Was West Bank Protestant school linked to the Jerusalem bomber?

Friday, August 9, 2002 | by

TOBY AXELRODJewish Telegraphic Agency

Hashem Atta Yusuf, the 17-year-old who blew himself up at a downtown Jerusalem fast-food stand on July 30, injuring seven people, reportedly studied for a year at the elite Talitha Kumi school in Beit Jalla. The school is a project of the Lutheran group, Berliner Missionswerk, under the umbrella of the Protestant Church of the states of Berlin and Brandenburg.

After the information was broadcast on German television news programs, angry donors called and sent e-mail messages to Berliner Missionswerk, asking if their money was going to support Palestinian terrorists. Talitha Kumi representatives here expressed anger that their school's name was mentioned in connection with the bombing.

Soon after the story was confirmed, the mission issued a statement saying that it and the Protestant Church in Jordan "flatly condemn the bomb attack."

"We distance ourselves from this criminal deed as a barbarous and inhumane act. This does not express the spirit of our education, whose goals are peace, reconciliation and justice," the statement said.

"It was a shock," said school director Wilhelm Goller, adding that he "could understand that these donors have questions. And I am trying to answer them honestly. I am not going to whitewash this."