Abigail Litle

March 5, 2003 - Abigail Litle, 14, of Haifa, was one of 17 people killed in a suicide bombing of an Egged bus on Moriah Boulevard in the Carmel section of Haifa.

The bus was traveling on the city's main Moriah Boulevard near the Carmel Center, on the way to Haifa University, when the blast turned the bus into a charred wreck and scattered bodies along the road. The suicide bomber, who had boarded the bus, had the bomb strapped to his body, laden with metal shrapnel in order to maximize the number of injuries. A total of 17 people were killed and 53 injured.

Abigail Litle, an eighth grader at Haifa's Reali High School majoring in biology and environmental studies, was on her way home from school. Born in New Hampshire, she came to Israel as an infant when her father came to study at Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa. He was later appointed minister and administrator of the Baptist Church in Israel.

The high school's principal, Zvika Reiter, described Abigail as having been mature for her age and cheerful. Her brother Joshua said, "My sister was a creative girl who loved everyone. Her first love was for humanity, and after that, nature." He added, "She always believed that God loves her and wouldn't let anything happen to her. But in the end the pain and sadness has reached us as well."

Abigail was one of three students from the Reali High School in Haifa killed in the terrorist attack. Classmate Sarit Ben-Kiki said, "You always said you had a guardian angel who was with you everywhere and helped you with everything. Now, Abigail, you will be our guardian angel."

Avigail Litle and Yuval Mendelevitch, also killed in the bombing, had been part of the Children Teaching Children program at Jewish-Arab Center for Peace at Givat Haviva since last September - a program that teaches pluralism, tolerance and coexistence. They and their classmates were preparing for the upcoming encounter with Arab youth from a neighboring town in just a few days. The encounter will be dedicated to their memory.

Abigail Litle was buried in the Christian section of the old cemetery in Haifa. She is survived by her parents, Philip and Heidi, three brothers and a sister, and her grandparents, John and Blanche Litle.