1978 London bus attack

On 20 August 1978, a staff bus of El Al airlines in London was attacked by Palestinian terrorists.[1] Flight attendant Irit Gidron and one terrorist were killed in the attack, and nine people were wounded.[2][3]

1978 London bus attack
LocationEuropa Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London
Coordinates51°30′44.54″N 0°9′3.52″W
Date20 August 1978
Attack type
mass shooting, grenade attacks
WeaponsSubmachine guns, hand grenades
Deaths1 (+1 attacker)
Injured9
PerpetratorsPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

Attack

At around 13:30, a minibus with staff of El Al airlines was attacked during a stopover at the Europa Hotel in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, central London, when two or three men opened fire with submachine guns and hand grenades.[2][3] An El Al flight attendant was killed in the attack, while members of a wedding party were among those wounded by gun shots and a taxi driver was blown from his cab by a grenade.[2][3] A man presumed to be one of the terrorists was found dead after the attack.[2] A second terrorist was captured by the police, while a possible third escaped.[3]

Aftermath

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for the attack.[2][3] The area of the attack was noted as a hotspot of Arab terrorist activity in the country.[4] The flight attendant killed in the attack, Irit Gidron, 29, was buried in Israel next to the victims of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.[4] The terrorist arrested, Fahad Mihyi, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the attack.[5]

In 2000, Yulie Cohen Gerstel, one of the flight attendants injured in the attack, contacted Mihyi who was imprisoned at Dartmoor Prison. Mihyi was apologetic for his role in the terrorist attack. Gerstel advocated for his parole as shown in the 2002 documentary My Terrorist.[6]

References
  1. Rubin, Barry; Rubin, Judith Colp (2015). Chronologies of Modern Terrorism. Routledge. p. 193. ISBN 9781317474654.
  2. "1978: Two dead after El Al crew ambushed". BBC News. 20 August 1978.
  3. "Terrorist Attack on El Al Mini-bus Kills Airline Stewardess, injures 8". JTA. 21 August 1978.
  4. "Irit Gidron, Terrorist Victim, Buried Alongside Victims of Munich Massacre". JTA. 23 August 1978.
  5. "Terrorist Incidents against Jewish Communities and Israeli Citizens Abroad, 1968-2003". International Institute for Counter-Terrorism. 20 December 2003.
  6. Naomi Pfefferman (2003-05-09). "'Terrorist' Helped Israeli Heal". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
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