Last Wednesday, July 31, Palestinian Hamas terrorists detonated a bomb in the cafeteria of the Frank Sinatra International Center at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. The place was jam-packed with international students, which in Israel generally means one thing — Americans. Five US citizens died in the attack, including a West Roxbury resident. Another 80, of which at least one was an American, were injured: last Thursday, I learned that my fiancée’s stepsister was wounded in the attacks, when pieces of shrapnel from the detonated bomb lodged in her legs and stomach.

Marla Bennett, the woman who was sitting with my fiancée’s stepsister, died in the attack. About three months ago, Bennett wrote a widely circulated piece for the San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage about her decision to study in Israel. It began: " Each morning when I leave my apartment building, I have an important question to contemplate: Should I turn left or should I turn right? "

This country now faces a similar question of which way to turn. The fact that Americans are losing their lives and limbs in Palestinian terror attacks in Israel has been all but lost in coverage of the ongoing war. Spokespersons from the US State Department and the Israeli embassy in Washington were unable to provide me with an exact count of just how many Americans have been injured in these attacks, but it’s probably more than one. And that’s more than enough to make you wonder if this will lead to changes in US policy.

The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 grants the families of American victims of terrorism — or the victims themselves — the right to sue in American courts the nations that sponsor the terrorism, such as Iran. But if it is eventually determined, as many believe, that Saudi Arabia helped fund the Hamas bombers, the Americans won’t be able to sue. The US government does not consider Saudi Arabia a sponsor of terrorism, despite an increasing array of evidence to the contrary. The Defense Policy Board, which advises the Pentagon, recently received a Rand Corporation analyst’s briefing describing the Saudis as " active at every level of the terror chain, from planners to financiers, from cadre to foot-soldier, from ideologist to cheerleader, " the Washington Post reported August 6.

The war on terrorism will remain incomplete — and worse, ineffective — as long as we continue to give a free pass to some sponsors of terrorism, even as we crack down on others.