Hana Francis

Oct 4, 2003 - Hana Francis, 39, of Fassouta was one of 19 people killed in a suicide bombing carried out by a female terrorist from Jenin in the Maxim restaurant in Haifa. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

The blast devastated the restaurant, of joint Jewish-Arab ownership, on Hahagana Boulevard near the southern entrance of the coastal city. It was packed mostly with regular Saturday customers. The bomber, Hanadi Jaradat, a 29-year-old lawyer from Jenin, managed to get past Maxim's security guard before blowing herself up in the middle of the restaurant. The security guard, an Israeli Arab, was killed in the attack, along with three other Israeli Arab employees of the restaurant. The victims included five members of the Almog family from Haifa and five members of the Zer-Aviv family from Kibbutz Yagur. Four children were killed and 60 people were wounded in the bombing.

Hana Francis was the headwaiter at Maxim, where he had worked for 10 years. On a recent trip to Australia he had become engaged to a woman from his Galilee village who had emigrated there with her parents. He had just received a visa for a return trip to Australia to escort his bride back to Israel in November. Lifelong friend Elias Sa'ar related that Francis had set a date for a May wedding.

"He treated the customers at Maxim like family," said Sa'ar. "Customers would come into the restaurant and ask, 'Where's Hana?' If he wasn't there, they would turn around and leave.

"Any young person from the village who got stuck in Haifa and needed help would always turn to him."

Hana Francis was buried at the Fassouta Cemetery. He is survived by his parents, a brother, and two sisters.