Alice MaggioI will attempt to relate some of my thoughts to a specific conflict discussed in this course – however, I feel pulled to mention a specific historical event not mentioned in the course, and relate it back to many people and issues this course has touched on.
I only recently learned about the Achille Lauro hijacking that occurred in 1985. It riveted me – and reading about it now alongside the many conflicts outlined in the Pathfinder course, it is fascinating to see how it fits into the historical context.
The hijackers wanted a specific prisoner in exchange of the hostages onboard the ship:
“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.”
Right off the bat, it is clear how complicated this situation is. The hijackers were PLO (Palestinian), backed by Syria, and opposed Arafat. Some of the hostages on the ship were American (which will be important later). The hijackers and their supporters wanted a Lebanese prisoner who had tried to and succeeded in inflicting violence on innocent Israelis. Multiple groups, nations and issues are at play.
The most tragic part of this story for me was the killing of Leon Klinghoffer, a Jewish American man who used a wheelchair. Again, the complication of this event deepens with this murder. My favorite part of this story is the American interception of the EgyptAir flight via F-14 Tomcat fighters ordered by President Reagan. The power the American military showed in order to bring the hijackers to justice is thrilling to read about – is there a movie about this moment in history? There ought to be.
I see a connection with this event and the 1982 Operation Peace for Galilee discussed in Lesson 2. Israel seemed misguided with their relationship with Lebanon, and it applies to the PLO trying to get Samir Kuntar released, at the expense of innocent Israelis, and, ultimately, Leon Klinghoffer. It is also worth noting that this operation attempt occurred three years before the hijacking.
