24 years have elapsed since the terrible day when Smadar Kaiser-Haran’s husband and daughter were abducted and murdered by terrorists. 24 years of unrelenting pain. Smadar cannot bear the thought that one of the terrorists who murdered her loved ones will be granted his freedom as part of a release of Palestinian prisoners.

“I am surprised and shocked at the request to release him, too,” Smadar told Yedioth Ahronoth last night. On April 22, 1979, four Palestinian terrorists arrived at the Nahariya coast from Lebanon, after infiltrating by sea. The four entered a residential building in the city, and broke into the Haran family’s apartment. They took 28-year old Danny Haran and his four-year old daughter Einat with them as hostages. Smadar Haran remained at home, holding her two-year old daughter Yael in her arms. The two hid in the attic throughout the affair. The anxious mother, who was afraid that the terrorists would hear her daughter shouting and crying, blocked the child’s mouth with her hand. However, this caused a terrible tragedy: The baby choked to death in the mother’s arms.

In the meantime, the terrorists escaped with Danny and his daughter towards the sea, intending to return to Lebanon. Police forces and soldiers pursued them, and during the exchange of fire a police officer, Sgt. Eliyahu Shahar, was killed, as were several terrorists. However, when the soldiers reached the coast they learned that Danny and Einat had also been murdered.

The terrorist Samir Kuntar was apprehended and sentenced to life imprisonment. Smadar Haran, who has since remarried and raised a new family, hopes that he will stay behind bars until his dying day: “I don’t believe that the terrorist will be released now, and I don’t believe that the Israeli government will accept this request, after it promised not to release terrorists with blood on their hands.”

This piece ran on July 3, 2003 in Yediot Aharonot

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