1970 Munich bus attack

1970 Munich bus attack
Location	Munich-Riem Airport, Munich, West Germany
Date	10 February 1970 c. 12:50 – 12:59
Attack type	Attempted aircraft hijacking grenade attack shootout terrorist attack
Weapons	Submachine gun, hand grenades
Deaths	1
Injured	13 (including two perpetrators)
Perpetrator	Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Assailants	Mohamed el-Hanafi Abder Rahman Saleh Mohamed Hadidi

On 10 February 1970, a bus carrying passengers to an El Al airplane at the Munich-Riem Airport, West Germany, was attacked by terrorists. One person was killed and 13 were wounded in the attack.

Attack

On 10 February 1970, at 8:30 a.m., an El Al Boeing 707 took off from Ben Gurion Airport (then Lod Airport), en route from Tel Aviv to London, on a flight that included a stop-over in Munich. The plane, carrying 52 passengers and 11 crew members, landed in Munich at 12:28 p.m., and 34 passengers disembarked. The 18 additional passengers bound for London waited inside a transit waiting room to board the flight to London. The room was shared with 12 passengers of a Swissair flight and the three later attackers, who had flown in from Paris two hours earlier. ^{[1] [2]}

At 12:45 p.m., the 18 passengers were called over the loudspeaker to the departure gate to board the shuttle bus that would take them to the plane. The passengers were also joined by the plane's crew members. Some of the passengers were already seated inside the bus, while one passenger, actor Assi Dayan, and the plane's captain, Uriel Cohen, were still in the transit room. Dayan noticed three men walking towards them, one openly wielding a firearm and two carrying grenades, though one had concealed a pistol behind his back. Two of the men approached the captain, with one openly displaying a grenade and telling Cohen in English "I've got a bomb. You can't do anything". Cohen, who was 198 cm tall, tried to wrestle the grenade out of his hands. At 12:53 p.m., the grenade exploded in the terrorist's hand, blowing it apart, while Cohen's arm was torn. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

After the explosion, the bus driver tried to move the vehicle and its passengers away from the scene, but the third terrorist stood in front of the bus and held the driver at gunpoint. At the terrorist's instruction, the driver opened the bus doors, telling him that he was allowing the passengers to exit. Before they could reach the exit, the gunman threw a grenade into the bus. As several people ducked for cover, 32-year-old Arie Katzenstein threw himself on the grenade to protect the other passengers. The remaining seven people inside were injured by the blast, with Katzenstein's body blocking most of the shrapnel. ^{[2] [4]}

Eight members of the Bavarian Border Police arrived soon after. The second terrorist still inside the transit room exchanged fire with officers, being injured and fleeing into the restroom. Outside, an officer was injured while engaging in a shootout with the other remaining gunman. Both were wounded, but the gunman managed to flee back inside, detonating a third grenade in his hand inside the transit room. Actress Hanna Maron sustained heavy leg wounds. During the chaos, a German traveller broke through a glass window and broke his hip during the fall. Bavarian Police arrived five minutes after hearing the first detonation, arresting the two terrorists in the transit room and finding the remaining terrorist hiding in a toilet cubicle. ^{[2] [3] [5] [6]}

As the actor Assi Dayan, son of the Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Dayan was among the passengers, some speculated that he was the target of the attack. Others denied this, saying the attack was indiscriminate and Dayan himself escaped unhurt. ^{[7] [8]} Another passenger, actress Hanna Maron, was critically wounded and had to have her leg amputated. ^[9]

Aftermath

The Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PDFLP), as well as the "Action Organization for the Liberation of Palestine" in Jordan claimed responsibility for the attack. ^[10] The three terrorists arrested for the attack were identified as Egyptian ringleader Mufeed al-Gawabri (alias Mohamed el-Hanafi), Nachàat Omar Ibrahim (alias Mohammed Hadidi) and Abdel Rahim Saleh Mustafa Saleh (alias Abder Rahman Saleh), both Jordanian. ^{[2] [11] [12]} By their own account, they had intended to hijack the plane bound for London, believing that they would transport everyone to the plane with the bus, not anticipating that anyone would fight back. They had prepared notes to be read through the cockpit speaker, which the terrorists had discarded in the airport, but were pieced back together two days later. ^[2] Issam Sartawi took credit for planning the attack, saying it was in revenge for the death of his brother. ^[13] The terrorists were released and deported later the same year in response to the Dawson's Field hijackings. ^{[14] [15]}

See also

• Munich massacre

References

1. Rachel Primor, "Asi Dayan suddenly said to me: I think I see three suspicious Arabs", Maariv, 11 February 1970
2. "Alle töten". Der Spiegel (in German). 1970-02-15. ISSN   2195-1349.
3. "Der Anschlag". München Riem 1970 (in German).
4. Lübbert, Rainer (2020-02-14). "(S+) Terror in Deutschland". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN   2195-1349.
5. "Arie Katzenstein". München Riem 1970 (in German).
6. Arie Katzenstein Sacrificed Himself to Save the Passengers, Le Merhav, 12 February 1970
7. "West German Government Condemns Arab Terrorist Attack on El Al Airline". JTA. 12 February 1970.
8. "Grenades Miss Dayan Son In Arab Attack in Munich". The New York Times. 11 February 1970.
9. "Iconic Israeli actress Hanna Maron dies at age 90". The Jerusalem Post. 30 May 2014.
10. Rubin, Barry; Rubin, Judith Colp (2015). Chronologies of Modern Terrorism. Routledge. p. 186. ISBN   9781317474654.
11. Kraushaar, Wolfgang (2 April 2013). "Wann endlich beginnt bei Euch der Kampf gegen die heilige Kuh Israel?" München 1970: über die antisemitischen Wurzeln des deutschen Terrorismus (in German). ISBN   978-3644029316.
12. "Die Täter". München Riem 1970 (in German).
13. "Sartawi assassination seen as warning to Arafat, PLO moderates". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN   0882-7729.
14. "Few Arab Terrorists Are Punished for Hijackings and Killings". The New York Times. 20 December 1973.
15. "Terrorist Incidents against Jewish Communities and Israeli Citizens Abroad, 1968-2003". International Institute for Counter-Terrorism. 20 December 2003. Archived from the original on 26 March 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2018.

48°08′10″N11°43′05″E / 48.136°N 11.718°E / 48.136; 11.718