the Paris-based Med Bridge Strategy Center (under the leadership of its chairman M. Francois Zimeray) and the Transatlantic Institute. The full text of his speech is here.

The Violin and the Guitar (Israel Insider). Frimet Roth (3-Dec-04) responds to a very public claim by a Machsom Watch activist, published in Haaretz. "One day, an IDF soldier, distracted and intimidated by camera-clicking, note-scribbling activists, is going to cut short a security check to appease them." [ PDF ]. Frimet's Letters to the Editor of the Haaretz newspaper were published the same day (3-Dec-04) in Hebrew and in English. The English version of Frimet's letter is here [ PDF ] and the Hebrew version is here [ PDF ]

A letter to the editors of The Independent (UK), published 13-Nov-04. "Arafat, murderer or man of peace "Sir: If you can find a single achievement towards peace - something concrete, something that showed respect for Jews and for Israel - please take the opportunity to talk about it on the pages of your journal. I believe Arafat's entire life's work was driven by hatred. Like other Israelis, I looked hard at everything the man did (not said - but did) for signs that behind all the vicious rhetoric he actually wanted peace. I never found it. My teenage daughter died as an innocent victim of an elaborate act of cold-blooded murder at the hands of Arafat-inspired terrorists. This was an act which the man himself could have prevented (I speak with some authority on this) but explicitly decided not to. You'll forgive me, and millions of other rational people who love peace and harmony, who focus on what Arafat's life actually achieved - hell on earth, and especially for his own people. ARNOLD ROTH Jerusalem"

Frimet Roth: Remember Arafat, The Man, Not the Legend (Jerusalem Post 12-Nov-04). "Any respect given to the dying or dead Arafat offends not only the memory of his Israeli victims, but the Palestinian people themselves. In honoring him, in accommodating his family and cronies, the world informs the Palestinians that their suffering at Arafat's hands doesn't rate; that ultimately what matters, what will be recorded in the history books, is not the truth but the legend of Arafat." (For an offline version of the online JPost.com article, click here.)

5-Nov-04 Arnold Roth is interviewed about what he calls an "odd" decision of the Australian Press Council into a complaint by the ABC's foreign correspondent Tim Palmer against an opinion column by the Sydney Daily Telegraph's opinion writer, Piers Akerman. The Australian Jewish News reports on the outcome of the APC's hearing (Requires Adobe Reader - if it is not installed already on your computer, download it at no cost by clicking here). There's more about Palmer, Akerman, the ABC and the treatment Malki's murder received on Australia's most important media channel here. Update June 2005: The Australian Press Council was asked once again by Tim Palmer to make a ruling against Piers Akerman, but declined: "The Council does not see any advantage in revisiting a matter already dealt with in its previous adjudication, which is available on the Council's website."

4-Nov-04 Arnold Roth is interviewed in Hebrew on Elihu Ben-Onn's "Miboker Ad Erev" program ("From Morning Till Evening") and again on his "HaKesher Hayisraeli" program. The interview (50 minutes) covers issues related to how Israel and its terror victims are perceived by international media, and the work of Keren Malki. It was broadcast on Israel Radio's Reshet Alef. Click to hear the audio (needs an MP3 or streaming audio player).

"A Partisan for the Other Side", written by Frimet Roth, is a critique of the writings of Amira Hass. Hass is a widely published Israeli journalist who lives in Ramallah. Frimet's op-ed article was published in the 'Viewpoint' section of the Jerusalem Report magazine, 18-Oct-04. A scanned copy of the published article is here while the full text of the article is here.

Matthew Price of the BBC interviewed Arnold Roth and a Palestinian Arab, Ali Abu-Awwad outside the walls of Jerusalem's Old City on 28-Sep-04. The article marked the fourth anniversary of the start of the Arafat Intifada war. Click here to view the interview. (Requires RealOne media player software installed on your PC).

In the wake of the Beslan (Ossetia, Russia) school massacre, Israel Insider published an essay by Frimet Roth, "Children in the Bullseye" (24th September 2004): "Nothing exacerbates the anguish of a bereaved parent more than sympathy for his child's murderer. If we cannot achieve an end to terrorism in the coming year, let's hope at least for this universal New Year's resolution: the drawing of a red line- the murder of innocent children. And zero tolerance for crossing it."

"Music From Hell" - The Hungarian publication, Hetek, published an interview with Arnold Roth in its 10th September 2004 edition. In Hungarian, it's here. The English-language translation provided by the journalist Eperjesi Ildikó who conducted the interview is here.

Arnold Roth was interviewed on The Stutz and Fleisher Show on Arutz Sheva, 6th August 2004. Click to hear the audio (needs an MP3 or streaming audio player).

A series of interviews in the Orthodox Jewish weekly Hamodia focuses on families who are dealing with the aftermath of the death of a loved one by terrorism. The 4th August 2004 edition includes an interview with Arnold Roth under the headline "Her Chessed Lives On". A high-quality scanned copy of the article is here. (An earlier, less-clear but smaller version in PDF Adobe Acrobat Reader form is here). Hamodia does not publish on the web.

In Zaragoza, Spain, on June 21 to 23, 2004, the Manuel Giménez Abad Foundation held a symposium on the subject: "Terrorism in the 21st Century: Its Persistence and Its Decline". One of the symposium's three days was devoted to "The Middle East and the War on Terrorism". Arnold Roth was an invited speaker. His PowerPoint presentation is downloadable - click here for preferred language version: English | Spanish. Press clippings (all in Spanish) are here.

Our Right to Grieve (Jerusalem Post Yom Hazikaron Edition 26-Apr-04) Frimet Roth "For us, it is always Remembrance Day. The pain, the longing, are full-blown every day of the year. And the holidays are no longer joyous pauses for celebration – regardless of when they take place." (For an offline version of the online JPost.com article, click here.)

Arnold and Frimet Roth spoke to the media in the context of the International Court of Justice hearings in The Hague during February and March 2004 when Israel defended its right to construct a passove, defensive barrier in order to protect its population from terror attacks. Arnold Roth traveled to the The Hague and served as spokesperson for the Israeli "Families for Peace" Group, as well as one of the fifteen 'witnesses' testifying for Israeli society in a mock trial conducted close to, but outside, the Palce of Justice. The media coverage is here.

A Small Town in Holland (Israel Insider 14-Mar-04) Arnold Roth "I joined a group of Israelis who, like us, are experiencing murder by terrorism (the use of the present-continuous tense is appropriate) and went to The Hague, not to participate in the ICJ hearings but to speak to the media gathered there." (If the Israel Insider article has been archived away, an offline copy is here.) Originally published in the Australian Jewish News 11-Mar-04)

CNN's John Vause interviewed Arnold Roth on 24th February 2004, just prior to the hearings of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The interview was labeled "Both Sides of the Fence". The online version of the transcript is here. If it has been taken down, a locally-saved archive version of the same transcript is here.

Letter to Jason Alexander: OneVoice Off Key (Jewish Journal, Los Angeles) Frimet Roth 12-Mar-04 "Death came immediately for Malki, or so the coroners told my sons who identified her body at the morgue. Her friend, Michal, hung on for a few hours before dying in a local hospital. I feel you ought to know about their murders and my pain. Ever since you chose to involve yourself in the OneVoice organization and to advise us on how to achieve peace, you obligated yourself to hear about my Malki." (If the Jewish Journal article has been archived away, an offline copy is here. A scan of the printed page is here.)

Global Anti-Semitism on Rise (Christian Broadcasting Network) "There's no doubt that the people who blew up the Sbarro restaurant that day were barbarians," said Roth. "And there's no doubt that the people who put my mother and her entire family in a concentration camp, and left her as an orphan were barbarians… The most bizarre process in which they can educate their own children to grow up more interested in blowing themselves up than in creating a better life for themselves, that's simply something that is beyond our comprehension." (TV program transcript summary, aired 2-Jan-04)

A Benighted Land Divided by an Unbridgeable Gap (The Herald, Scotland 16-Jan-04) Alf Young, deputy editor of The Herald: "Meeting Arnold Roth wasn't even on our schedule. But a packed programme of meetings and visits in Israel last week threw up its share of glitches, including the collapse of plans to sample political opinion in the Knesset. So, through an acquaintance of our group leader, we arranged to visit Roth instead."

All War and No Play (Jerusalem Post, 23-Dec-03) Frimet Roth / "UNICEF'S professed worry about Palestinian children disturbs me for another reason: its exclusion of Israeli  children. Their rights have been violated by Palestinians throughout this intifada without UNICEF batting an eyelid. Hundreds of our children have been murdered while eating, sleeping, studying, traveling to school - and not while pointing any guns in a quest for the shahid's paradise." (If the Jerusalem Post article has been archived away, an offline copy is here.)

"Slain Teen's Father to Speak Locally" Jewish Standard (Bergen County, New Jersey) 12-Dec-03 "There is no political agenda at Keren Malki," said Roth, "Only a wish to do good for people who need it...  There is a colossal amount of hatred out there and it's impossible to understand what is happening in Israel every day without confronting the hatred."

Blood, Money and Education Arnold Roth (Wall Street Journal Europe Op Ed Article 26-Sep-03) [WSJ Subscribers can click here to view the original online]  "EU Commissioner Patten can choose to exercise the funding power already in his control, and condition future PA grants on unambiguous prior evidence that Palestinian education has become peace-directed and positive. Or he can continue denying the price of EU blood money." [A picture of the published WSJ page is here.] The text of the 'open letter' sent  by Arnold Roth to Commissioner Christopher Patten is online here.

Jonathan Faine hosts a popular morning talk program on ABC Radio in Melbourne five days a week. He interviewed Arnold Roth in the 'conversation hour' of his program on 2nd September 2003. To hear the interview, click here. The entire interview will be broadcast to your computer as streaming audio via Windows Media Player or Real One  player. 

A Shattered Childhood (FORWARD, New York - September 19, 2003) Frimet Roth / "As I write this, my son and daughter are attending a double funeral. David and Nava Applebaum, the father and sister of their friend, were among those murdered last week in a Jerusalem café. Within minutes of the attack, my son was out hunting with his distraught friend for the missing father and sister in Jerusalem's hospitals."

'Balance' in the Media: Arnold Roth's visit to Australia in August 2003 resulted in several invitations to speak and appear in the media, including several radio interviews with Australia's national broadcaster, the ABC. One of those interviews was cancelled by the producer of a particular ABC program a few hours before it was due to go to air. Her explanation - in writing - prompted the journalist Piers Akerman to write about this a few days later, provoking a response from the chief executive of the ABC. Arnold Roth respond to the ABC's management. All the correspondence and newspaper articles are here.

In the face of violent death, family seeks the antithesis of terror (Sydney Morning Herald, Australia 6-Sep-03) "Arnold Roth is struck by the awfully synchronous history. His mother was 15 at the outbreak of World War II when she threw herself at the feet of a German officer to save her father's life; Roth himself was 15 during the Six Day War; his daughter was 15 when murdered by a suicide bomber." (PDF of the online article here.)

The Australian Jewish News reports on the second annual Keren Malki Forum in Melbourne: "Father Bears Scars of Terror". "As we sit here tonight, dozens of families in Jerusalem are sitting shiva or pacing the waiting rooms of hospitals [says Arnold Roth]... Our neighbours in Australia and other western countries don't feel the same visceral response when a bus blows up."

ABC TV's "The 7.30 Report" Parents Coping With Grief in Israel "Bereaved parents are trying to assist others in a bid to help them come to terms with their grief -- among them the Roth family, formerly of Melbourne, who lost 15-year-old daughter Malki in a suicide bombing in Jerusalem two years ago. This report from the ABC's Middle East correspondent Jane Hutcheon." (Aired 21-Aug-03)

No Memorial, Not Even A Plaque (Jerusalem Post, 30 July, 2003) Frimet Roth / "While New Yorkers thrash out  fine details, like whether or not to distinguish on name plaques rescue workers and "ordinary" victims, our own municipality entirely avoids messy conflicts of this kind. It simply excludes bereaved families entirely from the decision-making process affecting memorials."

Short-Term Remembering (In Jerusalem, 20 May 2003) Frimet Roth "Clearly there is a need to accord our victims a higher profile. The innocence and heroism of the more than 700 Israelis we mourn on Remembrance Day along with our brave soldiers is being quickly submerged." [PDF] [JPEG]

The Ugly Truth (JewsWeek 19 March, 2003) Frimet Roth / "Occasionally, as in these perverse times, the "victim" may be the bully. He may also be a liar -- or even a murderer." (If the JewsWeek site is unreachable, an offline copy is here.)

Nachum Segal's  JM in the AM radio interview with Arnold Roth is online and can be heard by going to wfmu.org/playlists/jm (click January 13th in the list). Nachum Segal's program starts each weekday at 6.00am, and the 45-min. interview with Arnold Roth began at about 7.50am. Assuming you're using Real Audio player, move the "clip position slide" to the 1h50m mark.

Arnold Roth addressed the opening of the Keren Malki Unit at Yad Sarah on 7th January 2003. For the text of his speech, click here.

The Sin of 'Forgiveness Fervor' (Jerusalem Post, 27 Nov, 2002) Frimet Roth submitted this short essay to the Jerusalem Post. With Frimet's approval, the  Post then solicited a response from a Dr Nurit Peled-Elhanan, one of the leaders of the tiny but extraordinarily well-funded extremist group, "Parents Circle". Click here to read Dr Peled-Elhanan's "Counterpoint" entitled "We have betrayed our children". Dr. Peled-Elhanan, despite having never met or spoken with Frimet Roth, finds it necessary to describe Frimet's arguments as "racist and aggressive". Objective readers might draw different conclusions.

ABC's Nightline: Ron Claiborne interviews Arnold Roth (29 October, 2002) [Nightline is a late-night news program broadcast by ABC in the United States, and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. It airs five nights a week (weeknights), usually for 31 minutes. Ron Claiborne who conducted the interview is today (2009) the news anchor for ABC News' weekend edition of Good Morning America. Quote: One of those killed in the Sbarro Pizzeria bombing was Malkie Roth. Her parents, Arnold and Frimet, sat down with Ron Claiborne to talk about the effects of suicide bombings. This is a partial transcript of that conversation: "I think like all Israeli families, the idea that terrorism might strike us was really unthinkable. We tell the kids to always pick the safer route, but there is a big difference between that and confronting the reality of something that your mind simply can't embrace. It's impossible to think about what actually happened to us." Offline version [PDF]

Handicapped Hearts (Jerusalem Post, 24 Oct, 2002) Frimet Roth / "Malki, murdered in a terror bombing last year, was one of those who helped care for him from time to time. Malki had an incredible knack for disregarding  handicaps with which Ro'i was amply encumbered and enthusing over a child's limited reactions. In Ro'i's case, his appreciative smile was the only reward she needed." If the article cannot be located on the Jerusalem Post site, an offline copy is here.

After the Bali Massacre: An Open Letter to Parents Australia's largest-circulation newspaper, the Melbourne Herald-Sun, invited Arnold Roth to respond to the terrorist attack in Bali in October 2002. The article is here. The Herald-Sun's editors, after inviting the article, chose not to publish it and despite numerous requests to explain why, offered no explanation or apology. The Jerusalem Post, however, published the article on 30th October 2002. An excellent retrospective overview of what happened in the Bali massacre is here.

"Families mourn loves, not heroes, on Israeli retreat" Ilene R. Prusher, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor (30-Oct-02) "They were neighbors. They were counselors in the same youth group. They even shared the same initials. And they were heading to a meeting for their volunteer work when they stopped off to get a slice of pizza in downtown Jerusalem. There, a year ago Aug. 9, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a Sbarro restaurant, killing both of them and 13 others. Now, it is the families of Malki Roth and Michal Raziel who have something in common – an unbearable loss that they feel few around them understand." [PDF]

A Pain Without End (Melbourne Herald-Sun 3 Oct 02) Frimet Roth "When I’m not intensely engrossed in something, I can only think of my fifteen year old daughter, Malki.  Since her murder a year ago in a Palestinian Arab terror bombing, a relentless sadness has possessed me. It’s that sadness Pesi sees and tries to banish gently with her fingers..."

A Mother's Protest Frimet Roth (Jerusalem Post 6 Jun 02) "Last month, three US Congressmen flew to Israel on a morale-boosting mission. Among their encounters was an evening spent with several Israeli parents of terror victims. My husband and I told them about Malki, our 15-year-old daughter who was murdered in the Sbarro bombing last August. "Americans support you and feel your pain," they assured us, and I wanted to be convinced." (If the link above does not work, click here to see the full text of the article.)

With Palestinian Arab gunmen holed up in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, CNN's Wolf Blitzer contacted the Roths in Jerusalem, and asked whether Frimet Roth would agree to take part as an interviewee in a program focused on victims of terrorism. She agreed... and deeply regretted doing so when she became aware of what Blitzer had in mind. Not CNN's finest moment.  Click to read CNN's transcript of the program (6-May-02)

The Sydney Jewish community organized a solidarity rally on 21st April 2002 in support of Israel at the peak of Operation Defensive Shield (Homat Magen). Arnold Roth was invited to address the rally via a written speech read out to the rally. The speech, which was subsequently published in the online publication Israel Insider, is here.

Tilting to Terrorism (NY Daily News 28 Apr 02) Frimet Roth "My pain today is as raw as it was the day she stood on line at Sbarro's in central Jerusalem beside her  best friend — two happy, compassionate 15-year-olds waiting for a slice of pizza. But they also happened to be standing next to a Palestinian with an explosive-laden guitar case."

Fiery Forum in Jerusalem: National Nine TV Network (Australia) (21-Apr-02) The "Sunday" program is one of Australia's most watched current affairs programs. They held a town meeting in East Jerusalem to see "...if there was any common ground left to resurrect peace, inviting Israelis and Palestinians from all walks of life, holding a wide range of views." Arnold Roth was one of the speakers for the Israeli side and the transcript is here. Filmed at a time when journalists including the presenter Jim Waley "knew" an Israeli massacre had taken place in Jenin, the editing of the long and rancorous debate is certainly not to the taste of the Roths, but makes nevertheless for interesting viewing.

Time to Weep... Time to Embrace (Jerusalem Post 30 Mar 02) Frimet Roth "Since my 15 year old daughter, Malki, was murdered at Sbarro, I have learned that there is no shortage of professionals, support groups and books to help us somehow live with our grief. But where is the guidance for those who must face relatives, friends, neighbours, co-workers, or students who have suffered losses..?"

Sunday Business Post (Ireland) Death of Innocents (3-Feb-02) From Neil Savage in Jerusalem: "The duo had spent the morning helping to decorate another friend's bedroom. They planned to attend a meeting of Ezra, a Jewish youth movement, in the afternoon. They were looking forward to it. But first, they thought, they should have some lunch. They chose Sbarro, a city centre pizza restaurant popular with teenagers, as the venue. A young man arrived at Sbarro around the same time as the girls. Izz El-Din Al-Masri was a 23-year-old Palestinian and a member of Hamas." [PDF] [Original Publication - may not be online] [Offline local copy]

How Many Lives is Silence Worth? Frimet Roth (Jerusalem Post, 20 Jan 02) "For those of us personally struck by terror, the way our government copes with Palestinian attacks is a subject for painful scrutiny. Could any have been prevented? ...What keeps me awake at night is their conduct on the day my 15-year-old daughter, Malki, was murdered at Jerusalem's Sbarro restaurant."

Remembering Malki A mother and father write about Malka Chana Roth, their daughter who was murdered. (Exceptional Parent, December 2001 edition) "How can I compress my Malki's fifteen years into a mere few words? How can I sing her praises without sounding hyperbolic? And, the greatest challenge, how can I endure the pain that this will undoubtedly bring? While the task seems daunting, I will attempt it nonetheless. Since a Palestinian Arab suicide bomber snuffed out her life on August 9th, talking about my Malki is all there is left for me to do for her."

"Terror tables turned for American journalist in Israel" (Orlando Sentinel 13-Sep-01) "One person who said he would not attend was Arnold Roth, the father of Malki Roth, a promising 15-year-old who was eating with her best friend when the Palestinian bomber detonated his deadly nail-studded package. I sat down with him a week ago. Devastated, he kept telling me he could not express his feelings. But words tumbled out at a steady rate. The act had taught him nothing of his Palestinian neighbors, he said, but he had learned much about his daughter, an active volunteer and accomplished flutist who had just started to write her own songs." [PDF]

What Happened Was Barbarism Frimet Roth / Letter to editors of TIME Magazine, 17 Sep 01. (The same letter translated into Italian is here.) "When my family and I got up yesterday from the shiva, the seven-day mourning period, I thought nothing could distract me from my grief. Then someone read me the headline of TIME's August 20th article about the bombing: 'A suicide bomber's desperate final act sparks another round of retaliation'. Your glorification of the act that took my precious 15 year old daughter is unforgivable. What happened was barbarism. To think of it in any other way is to give it meaning."

Washington Post: The Suicide Bomber Took Our Daughter's Life But Not Our Convictions (Lee Hockstader) (18-Aug-01) "When I interviewed Arnold Roth the other day, his modest apartment in northern Jerusalem was teeming with grieving visitors: Roth's  teenage daughter Malki was among the victims of the pizzeria bombing. Roth is a 49-year-old lawyer who manages a pharmaceutical technology company, a thoughtful man whose dignity was as evident as his despair." (If the article is not accessible via the Post's site, click here for an offline copy.)

During the shiva week, Frimet and Arnold Roth were asked to speak via video hookup to a gathering of Israel's supporters in Melbourne and other Australian and New Zealand cities. A fragment of that video is on the website of World Jewish Solidarity Day. Another Jewish Solidarity Day is scheduled to take place in late 2004.

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