Saturday, October 16, 2010
International Terrorism in the Name of Islam and Palestine: Partial Listing of Pre-9/11 Atrocities
Forgotten news....
A partial, pre-9/11 roster of Palestinian/Arab/Islamist terrorism spans more than three decades. Clearly, theroot cause of terrorism appears to be ... tolerance ... of terrorism. Justifying, rationalizing--and tolerating--terrorism leads to more terrorism and to more spectacular terrorism. In the 1960s, '70s and '80s, terrorists hijacked and sabotaged airliners with the aim of taking hostages or blowing up the planes and killing passengers and crew members. On 9/11, terrorists hijacked airliners and crashed them into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Tomorrow's terrorists could wipe out a whole city--and cripple a mighty nation--by hijacking and crashing an airliner armed with a nuclear device into a major population center, such as London or New York.
PARTIAL LIST OF PALESTINIAN/IRANIAN/ISLAMIST/ARAB ATROCITIES
1968. March 18. Two killed, 28 children injured in landmine attack on school bus in Israel's Negev desert.... July 23. Hijacking by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine of an Israeli airliner, El Al Flight 426, en route to Rome from Tel Aviv. The Boeing 707 carrying 10 crew and 38 passengers is taken over by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The aircraft is diverted to Algiers by the hijackers. Negotiations with the hijackers last for 40 days. Both the hijackers and the passengers, including 21 Israeli hostages, are eventually freed.... August 18. Ten injured (including 2 Americans) by attack with three grenades in Jewish section of Jerusalem.... September 4. One killed, 71 injured by three bombs in and near a bus station in Tel Aviv.... November 22. Twelve killed, 52 injured by bombing of Mahaneh Yehuda market.... December 26. Two PFLP members attacked an El Al aircraft at Athens International Airport, killing an Israeli mechanic....
1969. February 18. Palestinians attack an El Al plane at Zurich Airport killing the copilot and injuring the pilot. One Palestinian attacker is killed; others, captured and convicted--and later released. Between September and December, bomb and grenade attacks occurr at El Al offices in Athens, West Berlin, and Brussels. Innocent bystanders killed.... Feb 21. Two killed, 20 injured by bombing in supermarket in Jerusalem.... March 6. Twenty-nine injured (mostly students) by bomb in cafeteria at Hebrew University, Jerusalem...
1970. February 10. Three Arab terrorists attempt to hijack an El Al Boeing 707 at Munich airport, Germany, but are thwarted by the pilot who grapples with a terrorist in the terminal lounge. One Israeli is killed and 11 others are wounded.... February 21. PFLP blows up Swissair Flight SR330 en route to Israel, killing 38 passengers and nine crew members just after it has taken off from Zurich.... May 20. Twelve killed, 19 injured (mostly children) in attack on school bus with three bazooka rockets.... September 6. "Skyjack Sunday" takes place at Dawson Field, in Jordan. TWA, Swissair, BOAC aircraft, along with more than 400 hostages, hijacked and ordered to the Jordanian airport by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Another terrorist team tries to hijack an El Al Boeing over London but security staff foil the attempt and capture one of the hijackers, Leila Khalid, alive. The German, Swiss and British Governments all agree to the PFLP's demands and released a number of terrorists, including Khalid, held in their jails.... Nov 6. Two killed, 34 injured by two bombs exploding 20 minutes apart in a Tel Aviv bus station....
1972. May 8. Israeli commandos storm a hijacked Belgian Sebena airliner at Ben Gurion Airport; fatalities include 1 passenger, 5 Israeli soldiers, and all 4 terrorists.... May 30. Lod (Ben Gurion) Airport Massacre: Japanese terrorists recruited by PLO kill 26 people (including 20 Puerto Rican tourists) and injure 78 in attack with guns and grenades in Israel; two terrorists are also killed.... Jun 20. Two people killed, 3 injured by rocket attack on bus in Golan Heights.... July 11. Nine injured by grenade attack in a Tel Aviv bus terminal.... September 5– 6. The Munich Massacre: 11 Israeli athletes are killed in terrorist attack on the Munich Olympic Games. Five members of PLO Black September group and one West German police officer are also killed....
1973. March 1. An American ambassador is murdered in Sudan: Eight masked gunmen of PLO's Black September organization seize five diplomats at the end of a routine diplomatic reception at the Saudi embassy in Khartoum--two Americans--Ambassador Cleo Allen Noel, Jr. and Chargé d'Affaires George Curtis Moore--a Belgian, a Jordanian, and a Saudi. The gunmen send out a leaflet with their demands, which included the freeing from Jordan of many Palestinians, including Abu Daoud, a leader of the Black September; the freeing of Sirhan Sirhan, Robert Kennedy's killer, from jail in California; and the freeing of "Palestinian women in prison in Israel." Twenty-six hours of negotiations. On the evening of March 2, PLO's Beirut headquarters orders execution of the hostages via radio broadcast: "Why are you waiting? The people's blood in the Cold River cries for vengeance"--a recording that is destined to suspiciously disappear. [Informed analysts say PLO chairman Yasir Arafat personally delivered the order to murder.] Soon after, the two Americans and the Belgian are bound, lined up against a basement wall, and executed in gangland fashion--all eight gunmen simultaneously firing their weapons....
1974. April 11. Three Palestinian terrorists attack residential apartment building in Qiryat Shemona, Israel, killing 18 (including eight children) and injuring 16.... May 15. Ma'alot Massacre: 27 killed, 134 injured in attack on Ma'alot, Israel by members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Terrorists kill two people in initial attack and take 90 children hostage; most casualties inflicted by the terrorists during a rescue attempt in which 20 children and one soldier are killed (along with all three terrorists).... June 24 PLO attack: Four killed, eight injured when terrorists seize hostages in a Nahariyya, Israel apartment building. Three terrorists are also killed..... September 8 PLO/PFLP bombing of TWA Flight 841. Plane departs Tel Aviv en route to JFK with stops scheduled for Athens and Rome. After a 68 minute stop in Athens, aircraft departs for Rome. Radio contact is lost 18 minutes after takeoff; and the jet crashes into the Ionian Sea. All 79 passengers and nine crew members are killed.... Also on September 8, bomb explodes aboard a Vienna-bound Caravelle jetliner after takeoff from Frankfurt. The plane lands safely.... November 18. Four Israelis killed, 23 injured in attack at Beit She'an; Palestinian terrorists seize an apartment building, after which, 18 people are injured jumping from windows; 5 are injured during gun battle that also kills three terrorists...
1975. March 6. Eleven Israelis are killed, 12 injured in Tel Aviv attack: Palestinian terrorists land by two boats on a Tel Aviv beach, fire at cars and soldiers, killing two soldiers; terrorists then seize a hotel which is stormed by Israeli troops; explosions kill one hostage, one soldier and six terrorists; six hostages and one terrorist are injured.... July 4. Palestinian bombing at Zion Square in Jerusalem kills 13 Israelis, including two children; 72 are injured, including two Americans. Bomb was placed in an abandoned refrigerator on a sidewalk surrounded by pre-Sabbath shopping crowds.... November 13. Six teenagers are killed (including one American and one Dutch), and 42 people are injured by bomb in luggage cart outside ice cream shop in Jerusalem; second bomb defused.... November 20. Three Israelis are killed and one injured by terrorists invading a school dormitory in Ramat Magshimim in the Golan Heights; the next day, one American is killed in an axe attack against students in Ramat Hamgshimim....
1976. June 27. After a scheduled stop in Athens, Air France Flight 139 en route from Tel Aviv to Paris with 248 passengers is hijacked by PFLP terrorists and radical left-wing European supporters and flown to Entebbe, near Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Shortly after landing, all non-Jewish passengers are released. Hijackers threaten to kill the hostages if their prisoner release demands are not met. Ugandan military aides the hijackers. On July 4, Israeli transport planes carry 100 elite commandos over 2,500 miles to Uganda for rescue operation, which lasts 90 minutes and frees 102 out of 105 hostages. Five Israeli commandos are wounded and one, the commander, Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu (brother of Benjamin Netanyahu) is killed. All the hijackers, three hostages and 45 Ugandan soldiers are killed, and 11 Soviet-built MiG-17's of Uganda's air force are destroyed. A fourth hostage is murdered by Ugandan army officers at a nearby hospital....
1978. March 11. The Coastal Road Massacre: Lebanese-based terrorists from PLO's Fatah faction land on an Israeli beach and capture and kill American nature photographer Gail Rubin after learning their location from her before hijacking a bus on Israel's Coastal Highway and launching a wild shooting spree that ends in a shootout with Israeli forces; all told, 38 people are killed, including 13 children, and 71 are wounded.... Jun 2. Six people are killed (one dies the next day) and 19 are injured in bombing of a bus in Jerusalem.... June 29. Two people are killed, 47 injured by bombing of market in Jerusalem.... August 3. One killed, 50 injured by bomb in children's clothing stand in Tel Aviv.... August 18. One Israeli killed by bomb in Tel Aviv market.... November 19. Four people killed and 30 injured by bombing of Israeli bus; casualties include citizens of Belgium, Canada, Sweden, and the UK.... December 16. Twenty-two injured (including five Americans) by bombing of bus in Jerusalem....
1979. April 21. Four Israelis killed, including 2 children, and four are injured by four terrorists (two killed) who attack apartment building in Nahariya.... May 14. Two Israeli teenagers killed, 32 people are injured (including two Americans) by bombings in Tiberias.... May 23. Three Israelis killed, 13 injured by bombing at bus stop in Petach Tikva....
1980. April 7. Three Israelis killed (one child, one soldier, one civilian), 16 injured (four children, 10 soldiers, two civilians) in attack on Misgav Am Kibbutz; five terrorists seize a children's dormitory and take nine infants hostage; casualties incurred during attempted rescue; all terrorists are killed.... May 2. Six people killed and 16 injured in attack on worshippers leaving synagogue in Hebron....
1982. Arab May 15 Organization for the Liberation of Palestine claim responsibility for a January 9 bomb attack on an Israeli airline office in Istanbul.... Jan. 15 bomb attack rips through an Israeli restaurant in West Berlin. Blast kills a 14-month old girl and injured 25 diners. Six Palestinians belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) suspected.... On June 3, Abu Nidal terrorists critically injure the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom in an attack in London.... August 9, four Arab terrorists fire submachine guns into a crowd of patrons at Goldenberg's restaurant in Paris. The attackers also toss grenades into the midst of the Jewish families who dining there. The terrorists then spray an adjoining kosher butcher shop with bullets, killing a man behind the counter. Six people are killed; 22, injured....
1983. October 23. Beirut Barracks Bombing. Two truck bombs strike separate buildings housing United States and French military forces—members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon—killing 299 American and French servicemen. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for the bombing; group is a nom de guerre for Hezbollah. Suicide attackers detonate bombs. In the attack on the U.S. Marines barracks, the death toll is 241 American servicemen: 220 Marines, 18 Navy personnel and three Army soldiers, along with 60 Americans injured, representing the deadliest single-day death toll for the U.S. Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima of World War II, the deadliest single-day death toll for the U.S. military since the first day of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War, and the deadliest single attack on Americans overseas since World War II. In addition, the elderly Lebanese custodian of the Marines' building is killed in the first blast. In the attack on the eight-story French barracks, two minutes after the Marine attack, 58 paratroopers from the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment are killed and 15 injured, in the single worst military loss for France since the end of the Algerian War. The blasts lead to the withdrawal of the international peacekeeping force from Lebanon, where they have been stationed since the withdrawal of the Palestine Liberation Organization following the Israeli 1982 invasion of Lebanon.... December 6. Six killed (including one American who dies on Dec. 19) and 43 injured in bombing of bus in Jerusalem....
1984. March 8. Three Israelis killed, 9 injured by bombing on bus in Ashdod.... October 7. Four men representing the Palestine Liberation Front take control of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro off Egypt as she sails from Alexandria to Port Said, carrying more than 400 passengers and crew. The hijackers demand that Israel free 50 Palestinian prisoners. The terrorists kill a disabled American tourist, 69-year-old Leon Klinghoffer, and throw his body overboard with his wheelchair....
1985. June 14. TWA Flight 847 is hijacked by members of Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, after originally taking off from Cairo and stopping in Athens (naturally) on its way to Rome, from where it is scheduled to continue on to London. The aircraft with its passengers and crew endure a three-day intercontinental ordeal during which passengers are threatened and some are beaten. Passengers with Jewish-sounding names are moved apart from the others, and another passenger, U.S. Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem, is tortured, beaten, and shot to death; his body, thrown onto the tarmac, is so badly beaten that he can only be identified from fingerprints. Dozens of passengers are held hostage over the next two weeks, until released by their captors after some of their demands are met....
1986. September 5. Pan Am Flight 73, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 747-121, is hijacked while on the ground at Karachi, Pakistan by four armed men of the Abu Nidal Organization. At least 20 passengers are killed during the hijacking, of which 13 are from India and the rest are from United States, Pakistan and Mexico. All the hijackers are arrested and sentenced to death by Pakistan. But Pakistan later releases all the hijackers against the wishes of the United States and India....
1989. July 6. Sixteen people are killed (including one American) and 27 are injured in Israel when a Palestinian terrorist forces a bus off a road into a ravine....
1992. March 17. Iran (Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps--IRGC) and Hezbollah attack Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires. The embassy, a Catholic church, and a nearby school building are destroyed. Blast kills 29 and wounds 242. Four Israelis die. Most of the victims are Argentine civilians, many of them children....
1993. February 26. First World Trade Center Bombing by Islamists: Truck bomb is detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The 1,500 lb urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced device is intended to knock the North Tower (Tower One) into the South Tower (Tower Two), bringing both towers down and killing thousands of people. It fails to do so, but the bomb kills six people and injures 1,042.
1994. Apr 6. Eight people are killed in a car-bomb attack on a bus in the center of Afula, Israel. Hamas claims responsibility for the attack.... Apr 13. Five Israelis are killed in a suicide bombing attack on a bus in the central bus station of Hadera. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.... July 18. Iran (IRGC) and Hezbollah attack Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people and injuring hundreds in Argentina's deadliest bombing.... Oct 19. In a suicide bombing attack on the No. 5 bus on Dizengoff Street in Tel-Aviv, 21 Israelis and one Dutch national are killed....
1995. Apr 9. Seven Israelis and one American are killed when a bus is hit by an explosives-laden van near Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for the attack.... July 24. Six Israeli civilians are killed in a suicide bomb attack on a bus in Ramat Gan.... August 21. Three Israelis and one American are killed in a suicide bombing of a Jerusalem bus....
1996. Feb 25. In a suicide bombing of bus No. 18 near the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem, 26 Israelis are killed (17 civilians and 9 soldiers). Hamas claims responsibility for the attack.... March 3. In a suicide bombing of bus No. 18 on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem, 19 Israelis are killed (16 civilians and 3 soldiers).... March 4. Outside Dizengoff Center in Tel-Aviv, a suicide bomber detonates a nail bomb, killing 13 (12 civilians and one soldier).... June 25. The Khobar Towers Bombing: Iran (IRGC) and Hezbollah attack part of a housing complex in the city of Khobar, Saudi Arabia, located near the national oil company (Saudi Aramco) headquarters of Dhahran. Terrorists explode a sewage truck packed with explosives adjacent to Building #131 in the housing complex. Eight-story building is home to U.S. Air Force personnel. In all, 19 U.S. servicemen and one Saudi are killed and 372 people representing many nationalities are wounded....
1997. March 21. Three people are killed when a suicide bomber detonates a bomb on the terrace of a Tel Aviv cafe; 48 people are wounded.... June 30. Sixteen people are killed and 178 wounded in two consecutive suicide bombings in the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem.... September 4. Five people were killed and 181 wounded in three suicide bombings on the Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall in Jerusalem....
1998. August 7. U.S. Embassy Bombings: Hundreds of people are killed and more than 4,000 are injured in simultaneous, Al Qaeda truck bomb attacks on United States embassies in the major East African cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. The attacks, linked to local members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad bring AQ leaders Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri to American attention for the first time, and result in the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation placing Bin Laden on its Ten Most Wanted list.... December 21. Pan Am Flight 103 from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport—a Boeing 747-121 named Clipper Maid of the Seas—is destroyed by a Libyan bomb, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members. Eleven people in Lockerbie, in southern Scotland, are killed as large sections of the plane fell in and around the town, bringing total fatalities to 270.
2000. October 12. The USS Cole Bombing: Sudan-assisted Al Qaeda suicide attack against a U.S. Navy destroyer while it is harbored and refueling in the Yemeni port of Aden kills 17 American sailors and injures 39....
2001. March 4. Three people are killed in Israel and at least 60 injured in a suicide bombing in downtown Netanya.... March 28. Two Israeli teenagers are killed and four injured, one critically, in a suicide bombing at the Mifgash Hashalom ("Peace Stop") gas station several hundred meters from an IDF roadblock near the entrance to Kalkilya, east of Kfar Saba. Hamas claims responsibility for the attack.... April 22. A terrorist detonates a powerful bomb near a group of people waiting at a bus stop on the corner of Weizman and Tchernichovsky streets in Kfar Sava, Israel. One person is killed and about 60 injured in the blast, two severely. The terrorist is also killed in the explosion, for which Hamas claims responsibility... May 18. A Palestinian suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest detonates himself outside the Hasharon Shopping Mall in the Israeli seaside city of Netanya. Five civilians are killed and over 100 wounded in the attack. Hamas claims responsibility.... May 25. Sixty-five people are injured in a car bombing in Israel's Hadera central bus station. Two terrorists are apparently killed in the explosion. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.... June 1. Disco Bombing: 21 people are killed and 120 wounded when a suicide bomber blows himself up outside a disco near Tel Aviv's Dolphinarium along the seafront promenade just before midnight, while standing in a large group of teenagers waiting to enter the disco.... Aug 9. Pizza Restaurant Bombing: 15 people are killed, including 7 children, and about 130 injured in a suicide bombing at the Sbarro pizzeria on the corner of King George Street and Jaffa Road in the center of Jerusalem. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad claim responsibility for the attack.... Sept 9. Three people are killed and some 90 injured, most lightly, in a suicide bombing near the Nahariya train station in northern Israel. The terrorist, killed in the blast, waits nearby until the train arrives from Tel-Aviv and people are exiting the station, then explodes the bomb he is carrying. Hamas claims responsibility for the attack....
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