Bulgaria Commemorates Israelis Killed in Burgas Bombing
Jerusalem, 19 July, 2023 (TPS) -- SOFIA, 18.07.2023 (BTA)
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev participated in a ceremony marking the 11th anniversary of a deadly attack on a bus full of Israelis by the Burgas airport.
The ceremony was held a monument next to the site of the attack where five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian bus driver were killed. Another 32 were injured.
The commemoration began with a moment of silence. In his address to the relatives of the dead and those present at the ceremony, President Radev pointed out that the severe trauma of 11 years ago will continue to bring Bulgarians back to this dark event.
“The attack on the Israeli tourists and the Bulgarian citizen shook our whole country. We often say that time heals all pain, but I know very well that there is no medicine for the pain of losing the closest people,” the head of state said.
The President pointed out that the dead will not be forgotten because human lives unjustly taken will always cause grief and anger. The President also warned that evil exists that it must be confronted by common efforts.
“Today’s event gives us an opportunity to state once again that Bulgaria and Israel are connected by deep historical and friendly ties, that we share a similar fate and a long-standing partnership,” Radev said.
“This year we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews. This is an unprecedented act for Europe in the darkest years of the Second World War. We did not allow a single Bulgarian Jew to be deported to the death camps, and Bulgaria emerged from World War II with a larger Jewish community,” he added.
“Let us not forget today that we must continue to fight together against the efforts of terrorism that sow fear, death and destruction. I believe that we will continue to work more and more effectively for the prevention, neutralization and protection from terrorist threats.”
The suicide bomber was identified as Mohamad Hassan El Husseini, of Lebanese and French citizenship. He had entered Bulgaria on false identity as Jacques Felipe Martin.
Two other suspects associated with the Hezbollah terror organization, Meliad Farah, 35, of Australian and Lebanese citizenship, and Hassan El Hajj Hassan, 28, of Canadian and Lebanese citizenship, were convicted in absentia of terror charges and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2023. The court also granted the civil claims of the victims’ families for a total of $115 million.
Farah and Hassan are still on the Interpol wanted list.
