El Al Flight 253 attack

El Al Flight 253
	A similar Boeing 707
Terrorist Incident
Date	December 26, 1968
Summary	Terrorist attack
Site	Ellinikon International Airport, Athens, Greece
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 707
Operator	El Al
Flight origin	Tel Aviv, Israel
Stopover	Ellinikon International Airport, Athens, Greece
Destination	New York City, United States
Passengers	41
Crew	10
Fatalities	1
Injuries	2
Survivors	50

The El Al Flight 253 attack was a terrorist attack perpetrated by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) against a Boeing 707 passenger plane while it was on the ground at a stopover in Athens en route from Tel Aviv, Israel, to New York City, United States in 1968.

Background

Days before the attack, European and American authorities warned European airlines about bomb threats during the pre-Christmas holiday rush.^[1]

The incident came five months after a group of self-styled Palestinian Arab commandos hijacked El Al Flight 426 on July 23, shortly after it took-off from Rome for Tel Aviv and forced it to fly to Algiers. Algeria eventually released all passengers, crew and the plane.

Attack

The two attackers were 19-year-old Naheb H. Suleiman, born in Tripoli, Libya, of Palestinian parents, and 25-year-old Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad, born in 1943 in Mandatory Palestine. They were members of the Lebanese-based militant organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.^[2] They arrived on an earlier Olympic Airways flight from Cairo. 37 of the 41 passengers boarded the flight in Tel Aviv, and four boarded in Athens.^[3]

Mohammad and Suleiman attacked Flight 253 as it was about to depart from a layover in Athens, Greece on December 26, 1968. The two dashed out of the airport transit lounge just as the Israeli plane, parked 200 yards (180 m) away, was preparing to take off. The plane had flown in earlier from Tel Aviv. Mohammad fired at the plane for more than a minute with a submachine gun while Suleiman threw two hand grenades, creating panic among the planes' 10 crew and 41 passengers. One passenger, Israeli Leon Shirdan, 50, of Haifa, a marine engineer, was killed. He was survived by his wife and then 15-year-old daughter. Two unidentified women were injured, one by a bullet, the other as she leaped from the jet when the door was opened.^[4]

Aftermath

Perpetrators

Mohammad and Suleiman were taken into custody by Greek authorities.^[4] Both confessed they were members of a Palestinian organization and had planned to destroy the jet and kill all Israeli passengers aboard.^[3] Mohammad was sentenced to 17 years and 5 months in prison, but was freed after less than 4 months after another Palestinian terrorist group hijacked a Greek airliner and demanded his release in the Olympic Airways Flight 255 hijacking.^[4] Subsequently, he successfully hid his terrorist past and emigrated to Canada. Once Canadian authorities learned of his crime, a protracted extradition process culminated in his extradition to Lebanon in 2013.^[4]

Retributory raid

Two days after the attack, Israel raided the Beirut International Airport, destroying 12 (or possibly 13) Lebanese passenger airplanes. The attack drew a sharp rebuke from the US, who stated that nothing suggested that the Lebanese authorities had anything to do with the El Al attack.^[5]

References

^ "ATHENS INCIDENT Arabs attack Israeli jet". The Canberra Times. Vol. 43, no. 12, 193. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. December 27, 1968. p. 1. Retrieved August 7, 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "Should states be strictly liable for failing to prevent trans-border terrorism? A critique of Farouk Umar Abdumutalab". legality blog. September 12, 2010.
^ ^a ^b "One Killed by Arabs on New York-Bound Jetliner" (PDF). Watertown Daily Times. December 26, 1968. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 19, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bell, Philip (May 13, 2013). "After 26-year fight, Canada finally deports Palestinian terrorist convicted of attack on Israeli plane". National Post. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
^ Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Israel, Washington, December 29, 1968: Subject: Israeli Attack on Khaldeh Airport.

[-can-times-nla-1] "ATHENS INCIDENT Arabs attack Israeli jet". The Canberra Times. Vol. 43, no. 12, 193. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. December 27, 1968. p. 1. Retrieved August 7, 2021 – via National Library of Australia.

[lawproj-2] "Should states be strictly liable for failing to prevent trans-border terrorism? A critique of Farouk Umar Abdumutalab". legality blog. September 12, 2010.

[Fulton-3] "One Killed by Arabs on New York-Bound Jetliner" (PDF). Watertown Daily Times. December 26, 1968. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 19, 2019.

[deport-4] Bell, Philip (May 13, 2013). "After 26-year fight, Canada finally deports Palestinian terrorist convicted of attack on Israeli plane". National Post. Retrieved April 15, 2013.

[state-5] Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Israel, Washington, December 29, 1968: Subject: Israeli Attack on Khaldeh Airport.

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v t e Prominent terrorist attacks against Israelis in the history of the Arab–Israeli conflict – the 1960s
1968	El Al Flight 426 hijacking (July 23) El Al Flight 253 attack (December 26)
1969	El Al Flight 432 attack (February 18) Jerusalem bombings (February 21) TWA Flight 840 hijacking (August 29)
Attacks launched from Lebanon List of attacks against Israeli civilians before 1967 1950s 1970s

v t e Prominent Palestinian militancy attacks in the 1960s
Aircraft hijackings	El Al Flight 426 hijacking (July 23, 1968) El Al Flight 253 attack (December 26, 1968) El Al Flight 432 attack (February 18, 1969) TWA Flight 840 hijacking (August 29, 1969)
1950s 1970s

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Greece
1960s-1970s	El Al Flight 253 attack (December 1968) Olympic Airways Flight 954 (December 1969) Olympic Airways Flight 255 hijacking (July 1970) Lufthansa Flight 303 (December 1973) Olympic Airways Flight 830 (November 1976) Olympic Airways Flight 411 (August 1978) Swissair Flight 316 (October 1979)
1980s-1990s	Trans World Airlines Flight 847 (June 1985) TWA Flight 840 bombing (April 1986) Olympic Aviation Flight 545 (August 1989) Aerosvit Flight 241 (December 1997)
Since 2000	Malév Flight 262 (July 2000) Helios Airways Flight 522 (August 2005) Turkish Airlines Flight 1476 (October 2006) Meridian Flight 3032 (July 2022)
See List of aviation accidents and incidents in Greece Crashes in water near Greece: Cyprus Airways Flight 284 (October 1967) · TWA Flight 841 (September 1974)