Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Achille Lauro hijacking
The Achille Lauro hijacking took place on 7 October 1985, when the Italian ocean liner MS Achille Lauro was hijacked by four men representing the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF) off the coast of Egypt, as she was sailing from Alexandria to Ashdod, Israel. A 69-year-old Jewish-American man in a wheelchair, Leon Klinghoffer, was murdered by the hijackers and thrown overboard. The hijacking sparked the "Sigonella Crisis".
After the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was driven out of Jordan in 1970 and Southern Lebanon and Beirut in 1978 and 1982, respectively, PLO guerrillas had dispersed (under international guarantees of safety) to Tunisia, Yemen, Southern Yemen, Algeria, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and the Sudan.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, PLO chairman Yasser Arafat had run into problems with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, who in 1983 sought to wrest effective control of the group from him by backing a mutiny within the PLO. Arafat was backed by the Soviet Union and was helped to escape Lebanon by the president's brother, Rifaat al-Assad, and his "Red Knights" of Alawite notables near the Lebanese border with Syria. When the attempt to wrest control failed, the Syrian military backed the mutineers in an attack on Arafat loyalists within the Lebanese city of Tripoli. Arafat moved his loyalists and the PLO headquarters out of Tripoli to Tunisia.
Throughout the 1980s, other members of the PLO, as well as the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF), launched attacks on both civilian and military targets in the north of Israel, across the Lebanese border. One such attack by the PLO's Force 17 on September 25, 1985, targeting an Israeli yacht in Larnaca, Cyprus, killed three Israelis. In response, the Israeli Air Force bombed the PLO headquarters in Tunis in Operation Wooden Leg on October 1, 1985. The headquarters was completely destroyed in this attack, and sixty PLO members were killed.
When Achille Lauro was hijacked, speculation arose that this was an act of retaliation for the Israeli bombing in Tunis. This was disputed by Abu Abbas' widow Reem al-Nimer in 2013. According to al-Nimer, the hijacking had been planned eleven months in advance, and the hijackers had already been on two 'dummy' training runs on Achille Lauro. The plan was to open fire on Israeli soldiers when the ship reached Ashdod – a suicide mission.
The hijacking of Achille Lauro was planned and executed by one of the three factions of the PLF. The first faction was headed by Taalat Yacoub, a Palestinian who opposed Arafat and was supported by Syria. The second faction was headed by Abd al-Fatah Ghanim, who also opposed Arafat. The last faction was headed by Abbas, who was loyal to Arafat and sat on the PLO Executive Committee; his faction of the PLF had already carried out a series of armed raids in Israel and the West Bank since the late 1970s.
In exchange for the release of hostages aboard Achille Lauro, the hijackers demanded the release of Lebanese national Samir Kuntar, a friend of Abbas. Kuntar and an accomplice had been jailed by five years before for attempting on April 22, 1979, to kidnap a Jewish family in the northern Israeli city of Nahariya, close to the Lebanese border. The botched kidnapping had resulted in the death of Israeli policeman Eliyahu Shahar, 31-year-old father Danny Kaiser, and his two daughters, four-year-old Einat and two year-old Yael, leaving wife and mother Smadar Haran Kaiser as the sole survivor.[citation needed]
Ari Ben-Menashe, in his book "Profits of War" reveals that the hijacking was financed by Israeli Intelligence as a “black” propaganda operation to make the Palestinians look bad.
Hub AI
Achille Lauro hijacking AI simulator
(@Achille Lauro hijacking_simulator)
Achille Lauro hijacking
The Achille Lauro hijacking took place on 7 October 1985, when the Italian ocean liner MS Achille Lauro was hijacked by four men representing the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF) off the coast of Egypt, as she was sailing from Alexandria to Ashdod, Israel. A 69-year-old Jewish-American man in a wheelchair, Leon Klinghoffer, was murdered by the hijackers and thrown overboard. The hijacking sparked the "Sigonella Crisis".
After the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was driven out of Jordan in 1970 and Southern Lebanon and Beirut in 1978 and 1982, respectively, PLO guerrillas had dispersed (under international guarantees of safety) to Tunisia, Yemen, Southern Yemen, Algeria, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and the Sudan.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, PLO chairman Yasser Arafat had run into problems with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, who in 1983 sought to wrest effective control of the group from him by backing a mutiny within the PLO. Arafat was backed by the Soviet Union and was helped to escape Lebanon by the president's brother, Rifaat al-Assad, and his "Red Knights" of Alawite notables near the Lebanese border with Syria. When the attempt to wrest control failed, the Syrian military backed the mutineers in an attack on Arafat loyalists within the Lebanese city of Tripoli. Arafat moved his loyalists and the PLO headquarters out of Tripoli to Tunisia.
Throughout the 1980s, other members of the PLO, as well as the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF), launched attacks on both civilian and military targets in the north of Israel, across the Lebanese border. One such attack by the PLO's Force 17 on September 25, 1985, targeting an Israeli yacht in Larnaca, Cyprus, killed three Israelis. In response, the Israeli Air Force bombed the PLO headquarters in Tunis in Operation Wooden Leg on October 1, 1985. The headquarters was completely destroyed in this attack, and sixty PLO members were killed.
When Achille Lauro was hijacked, speculation arose that this was an act of retaliation for the Israeli bombing in Tunis. This was disputed by Abu Abbas' widow Reem al-Nimer in 2013. According to al-Nimer, the hijacking had been planned eleven months in advance, and the hijackers had already been on two 'dummy' training runs on Achille Lauro. The plan was to open fire on Israeli soldiers when the ship reached Ashdod – a suicide mission.
The hijacking of Achille Lauro was planned and executed by one of the three factions of the PLF. The first faction was headed by Taalat Yacoub, a Palestinian who opposed Arafat and was supported by Syria. The second faction was headed by Abd al-Fatah Ghanim, who also opposed Arafat. The last faction was headed by Abbas, who was loyal to Arafat and sat on the PLO Executive Committee; his faction of the PLF had already carried out a series of armed raids in Israel and the West Bank since the late 1970s.
In exchange for the release of hostages aboard Achille Lauro, the hijackers demanded the release of Lebanese national Samir Kuntar, a friend of Abbas. Kuntar and an accomplice had been jailed by five years before for attempting on April 22, 1979, to kidnap a Jewish family in the northern Israeli city of Nahariya, close to the Lebanese border. The botched kidnapping had resulted in the death of Israeli policeman Eliyahu Shahar, 31-year-old father Danny Kaiser, and his two daughters, four-year-old Einat and two year-old Yael, leaving wife and mother Smadar Haran Kaiser as the sole survivor.[citation needed]
Ari Ben-Menashe, in his book "Profits of War" reveals that the hijacking was financed by Israeli Intelligence as a “black” propaganda operation to make the Palestinians look bad.