Death of Adele Biton
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Short description|2013 Palestinian stone throwing attack on civilians which resulted in the death of an infant}}
{{Use dmy|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox terrorist attack
| title = The Death of Adele Biton
| partof = the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
| map =
| image = AdeleBitonFuneral.JPG
| caption = Adele Biton Funeral. 18 February 2015.
| location = Near Kifl Haris, West Bank
| target =
| date = {{start date and age|2013|3|14|df=yes}}
| time-begin =
| time-end =
| timezone =
| type = Stone throwing on civilian car
| fatalities = 1 civilian
| perps = Five Palestinians{{cite news|title=Toddler dies two years after stone-throwing incident left her critically injured|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.642948|work=Haaretz|date=17 February 2015}}
| weapons = Projectiles (stones)
}}
The death of Adele Biton occurred on 17 February 2015{{cite news|title=Hundreds attend funeral for 4-year-old terror victim Adele Biton|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4628171,00.html|publisher=Ynet}} as a consequence of a 14 March 2013 Palestinian stone-throwing attack which caused the civilian vehicle in which the 2 year old infant Adele was riding to crash.{{cite news|last1=Ross|first1=Adam|title=Mother of Adelle Bitton: Prayers Work!|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/172865#.VFezeofXOHk|accessdate=3 November 2014|publisher=Arutz Sheva|date=15 October 2013}}{{cite news|last1=Newman|first1=Marissa|title=Wounded 4-year-old to remain hospitalized|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/court-wounded-4-year-old-to-remain-hospitalized|accessdate=3 November 2014|work=Times of Israel|date=10 April 2013}}{{cite news|last1=Newman|first1=Marissa|title=Mother of injured toddler faces assailants in court|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/mother-of-injured-toddler-faces-assailants-in-court|accessdate=3 November 2014|work=Times of Israel|date=13 February 2014}}{{cite web|title=Adele Biton dies at age four|url=http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Victims/Pages/Adele-Biton.aspx|publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs|accessdate=20 September 2015}}
Incident
On 14 March 2013, Adele, with her mother Adva and two sisters, Avigail and Naama, were in a car driving on Route 5 between the Israeli settlement of Yakir and Tel Aviv, where the family had visited a grandmother. The Biton family were driving on Route 5 towards Tel Aviv. Palestinians were throwing stones at vehicles on the road at the time.{{cite news|last1=Levinson|first1=Chaim|title=Israeli Infant Critically Hurt in Traffic Accident Caused by Stone-throwing Palestinians|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-infant-critically-hurt-in-traffic-accident-caused-by-stone-throwing-palestinians-1.509492|accessdate=27 September 2015|work=Haaretz|date=14 March 2013}} They were targeted by rock-throwers, and the car spun out of control and smashed into a truck which was parked on the side of the road, having stopped for similar reasons. The first health aide to arrive on the scene was a Palestinian volunteer paramedic, Muawiya Qabha, who gave immediate assistance. Soon afterwards he was joined by an Israeli doctor who happened to be driving by, who examined Adele and pronounced her clinically dead. Qabha, convinced he could save her life, continued to work on her, and after a considerable time, the girl began to respond. The child had suffered severe head injuries as a result of the crash and was hospitalized at the Rabin Medical Center's Schneider Children's Medical Center for emergency surgery. She remained semi-comatose for two months, and was released to return to the family home.{{cite news|title=Toddler injured in terror attack fights for her life|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4360754,00.html}}
Adele never recovered from her injuries.{{cite news|last1=Levinson|first1=Chaim|title=Toddler dies two years after stone-throwing incident left her critically injured Adelle Biton never fully recovered from attack|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.642948|accessdate=22 February 2015|work=Haaretz|date=17 February 2015}} According to The New York Times, Adele, "Biton, became a potent national symbol of the dangers that stones can cause".{{cite news|last1=Rudoren|first1=Jodi|title=Israeli Girl Injured in Palestinian Rock-Throwing Attack in 2013 Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/18/world/middleeast/israeli-girl-injured-in-palestinian-rock-throwing-attack-in-2013-dies.html?_r=0|accessdate=22 February 2015|work=The New York Times|date=17 February 2015}} According to The New York Times reporter Jodi Rudoren, Adele was "among the victims who become somewhat iconic... Many, many articles were written about her."{{cite web|last1=Hollander|first1=Rikki|title=The Death of Adele Biton and The New York Times' Justification of Lopsided Reporting|url=http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=35&x_article=2945|accessdate=22 February 2015}}
Biton is remembered as one of several people injured and killed as a result of Palestinian rock-throwing at passing vehicles.{{cite news|last1=Freund|first1=Michael|title=A country held hostage by lawyers|url=http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Fundamentally-Freund-A-country-held-hostage-by-lawyers-417933|accessdate=25 September 2015|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=24 September 2015}} Others who have suffered the same fate include Esther Ohana, a 20-year-old girl who was driving to her wedding rehearsal when she was murdered, eleven-year-old Chava Wechsberg, and Asher Palmer, a young father murdered along with his eleven-month-old son.Stephen M. Flatow,[http://njjewishnews.com/article/26294/for-victim-adele-biton-palestinian-rock-throwing-is-murder-not-resistance#.VPCgHcYqqqQ 'For victim Adele Biton, Palestinian rock-throwing is murder, not 'resistance'], New Jersey Jewish News, 20 February 2015.
Arrests
Five Palestinian teenagers, Muhammad Mahdi Suleiman, Tamer Ayyad Ahmad Souf, Ammar Abd al-Nayif Souf, Ali Yassin Ali Shamlawi and Muhammad Jumaa Muhammad Kleib, from Kfar Haras were arrested for throwing the rocks that caused the crash.{{cite news|last1=Harel|first1=Amos|title=Five Teens Arrested for Stoning Car, Critically Injuring Baby|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/five-teens-arrested-for-stoning-car-critically-injuring-baby.premium-1.511701|accessdate=27 September 2015|work=Haaretz|date=24 March 2013}} They were charged with having thrown stones on that road that day. 20 drivers driving on that route during the day later filed insurance claims for damages to their vehicles, but no eyewitnesses, according to Ma'an News Agency, were forthcoming, and no police station received complaints at the time. All five eventually confessed but retracted their statements in court, stating that their admissions had been extracted after repeated abuse under interrogation. In December 2015, all 5 were sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $7,700.[http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769421 'After 2 years behind bars, 'Hares boys' sentenced to 15 years,'] Ma'an News Agency 19 December 2015.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Terrorist attacks against Israelis in the 2010s}}
{{Palestinian militancy attacks in the 2010s}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biton, Adele}}
Category:Child murder in Palestine
Category:Deaths by person in Palestine
Category:Deaths by rocks thrown at cars
Category:Palestinian stone-throwing
Category:2013 crimes in Palestine
Category:2013 road incidents in Asia
Category:Road incidents in Palestine
Category:Children killed in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Category:March 2013 crimes in Asia