Many of Those Killed in Jerusalem Were Teenagers Out for a Night on the Town
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Suicide bombings in Jerusalem and in Haifa this past weekend killed more than two dozen people. And Israel responded with a fierce barrage aimed at Palestinian targets. Many of those killed in Jerusalem were teenagers who were out for a night on the town. Marty Kirschenbaum's son Jason was wounded. Jason was on his way to Burger King with some friends when that explosion went off. Marty Kirschenbaum then flew to Jerusalem from New York to be with his son. And he joins us, along with his other son, Jason's brother, Joshua. Thanks for your time today, gentlemen. Can you give update on your son's condition? How is he?</s>MARTY KIRSCHENBAUM: He seems to be much better now. And hopefully in the next couple of days we will be getting out of the hospital.</s>HARRIS: Can you give us an idea of the extent of his injuries?</s>KIRSCHENBAUM: Well, he's got a broken arm, and he had seven pieces of shrapnel in his leg and in his arm. One piece is still in his arm, and hopefully we'll be able to operate within the next two weeks.</s>HARRIS: Which explosion was it that Jason was injured in? Was it the suicide bomber, or was it the explosion by the car bomb that went off a few minutes later?</s>KIRSCHENBAUM: It was actually I believe two suicide bombers, and he got hit with both of them, one in his leg, and the other shrapnel went in his arm, and the pieces -- we have some pieces -- they're actually bolts. He had seven bolts in him like this.</s>HARRIS: Let's see that. Can we get the camera on those? These were bolts that were packed in the bomb.</s>KIRSCHENBAUM: Right, I have six of them in my hand here. These were taken out of arm and out of his thigh actually, and there's still one in his arm.</s>HARRIS: When you consider the size of those, and you can compare those to the size of bullet slug, it appears, Jason is very, very lucky to still be alive. Well, Joshua, when you talked with brother, what did he tell you about what happened?</s>JOSHUA KIRSCHENBAUM: He still is in shock from what exactly happened, and I think he's just realizing now exactly what really happened, and I think it will take a couple of weeks to recover from this.</s>HARRIS: Let me ask you this. As I understand it, he's just -- he's a student there studying. He's an American who happens to be there studying. Does this change the way that he thinks now about this conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, or does it change what you and your family feel about it at all? What do you think?</s>J. KIRSCHENBAUM: Well, I think, he -- of course it changes him a little bit. He was involved in the incident. I think he has a different outlook now on the whole situation. I think he's more involved in the situation now, and he's -- every bombing -- he's concerned about everybody, the injured, the noninjured, and I think he wants the whole thing to be settled, the peace to work out and everything like that.</s>HARRIS: Well, we sure do wish your family well, and we will try to stay on top of your story and we will continue to follow Jason's development, Joshua.</s>M. KIRSCHENBAUM: Can I just say something.</s>HARRIS: Sure, go ahead, quickly if you can.</s>J. KIRSCHENBAUM: OK, I believe that we need to have peace in this region, and I think we need to do it quickly. The thing that I see as a problem and lot of people here see, there's nobody to go to peace with, and we don't see anybody who's a peace partner for us. And my -- as for my son, I think it's a terrible tragedy. I hope the United States and the other people will do something to stop this terror, and whatever needs to be done, like they do to the Taliban, they should do it to Arafat. Marty Kirschenbaum, we understand your sentiments. Joshua Kirschenbaum, thank you very much. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com