The <i>Achille Lauro</i> Hijacking: Lessons in the Politics and Prejudice of Terrorism
While political speeches and public rhetoric paint the terrorism phenomenon in black-and-white-presenting it as a clear-cut battle between "evildoers" and "heroes"-reality imparts a problem of unimaginable complexity. The Achille Lauro hijacking, seemingly a straightforward confrontation between terrorists and innocent victims, actually provides a compelling case study in the complex forces that shape the politics of terrorism, particularly with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It...
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In October 1985, the Achille Lauro cruise ship was hijacked by young Palestinian militants, one of whom killed Jewish-American passenger Leon Klinghoffer. Days later Alex Odeh, director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee was killed by a bomb blast in which the Jewish Defense League was allegedly implicated. Retired naval intelligence officer Bohn, who served on the U.S. National Security Council at the time, describes these events and their aftermath, even including discussion of television and stage presentations of the Achille Lauro story. For him, the lesson of the hijacking and the bombing is that terrorism cannot be seen as a simple issue of good versus evil. Instead, it must be seen as a political problem requiring political answers. Distributed in the US by Books International. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR Publishers Weekly Bohn, who directed the White House situation room under Reagan, relates the harrowing tale of one of the most spectacular terrorist acts of the 1980s and its aftermath. In October 1985, Palestinian gunmen under the command of Abu Abbas commandeered an Italian cruise ship, murdered the wheelchair-bound Jewish-American Leon Klinghoffer and tossed his body overboard. Negotiations yielded the perpetrators safe passage in an Egyptian aircraft, but the U.S. intercepted the flight and the terrorists were put on trial in Italy. During the crisis, Arab-American activist Alex Odeh appeared on television and seemed to justify Palestinian terrorism; his remarks were quoted out of context. Police suspected that Jewish extremists were responsible for his subsequent murder. Bohn, a former navy officer, juxtaposes the murders of Odeh and Klinghoffer, two Americans killed because of their differing affiliations in a still-simmering conflict, in drawing lessons about the "politics and prejudice" of terrorism. He attempts to understand the motivations and grievances of the terrorists, not to justify them but to encourage a more effective policy for confronting terror. For Bohm, terrorism is "not just about good versus evil" but exists in a political and cultural context; his book effectively illuminates the backstory of a gruesome example of it. (Nov.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
AcknowledgmentsixProloguexi1Murder on the High Seas12"You Can Run, But You Can't Hide"203Backlash (1985)464"Terrorvision" and Trials (1986)725"Swim for It?" (1987-1989)976Mideast Machiavelli (1990-1991)1157The Death of Klinghoffer (1991-1995)1338The Ship of Death1489Terrorist Turned Politician (1996-1999)15910Gotcha! (2174-2004)174Epilogue193Notes197Bibliography219Index223The Author237
\ Publishers WeeklyBohn, who directed the White House situation room under Reagan, relates the harrowing tale of one of the most spectacular terrorist acts of the 1980s and its aftermath. In October 1985, Palestinian gunmen under the command of Abu Abbas commandeered an Italian cruise ship, murdered the wheelchair-bound Jewish-American Leon Klinghoffer and tossed his body overboard. Negotiations yielded the perpetrators safe passage in an Egyptian aircraft, but the U.S. intercepted the flight and the terrorists were put on trial in Italy. During the crisis, Arab-American activist Alex Odeh appeared on television and seemed to justify Palestinian terrorism; his remarks were quoted out of context. Police suspected that Jewish extremists were responsible for his subsequent murder. Bohn, a former navy officer, juxtaposes the murders of Odeh and Klinghoffer, two Americans killed because of their differing affiliations in a still-simmering conflict, in drawing lessons about the "politics and prejudice" of terrorism. He attempts to understand the motivations and grievances of the terrorists, not to justify them but to encourage a more effective policy for confronting terror. For Bohm, terrorism is "not just about good versus evil" but exists in a political and cultural context; his book effectively illuminates the backstory of a gruesome example of it. (Nov.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.\ \
