Married for half an hour... then tragedy [Jordan bombings]

The Times (UK) ^ | 11/11/05 | Catherine Philip

[saquin]

THEY came from all over. From the swanky suburbs of Amman, from ancient Jerusalem, Kuwait City and the United States to celebrate the union of their families.

A day later, the wedding guests found themselves gathered together in mourning, around freshly dug graves in the sprawling cemetery where, one after another, 17 of those who had come in celebration were laid to rest.

The bride and groom, Ashraf Da’as, 32, and Nadia al-Alami, 24, had been married less than half an hour when tragedy struck. Married in front of 200 guests, many of who had flown in days before for the society wedding, they went upstairs for their official photographs as the guests milled around in the ballroom, talking excitedly and catching up on family news.

The last picture to be taken was of the couple with their fathers on either side, Nadia’s holding his new son-in-law’s hand and Ashraf’s clutching that of the bride, to symbolise the union of the two families.

Ashraf took out his mobile phone to call downstairs and tell his friends to prepare for their arrival. The traditional Palestinian band, or dabbka, struck up its pipes as the four walked towards the door of the ballroom. And then the bomber struck.

“I thought they were fireworks to greet our arrival. Then I saw the broken glass and the smoke and I heard the screaming,” Nadia told The Times as she arrived at the hospital where her mother is in a coma.

She collapsed in shock and her husband threw himself on top of her to protect her. But the blast had already wreaked its damage and other bodies had saved the newlyweds. On either side of them, their fathers lay prostrate, Nadia’s already dead, cut down by a piece of shrapnel blown into his head, Ashraf’s bleeding but still breathing — just.

“It was as if they had been protecting them,” said Mustafa Akhras, 27. “They both died but Nadia and Ashraf, they didn’t have as much as a graze.” The only thing left intact in the hall was the wedding cake.

Nadia and Ashraf were a golden couple, beloved of their prominent Palestinian families and friends. They met two years ago when Nadia was a student doing work experience in hospital administration. Ashraf was a medical supplies salesman, and they met when he visited the medical centre where she worked. Romance soon blossomed.

“He used to go and meet her when she was getting out of university and they’d go and have coffee together, go to movies,” Osaid Qoashoe, 24, Ashraf’s friend, said. “He said ‘I’ve found her at last, she’s perfect’.”

After a year he called his family in Kuwait and told them:

“I’ve found a girl. She’s going to be a good wife, I’m going to marry her’.”

The Da’as family were delighted, as were the Alamis. “They were so happy,” Nadia said. On March 17, the couple were formally engaged. Nadia spent five months planning the wedding. “We wanted everything to be perfect,” she said. “We had to have everything finished before Ramadan. Then, as soon as Eid was over, we would be married.”

Ashraf’s family, led by his father Khalid Da’as, flew in from Kuwait where they had fled from their ancestral home in Jenin after the 1967 war with Israel. Yesterday he was laid to rest in accordance with Muslim tradition in the Sa’ab graveyard on a barren hillside outside Amman along with 16 other relatives and friends, including Ashraf’s uncle, four cousins and an aunt. “Yesterday was my wedding day and today I have to bury my father,” Ashraf said. “My only joy is that my wife is alive.”

In accordance with tradition, Nadia was not at the funeral. Still clearly in shock, her face gaunt and without make-up, she wept on the shoulders of her older sister Nancy outside the intensive care unit at the Amman Surgical Hospital where her mother was lying with a piece of shrapnel lodged in her neck. Her father’s body still lay in a morgue across town. She had not seen him yet; Ashraf had rushed her home from the hotel immediately after the blast to spare her the horrors of the scene. “We will bury him tomorrow,” Nancy said. “Today all we can do is worry about my mother.”

Wiping her eyes, Nadia left to go back and sit with her new mother-in-law, to grieve and wait for her husband. “They were supposed to be leaving for Sharm-el-Sheik on honeymoon tomorrow,” Nancy said. “But that will not happen now.”

Instead there will be another funeral, for the six of their family members who died. As many as 30 other guests have yet to be identified, too badly burned to be recognised.

“What kind of person would do this to people celebrating a wedding? My sister’s wedding?” Nancy said, anger rising in her voice. “When I saw the policemen I asked them ‘If you know who did this, give me a call and I’ll shoot them myself. Honestly, I would do it myself.”

Ashraf al-Akhras and his bride Nadia Alami, center, are welcomed by their relatives during their wedding ceremony at the Radisson SAS hotel in Amman, Jordan, prior a suicide bombing attack, in this picture taken late Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2005. The groom, Ashraf al-Akhras, suffered serious injuries and was rushed to an Amman hospital. The bride, Nadia Alami, escaped injury. But the newlyweds both lost their fathers. Al-Qaida issued an Internet claim of responsibility Thursday for three suicide bomb attacks on Western hotels that killed at least 56 people, linking the deadly blasts to the war in Iraq and calling Amman the 'backyard garden' for U.S. operations.(AP Photo/HO)

Ashraf Mohamed al-Akhras and his bride Nadia al-Alami (C) pose with their fathers during their wedding reception at Radisson SAS hotel in the center of Amman, November 9 2005. Both the bride and groom lost their fathers during the bombing. (Issa Abu Othman/Reuters)

[sgtbono2002]

When will the world wake up to the fact that these people dont care who they murder? You dont have to be American, Catholic, Islamic, Iraqui. These crazy bastards will blow you up. No one is safe while they exist.

[FormerACLUmember]

In the dead eyes of al Queda and their evil Saudi billionaire financiers, these Westernized Arabs must be slaughtered even more vigorously than "Crusaders and Jews." The IslamoNazis want a return to the 7th Century.

[GBA]

"And then the bomber struck."

"Bomber" Not terrorist nor murdering Islamofascist scum. Just a bomber.

[Captain Rhino]

"No one is safe while they exist."

Precisely.

[The Right Stuff]

I don't normally use profanity but this P's me off more than anything. I saw this picture of this gorgeous bride and handsome husband alongside of their obviously adoring fathers and thought of some damn jihadist freak invading their wedding and gleefully causing mayhem and violence - and I agree with the bride's sister.

If I had a gun, I'd shoot them myself. How dare they intrude upon this holy and sancrosect day.

TRS

[tet68]

Beautiful girl, and she has her priorities in order.

Her father’s body still lay in a morgue across town. She had not seen him yet; Ashraf had rushed her home from the hotel immediately after the blast to spare her the horrors of the scene. “We will bury him tomorrow,” Nancy said. “Today all we can do is worry about my mother.”


Pray for mother, bury father, kill terrorists.

[Argus]

If you know who did this, give me a call and I’ll shoot them myself.

The culprit's name is Zarqawi. He is a Palenstinian born in Jordan, currently hiding somewhere probably in Iraq, where he is the emir of al Qaeda between the rivers. Good luck and good hunting.

[VadeRetro]

From the picture caption: The groom, Ashraf al-Akhras, suffered serious injuries and was rushed to an Amman hospital.

From the article: “It was as if they [the fathers] had been protecting them,” said Mustafa Akhras, 27. “They both died but Nadia and Ashraf, they didn’t have as much as a graze.”

Hate that. I always suspect the worst news is the correct story.

[Dustbunny]

What a heart breaking way to start a life together. So very sad and tragic.

Terrorists/suicide murders, one and the same. The world needs to join forces and stop them.

[Sabramerican]

“What kind of person would do this to people celebrating a wedding?

The same type of people who would do it to kids eating pizza, students on a bus to school, workers sitting in their desks in NYc, elderly people at a Passover dinner....

Did any of you Arabs happen to notice those people when you supported- or were at best unconcerned- for the previous barbarity?

[KJC1]

She collapsed in shock and her husband threw himself on top of her to protect her. But the blast had already wreaked its damage and other bodies had saved the newlyweds. On either side of them, their fathers lay prostrate, Nadia’s already dead, cut down by a piece of shrapnel blown into his head, Ashraf’s bleeding but still breathing — just.

This is just so unspeakably awful.

[livius]

Horrible story. I have been praying for these poor people all day.

[solzhenitsyn]

What a terribly sad story! But the bride and groom remain. I wish them a long and happy life together.

[cricket]

The world needs to join forces and stop them.

Easier said than done, for sure. . .

. . .we cannot even get the Democrats in our country to join the anti-terrorist forces.

[Veto!]

This picture of the bride and her father brought me to tears. How happy this man looks, how proud of his beautiful daughter, how pleased that he gave her the wedding of her dreams.

I still think this group was chosen purposely to bomb. I just can't believe that randomly they'd walk into a wedding.

And I cannot imagine any sane person in the Arab world not throwing their hands up and screaming at al Qaeda to stop now. They must hate them. At least they do now.

[fso301]

I still think this group was chosen purposely to bomb. I just can't believe that randomly they'd walk into a wedding.

I agree with that. I suspect it was an assasination.

[sheik yerbouty]

That is because they are really Dhimmocrats..

[Veto!]

I suspect it was an assasination.

I wonder whether the truth will ever be revealed.

[saquin]

This picture of the bride and her father brought me to tears.

I know. That's what really got to me, too. That man just seems to be bursting with happiness and pride. To think that happy moment was shattered only moments later... Very sad. And infuriating, too.

[metmom]

This is one of the most awful things I've heard. So much for targeting Americans. This bomber went in with this crowd because he knew he could blend in. He KNEW he was killing Jordainians. Some day the muslims have to wake up to the fact that they are not safe. I hope these protests against Zarquari produce some results. Like his demise and a growing LACK of support for al-Queda, who claimed responsibility for this. They've got to come to the realization that they are not safe just because they are muslim.

[metmom]

That would be a father's love. I wonder if they somehow caught wind of something just before the blast. We'll never know.

[SweetCaroline]

I still think this group was chosen purposely to bomb.

I read in a thread earlier that they suspect the bomb was in the ceiling of the ballroom. If so it sure sounds like you are right!

[Braak]

Bastards....it's all you can say. I just keep imagining something like that happening at a wedding here....god, those two, now every anniversery is going to be a reminder of this. Somebody ought to do something to try to bring some good out of all this mayhem. Something so those damn killers don't win.

[Uncle Vlad]

What unspeakable, heartless bastards those terrorists are! I'm astonished that there's still anyone in the world who thinks we can deal with al Qaeda by appeasing them or "dialoging" with them.

[Braak]

I wrote this in my LiveJournal, below a repost of the article...edited for content:

Ok, who the hell did these two ask to have this happen? And these terrorists? Do they really care if you're for or against the war? No, they don't. See my little liberals...this is how terrorism works, they kill and spread terror and wait for us to imitate the Spanish electorate.

Guess what, how much do you think they would like to do the same over here? How long before it does? They busted a cell in Australia, and another possible plot against the White House was busted up in Bosnia today. Now whatever you think of the current occupant, do you really want to see the White House in flames?

We have a war to win, to win for daughters, sons, fathers, mothers, brides and grooms, wives and husbands. The whining needs to stop and we need to show the enemy some cold steel. Politics need to stop and people need to shut up for the duration. Don't like it? Tough. War is a nasty business. And it's not going to get any nicer. And we need to be smarter, meaner and luckier than them, and not contemplating our f$#%^#@g navels like Star Trek.

Something should be done for this couple, who are now, for the rest of their lives, going to remember their wedding day as one of pain, fire and sorrow. But I think the best thing we can do is to relegate Al-Queda and it's partner in crime, Islamic Fundamentalism as a whole to the same asheap as the NDSAP, the CSA and the city-state of Carthage. War is sometimes a remedy the enemy chooses, he chose it on September 11th. I say give him the full measure.

As for those who want to make distinctions between Afghanistan and Iraq, here is a point you cannot deny. Saddam had links to these groups and certainly trained them, if not directly supported the 9/11 plot. Google "Salman Pak". Also, he broke the 1991 cease-fire. He fired on our aircraft patrolling the no-fly zone. He kicked out the inspectors in 1998. Those two reasons alone are enough to justify our actions.

So don't weep for the terrorists, and don't weep for Saddam. Weep for Asharaf and Nadia. They deserved better. And to quote a lot of Jordanians tonight "Mossawi, burn in hell".

[Mr. Rational]

All I can think is what goes around comes around.

PALESTINIAN murderers targeted a Bat Mitzvah a few years ago. PALESTINIAN murderers have been targeting innocents for at least a generation.

Maybe this will wake some Arabs up to their sick society. But I doubt it.

I don't remember ever reading such a tear jerking piece written about Israelis murdered. Certainly not in Arab press.

[rdcorso]

Michael Moore's minutemen and Cindy Sheehen's freedom fighters strike again.If America had its head screwed on straight the media would be shut down and people like Moore and Sheehen would be hunted down and hung from trees.

[Becki]

“Yesterday was my wedding day and today I have to bury my father,” Ashraf said. “My only joy is that my wife is alive.”

This is so sad. These people were so happy.

I can't help thinking of the times our troops were falsely accused of bombing "weddings", and here they have gone and done exactly that.

I wonder how many of them will see through the terrorists now.

Becki

[VadeRetro]

I wonder if they somehow caught wind of something just before the blast. We'll never know.

I'd settle for knowing whether the groom didn't get a scratch or was seriously injured and taken to the hospital.

[Salvation]

What a sad story. Prayers foro their them and the families of those who died.

[SuziQ]

I think the picture got the name wrong. In the body of the story, Ashraf D'as is the groom, and it was his father who was seriously injured, and later died. The groom was saying that he had to go and bury his father. He couldn't have done that being seriously injured in the hospital.

[VadeRetro]

It may be that the picture caption is confusing what happened to the groom with what happened to his father, but Ashraf is identified as the groom.

The groom, Ashraf al-Akhras, suffered serious injuries and was rushed to an Amman hospital.

[ketelone]

Im not usually sentimental, but this brings tears to my eyes. Their wedding anniversary will forever be a source of pain and not joy.