On 1 June 2001, at approximately 11:27 p.m., a Hamas-affiliated suicide bomber detonated a 2.5-kilogram explosive device packed with ball-bearings outside the Dolphinarium discotheque on the Tel Aviv beachfront promenade.
The club was popular with teenage immigrants from the former Soviet Union and a large crowd of young people, mostly girls aged between 14 and 18, had gathered in line for a dance party.
The blast killed 21 Israelis, 16 of them teenagers, and injured 120 others. It became one of the deadliest attacks of the Second Intifada.
The bomber, Saeed Hotari, a 22-year-old militant linked to Hamas, had disguised himself in a manner that led some in the crowd to mistake him for an Orthodox Jew from Asia. He wandered among the teenagers waiting to enter, banging a drum that contained the explosives and taunting them in Hebrew with the words “Something’s going to happen.”
At 11:27 p.m. he detonated the device. Witnesses described body parts scattered across the pavement and bodies piled on the sidewalk as emergency services arrived.
Eighteen-year-old Polena Vallis had spent the evening preparing to go out after weeks of exam pressure at school. She checked her reflection, applied perfume and a touch of eye shadow, and felt ready for a night of fun. On the way to the Dolphinarium with her friend Emma she joked about recent disasters in Israel, including the collapse of a dance floor at a wedding hall. As they joined the queue outside the club the girls chatted and giggled with the excited crowd.
Suddenly a deafening boom shook the air, followed by the smell of blood and burning flesh. Human remains flew in all directions. Polena felt as though she had been thrown into an oven. The force knocked her to the ground. When she stood and tried to run she saw boys and girls on fire around her. She and her friends collapsed together behind a car. Looking down, she noticed her legs covered in blood. Only when a friend screamed did she realise there was a gaping hole in her right thigh. All the way to hospital in the ambulance she prayed to faint so she would not hear the groans of a dying girl beside her.
She underwent two operations that night and later learned that two nails from the bomb had lodged in Emma’s brain. One was removed; the other could not be touched. Emma survived after a long struggle, and both girls later met again in rehabilitation.
Irina Lipkin, then 17, stood in the queue only two metres from the bomber when he detonated the device.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.”
At Ichilov Hospital staff asked her what her two best friends had been wearing that night. Only later did she discover that one of them had been killed. The scene of burned and wounded teenagers arriving at the hospital left a lasting mark on the 17-year-old. Years afterwards she still suffered severe post-traumatic stress and fought for recognition of her injuries.
Mike Lampert, another survivor who was seriously wounded that night, still bears the physical and mental scars.
“𝐼 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦, 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑜𝑙𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑢𝑚 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑦. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝐼 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦.”
He was recognised as 35% disabled because of his physical injuries and continues to spend hundreds of shekels a month on medication simply to manage daily life.
17 year old Tanya from South Africa suffered wounds to her neck, from bullets that had been packed into the bomb.
“𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝐺-𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒. 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑚𝑏, 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑖𝑟. 𝐼 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒. 𝐼 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠. 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠, 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛. 𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑘𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔.
𝐴 𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑡, 𝑎 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑡, 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒.”
The attack prompted immediate horror across Israel and condemnation from world leaders, including United States President George W. Bush and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Yasser Arafat, then head of the Palestinian Authority, also condemned the bombing.
In the days that followed the Israeli government faced public pressure for retaliation but held back under diplomatic pressure.
The Dolphinarium discotheque bombing intensified security measures at public venues and remained a grim milestone in the Second Intifada.
A memorial now stands at the site to honour the 21 victims, most of them teenage girls who had simply wanted to dance.
Yevgenia Haya Dorfman, 15
Katherine Kastaniyada-Talkir, 15
Pvt. Diez (Dani) Normanov, 21
There’s a monument that stands there now, it says “We won’t stop dancing, this is our home”
That echoes in my ears after Nova, “We will dance again”
May their memories forever be a blessing.
andulkaphoto
snowghoul
janainaart
yousharknotpass
