Orna and David Mimran
Attacked: July 30, 2002
Itamar Couple Attacked - Infiltrator Killed
from Arutz 7 July 30, 2002
from Arutz 7 July 30, 2002
The Shomron community of Itamar has become a target of choice for Arab terrorists. In the third incident in past several months, late last night an Arab armed with knives, succeeded in infiltrating the community, and broke into the home David and Orna Mimran.
The couple awoke when the Arab entered their bedroom, and a struggle ensured. During the encounter the Mimrans managed to kill the terrorist with his own knives, but not before David was stabbed in the chest and arm.
David [in photo with students] was transported to Petach Tikvah's Beilinson Hospital where he is listed in moderate condition from his knife wounds. Orna sustained only light injuries during the confrontation.
Shalom to all our friends overseas
October 2003
My name is Orna Mimran, I'm married to David and we have 8 children- Dina & Shaked are twins, 15 years old, Moria is 13, Rivka is 11, Shachar –9, Eliyahu- 7, Tamar – 5, and Leah – 3.
We found ourselves in Itamar, when it was just 5 years old, (in Samaria),with about 30-40 families. We liked the atmosphere, the people and the natural life. Most of the time we had a quiet, interesting, and meaningful life. We were very busy with developing organic agriculture, in hothouses, and marketing them to nature shops. David was studying more about Judaism and was very content. By the years the children joined us, and kept us busy and happy. I must say that we didn't come to Itamar because of political reasons, though I know you can't trust the Arabs, we never did anything against them. In the beginning we had good relationships with the Arabs. Over the years, the security situation became worse. People got hurt on the roads. The last 2 years were horrible. Good friends were killed. Other friends of ours became widows and orphans. Our children were exposed to a terrible situation created by their friends that lost their father or mother.
A year ago, we had a nightmare, when a terrorist got into our neighbor's house, and killed the mother Rachel Shabo and 3 children. My daughter Moria's best friend, Avia, was hiding under her parents' bed hearing her family getting killed, and the terrorist sitting on the very same bed, loading his gun. She was saved. My children were alone that evening. David was on guard duty at the gate, and I was working in the hothouse, cooking strawberry jam . Dina and Shaked were not at home, so Moria (12 yrs) and Rivka (10 yrs) had to deal alone with that event, that took hours. I went to a neighbor, whose husband (Yosef Twito) ran out to help, and got shot and killed, leaving her alone with 5 little children. All this, broke our heart.
Our project these days was a little mini-market grocery in Jerusalem, that we just started to run. Our children used to be alone during the years that we were working so hard in the agriculture, decided to spend their vacation with the grandparents. A day before, they packed their stuff, waiting on the road with their bags. When David came from work at 22.00 he took them to Tiberias (2 hours drive), where the parents waited, and got back at 02.00. The children were thankful to him.
That terrible night, the day after, we both came back late to Itamar. A terrorist with 2 knives managed to enter our home looking and stabbing all the children's empty beds. Then he came to our room. I slept near the door, but he went over to David who woke up already wounded, by 16 knife stabs, all over his body (thank God it was "only" knives). I woke up watching this horrifying picture. David's face was full with blood, and the "monster" attacking him. It took me seconds to understand what we are dealing with. I knew we had to work together to stop this danger. Our experience traveling together and always working together saved us.
I said : "hold him", and David woke up realizing it's not a dream, and strangled him with the hand that was less wounded, and with the other- pressed his fingers at the terrorist's throat. David held him down to the floor, but he continued struggling, so I tried to take the knives out of his hands, but he gripped them too tightly, so with the knife still in his hand, I pushed it into his arms and face. After maybe 10 minutes he stopped fighting. Thank God, we managed to overcome him. We ran out for help. Then we realized that David is wounded pretty badly, and I a little bit. We were both full of blood. After 2 days in the hospital, David realized, where he took the idea of strangling with his fingers. As a teacher he teaches the pupils how in the temple the priests slaughtered birds by sticking their fingers in the birds' throat. That's what he knew, and that's what he did. God was with us. That's what kept David and me alive.
David is recovering, and fortunately the inner parts of his body are O.K. We are trying to get out of the horrifying nightmare. We didn't go back to Itamar. We left everything behind, our home, work, friends, children's school friends and felt like refugees. Both our families were shocked, and are doing their best for us. Now we are trying to continue. We are going to move up north, nearer to our family, and hope God will give us quietness. We need to get over this.
We love each other. We love our children, and try and give them what they need. We have to overcome disagreements. All Jews should love each other. So I was excited to hear that overseas you think about us in Israel. You can tell this story to every one. We need more braveness at this mixed time. We are sure in the end it will be O.K, We all should be strong now.
I want to thank you all, so much, for the concern shown by the “One Family” organization. I can understand now all the stories from Jewish history, what all anti-Semites have done to us. We have to be together, all Jews everywhere, because only being united will keep us alive.
We thank all, and love you. From:
Orna, David, Dina, Shaked, Moria, Rivka, Shachar, Elyahu, Tamar and Leah
Couple overpowers terrorist in bedroom
By DAVID RUDGE AND TOVAH LAZAROFF Jul. 31, 2002
Fast asleep, David Mimran, 44, and his wife Orna, 40, didn't hear a thing as a masked terrorist wielding two knives broke into their Itamar home through the front door, walked up the stairs, and entered their bedroom around 3 a.m. Tuesday morning.
David woke up only as the terrorist stabbed him. "I woke up and saw my husband fighting him," Orna told Israel Radio from her hospital bed at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva, where the couple was taken following the attack.
She tried to grab his knives after startling him from behind, according to her sister Dorit. Orna told Israel Radio that the terrorist was holding the knives so tightly it was impossible to wrest them from his grasp. He weakened as her husband tried to choke him and and she pushed the knives into his face, wounding him.
Only once they had knocked him out did Orna run outside for help.
Outside, she flagged down an army jeep, yelling, "there are terrorists," according to Dorit. The two were lucky that their eight children, ages 2 to 14, were visiting their grandparents and were not at home. Dorit added that it is believed the terrorist searched through all the children's rooms before entering the Mimrans' bedroom.
The attack was the third in a series of infiltrations into the Itamar community in Samaria in the last three months. In June, a terrorist burst into the Shabu home only two doors down from yesterday's attack, killing Rachel, 40, her sons Neriah, 15, Tzvika, 12, Avishai, five, and Yosef Twitto, head of the community's response team.
Dorit said her sister Orna and her husband believe the terrorist had first meant to attack their house that June night, but were scared off by a barking dog. In May, terrorists killed three teens at the yeshiva in Itamar while they played on the basketball court or were in their rooms.
The Mimran family lives in a section of Itamar that has a security fence, but the terrorist broke threw it, the head of Itamar Emergency Services Uziel Tamari told Israel Radio yesterday.
It was not immediately clear whether he belonged to Fatah, Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, or another of the Palestinian terrorist organizations, or was acting independently.
The attack once again highlighted the issue of whether all settlements should be protected by electronic fences with surveillance devices which would sound the alarm when breached. The IDF Spokesman said initial inquiries revealed that soldiers on stand-by duty responded speedily and that immediately on reaching the scene they charged the terrorist and killed him.
Nevertheless, an inquiry is being held into the incident, as in other cases, and all the circumstances are expected to be examined, including the issue of an electronic security fence.
Itamar spokesman Rabbi Avihai Ranski said the community has done a great deal to improve security and is starting to build an electronic fence to better defend against terrorist infiltrations.
The Mimran family has lived in Itamar for the last 13 years. Orna told Israel Radio that the first thing she intends to do upon returning home is to wash out all the blood stains from the bedroom."
By DAVID RUDGE AND TOVAH LAZAROFF Jul. 31, 2002
Fast asleep, David Mimran, 44, and his wife Orna, 40, didn't hear a thing as a masked terrorist wielding two knives broke into their Itamar home through the front door, walked up the stairs, and entered their bedroom around 3 a.m. Tuesday morning.
David woke up only as the terrorist stabbed him. "I woke up and saw my husband fighting him," Orna told Israel Radio from her hospital bed at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva, where the couple was taken following the attack.
She tried to grab his knives after startling him from behind, according to her sister Dorit. Orna told Israel Radio that the terrorist was holding the knives so tightly it was impossible to wrest them from his grasp. He weakened as her husband tried to choke him and and she pushed the knives into his face, wounding him.
Only once they had knocked him out did Orna run outside for help.
Outside, she flagged down an army jeep, yelling, "there are terrorists," according to Dorit. The two were lucky that their eight children, ages 2 to 14, were visiting their grandparents and were not at home. Dorit added that it is believed the terrorist searched through all the children's rooms before entering the Mimrans' bedroom.
The attack was the third in a series of infiltrations into the Itamar community in Samaria in the last three months. In June, a terrorist burst into the Shabu home only two doors down from yesterday's attack, killing Rachel, 40, her sons Neriah, 15, Tzvika, 12, Avishai, five, and Yosef Twitto, head of the community's response team.
Dorit said her sister Orna and her husband believe the terrorist had first meant to attack their house that June night, but were scared off by a barking dog. In May, terrorists killed three teens at the yeshiva in Itamar while they played on the basketball court or were in their rooms.
The Mimran family lives in a section of Itamar that has a security fence, but the terrorist broke threw it, the head of Itamar Emergency Services Uziel Tamari told Israel Radio yesterday.
It was not immediately clear whether he belonged to Fatah, Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, or another of the Palestinian terrorist organizations, or was acting independently.
The attack once again highlighted the issue of whether all settlements should be protected by electronic fences with surveillance devices which would sound the alarm when breached. The IDF Spokesman said initial inquiries revealed that soldiers on stand-by duty responded speedily and that immediately on reaching the scene they charged the terrorist and killed him.
Nevertheless, an inquiry is being held into the incident, as in other cases, and all the circumstances are expected to be examined, including the issue of an electronic security fence.
Itamar spokesman Rabbi Avihai Ranski said the community has done a great deal to improve security and is starting to build an electronic fence to better defend against terrorist infiltrations.
The Mimran family has lived in Itamar for the last 13 years. Orna told Israel Radio that the first thing she intends to do upon returning home is to wash out all the blood stains from the bedroom."
