Maryam Atar

March 5, 2003 - Maryam Atar, 27, 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.

Maryam, the youngest daughter of a well-established Muslim family in Haifa, was on her way to work. She had taken the job to pay for her driving lessons. She had just this week successfully completed a course as a cosmetician.

Her brother Vissam said, "She was always happy and her aspirations were simple: to be married and raise children." He described her special relationship with their mother, Suwad: "They always did everything together."

Maryam Atar was buried in Arce, near her father who died four years ago. She is survived by her mother, three brothers and seven sisters.