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The smiling
teenager in the pictures posted here is
Malka Chana Roth, our daughter, sister and friend. Caring,
sweet-natured, talented, vivacious, musical and deeply
devoted to doing everything in her power to help children
with disabilities, Malki, as
she was known to everyone, brought
happiness into many lives.
But on 9th
August 2001, Malki's own life ended in a barbaric act
of Palestinian Arab terrorism in a crowded restaurant in the
centre of Jerusalem. She was fifteen years old. Her death
and her beautiful life are the inspiration behind the
establishment of the foundation that bears her name.
Click
to see a
video made by Malki's friends in 2001.
About Malki:
Malka Chana Roth was born in Melbourne, Australia on
November 27, 1985 (Kislev 14, 5746). She died at the age of fifteen in a
senseless act of terrorist barbarism in the Sbarro restaurant, Jerusalem, on August 9, 2001 (Menachem
Av 20, 5761).
Fourteen other innocent people, many of them children and
teenagers, enjoying a meal on a summer's day in the center of the
country's capital city, were
murdered in the same barbaric attack. (See "The
human time bomb: What motivates a suicide bombing?", originally published in
the
Sunday Times Magazine, 6 January 2002.) One of those was Malki's lifelong girl-friend Michal
Raziel, aged 16.
Scores of people inside the restaurant and on
the busy nearby streets were maimed and injured, often in ways that are too horrific
to describe. Some are
still receiving treatment today. In one exceptionally painful case, a
young mother remains comatose, years after the bombing.
Malki and Michal were buried in adjoining, simple
graves in
Jerusalem's Har Menuchot cemetery. To the large, grieving crowd at the funeral on a hot Friday afternoon, Arnold Roth eulogized
Malki, describing
her life as an act of
beauty... in all but its very final moments.
Malki,
who was a citizen of both the United States and Australia (by reason of her
parents' backgrounds) as well as of Israel, had completed tenth grade at Horev Girls School in
Jerusalem. She was a much-loved madricha (leader) of nine-year-old girls in the Ma'ale Adumim branch of the Ezra youth movement, and a gifted classical flautist.
She composed her own music.
 In
the opinion of some people, including Malki's family, the Sbarro company's
response to the tragic events was strange, lacking in both taste and good sense,
and doing them very little credit. Click
here to see an example of the advertisement they ran
in the Hebrew press four weeks after the murders announcing that they had rebuilt their premises.)
The Barbarians: You
may wonder what it takes to produce a person who is willing to blow himself up,
as the murderer of Malki did. To start your investigation, we suggest a visit to
this
helpful site.
For deeper background on the conspiracy leading up
to the massacre at the Sbarro restaurant, refer to a collection of links and
articles we compiled and published here.
The
Times (London) published a lengthy analysis of the state of mind of the
barbarians who engineered the Sbarro massacre. It's no longer on-line so we have
replicated it offline here.
And in case anyone still doubts how much support this sort of
barbarism enjoys in certain quarters, go
here to see the actual Arabic-language document recording that the family
of Malki's murderer were awarded a cash prize of US$20,000 for his great
deed. (Contact
us to find out how we obtained this document.)
Additional links:
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Malki wrote a simple, upbeat, very optimistic song - both the words and the
music. It has now been
professionally recorded and in commercial distribution
as part of a wonderful project that benefits Israeli terror victims. Go
here
for more. |
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To read Malki's
letter to the editors of Exceptional
Parent, written in July 1997 when she was eleven years old, about living with a
sister with special needs, click here. |
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In the aftermath of Malki's tragic death, newspaper and
magazine articles reported on the brief details of her life and death. See the
Press page.
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Malki's friends and
classmates honored her memory in a very
special way, by donating a new, purpose-written Sefer
Torah which was presented to her school, Horev Girls, in June 2003
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Some snapshots of Malki here.
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May the sweet and precious memory of Malka Chana
Roth be for a blessing.
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Malki's Parents Write
Chronicle of a Barbaric Massacre
Malki wrote a special
song
Malki Roth 1985-2001: Always smiling
Malki wrote a special
song
The Keren
Malki Unit at Jerusalem's Yad Sarah Organization
was officially inaugurated on 7th January 2003. Read about it here.
To learn about the other positive things
that are being done to honor Malki's memory, go
here.
The Foreign Ministry of Israel has a
memorial site for victims of the Palestinian Arab war of terror. Malki's
page is
here.
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