Notorious Acts Of Terror

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Notorious Acts Of Terror
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Learning Objectives

• By the end of the lesson you will be able to
• Identify at least 3 famous terrorist incidents
• Give examples of different types of terrorist
  attack
• Explain how the motives of terrorists vary along
  with their actions.

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Dawsons Field Sept 1970

• 3 airliners hi-jacked by the PFLP
• American TWA Boeing 707 with 145 passengers
  flying Frankfurt to New York
• Swissair DC8 with140 passengers flying from
  Zurich to New York
• BOAC VC10 with 115 passengers flying from Bahrain
  to Beirut.
• Flown to Dawsons Field in Jordan
• Pan American Boeing 747 with 170 passengers
  flying Amsterdam to New York hi-jacked to Beirut,
  then Cairo passengers released and plane blown
  up
• Demanded release of 7 imprisoned Palestinian
  terrorists, including the infamous Leila Khaled,
  held in UK, Switzerland and Germany
• Jordanian Army unprepared to intervene
• Hostages removed and all 3 airliners blown up in
  front of Worlds press hostages taken to
  hotels
• Fearing for the lives of the hostages all 3
  countries gave in to the demands and released the
  prisoners.

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Munich Olympics Sept 1972

• Black September Terrorists associated with the
  PLO named after a massacre of Palestinians by
  Jordanian troops in 1970
• 7 terrorists seized 9 Israeli athletes and
  coaches in the Olympic Village, killing others
• The Israeli Government refused to negotiate
• The West German Government appeared to be giving
  in, but set up an ambush at the airfield
• However this was badly planned, and the police
  were poorly equipped
• The Palestinians killed all of the hostages,
  before the 3 surviving terrorists were captured.

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The Lebanon - 1983

• On April 18th a Hizballah suicide bomber drove a
  pick-up truck of explosive into the US Embassy
  building in Beirut, killing 63, only 17 of whom
  were Americans
• On October 23rd a truck packed with explosives
  was detonated by a suicide bomber at the US
  Marine compound at Beirut Airport. 241 Marines
  died, with 100 injured. No-one claimed
  responsibility for this attack.

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Lockerbie Dec 1988

• At 19.02 on the evening of December 21st PanAm
  Flight 103 a Boeing 747 on route from Heathrow
  to New York - exploded in the air 30,000 ft above
  the Scottish town of Lockerbie. All 259 on board
  were killed along with 11 on the ground as the
  wreckage crashed into the town.
• 1999 Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, a Libyan agent was
  finally convicted of the murders.
• Rumours persist around the death of one
  passenger, US Special Forces Major Charles McKee,
  and the contents of his briefcase which was
  removed by the CIA.

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Tomb of the Patriarchs, Hebron Feb 1994

• Fanatical Orthodox Jew Benjamin Goldstein
  attacked Palestinian worshippers celebrating
  Ramadan at the Tomb of the Patriarch a place
  holy to both Jews and Muslims
• He entered the Mosque and opened fire with an
  assault rifle as the faithful knelt in prayer
  with their backs to him
• He calmly reloaded several times before being
  overpowered
• Israeli troops arriving at the scene panicked and
  fired on fleeing Palestinians
• In total 52 died, with 70 wounded
• Some Jewish settlers in Hebron celebrated and
  hailed Goldsteins martyrdom.

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Oklahoma City April 1995

• At 9.03 on April 19th as many employees were
  arriving for work a truck packed with fuel and
  fertiliser exploded outside the Murrah Federal
  Government Building in Oklahoma City
• 168 people died, including 19 small children in
  the creche
• Timothy McVeigh eventually admitted his
  responsibility and was executed in 2001
• He is believed to have carried it out as a
  protest against the government raid on the Branch
  Davidian sect at Waco, Texas exactly 2 years
  earlier.
• Inconsistencies remain unexplained