Neve Shalom Synagogue massacre

Last updated
Neve Shalom Synagogue massacre
Part of the Arab–Israeli conflict
Neve Salom, Istanbul.jpg
The Neve Shalom Synagogue
Location Neve Shalom Synagogue, Istanbul, Turkey
Coordinates 41°01′36″N28°58′21″E / 41.02669°N 28.97242°E / 41.02669; 28.97242
DateSeptember 6, 1986
Deaths22
Perpetrators Abu Nidal Organization (suspected)
No. of participants
2

The Neve Shalom Synagogue massacre happened on 6 September 1986 when a group of suspected Abu Nidal Organization terrorists killed 22 worshipers inside the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Istanbul, Turkey.

Contents

Attack

The pair of gunmen stormed the synagogue around 9:17 in the morning of 6 September 1986, [1] when the worshippers were reciting the Shabbat parasha. [2] The terrorists entered on the men's side of the mechitza where they opened fire on the crowd with machine guns and then doused the bodies of the dead and injured with gasoline, which they lit on fire. [3] [4] Witnesses said they heard the gunmen speaking Arabic among themselves.

The attackers took out "extremely powerful" grenades and blew themselves apart, killing themselves and disfiguring their bodies so hard that investigators were unable to identify who they were. [3] [5] The grenades set off a fire in the building that lasted several hours.

By the end of the massacre, 22 people had been killed. The victims ranged in age from 30 to 82. [3] Three of the people killed were Persian Jews, including an Iranian-born rabbi. [6] Around two dozen were wounded, including four women hit by splinters in the women's gallery. [7]

Aftermath

Two previously unknown Lebanese groups both separately claimed responsibility for the massacre, but the authenticity of the claims have been doubted. [7] The Palestinian Abu Nidal Organization, although it never claimed responsibility, was widely suspected of perpetrating the attack. [3] [5] Turkish police suspected the shooting was done by Abu Nidal but with the assistance of other groups, which it believed were likely Iran, Libya and Syria. [3]

All the victims were buried in the Ulus Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery. [1] [8]

Reactions

The Neve Shalom massacre was widely condemned in Turkey and internationally. The Cabinet of Turkey arranged a special session shortly after on Prime Minister Turgut Özal's orders, who described the incident as "heinous" and "odious assault." Jewish synagogues and institutions were provided heavy security in fear of another attack. [7] President of the United States Ronald Reagan wrote a letter to the Jewish community of Istanbul sharply condemning the massacre. [9]

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres denounced the attack as "beastly" and vowed "not [to] rest until we cut off this murderous hand." [7] Simon Wiesenthal Center associate dean Abraham Cooper said the massacre was a "resurrect[ion of] the imagery and savagery of the Holocaust." [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Abu Nidal Organization, officially Fatah – Revolutionary Council, was a Palestinian militant group founded by Abu Nidal in 1974. It broke away from Fatah, a faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization, following the emergence of a rift between Abu Nidal and Yasser Arafat. The ANO was designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the European Union. and Japan. However, a number of Arab countries supported the group's activities; it was backed by Iraq from 1974 to 1983, by Syria from 1983 to 1987, and by Libya from 1987 to 1997. It briefly cooperated with Egypt from 1997 to 1998, but ultimately returned to Iraq in December 1998, where it continued to have the state's backing until Abu Nidal's death in August 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abu Nidal</span> Palestinian militant, founder of Fatah (1937–2002)

Sabri Khalil al-Banna, known by his nom de guerreAbu Nidal, was the founder of Fatah: The Revolutionary Council, a militant Palestinian splinter group more commonly known as the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO). At the height of its militancy in the 1970s and 1980s, the ANO was widely regarded as the most ruthless of the Palestinian groups.

<i>Shalom</i> Hebrew word and greeting

Shalom is a Hebrew word meaning peace and can be used idiomatically to mean hello.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1985 Rome and Vienna airport attacks</span> 1985 terror attacks by Palestinian nationalists

The Rome and Vienna airport attacks were two major terrorist attacks carried out on 27 December 1985. Seven Arab terrorists attacked two airports in Rome, Italy, and Vienna, Austria, with assault rifles and hand grenades. Nineteen civilians were killed and over a hundred were injured before four of the terrorists were killed by El Al Security personnel and local police, who captured the remaining three.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neve Shalom Synagogue</span> Synagogue in Istanbul, Turkey

Neve Shalom Synagogue is a synagogue in the Karaköy quarter of Beyoğlu district, in Istanbul, Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Turkey</span>

The history of the Jews in Turkey covers the 2400 years that Jews have lived in what is now Turkey.

The Bet Israel Synagogue is located in Şişli, Istanbul, Turkey. Like the Neve Shalom Synagogue, Bet Israel is supported and governed by the Neve Shalom Foundation. The synagogue was initially built in the 1920s and enlarged into its present size in the early 1950s due to the majority of the Jewish population moving to that area and the immigration from Nazi occupied territories. It is currently the most populated synagogue in Turkey. The Bet Israel Synagogue can be visited by appointment with the Neve Shalom Foundation. There is also another synagogue in İzmir with the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahrida Synagogue of Istanbul</span> Synagogue in Istanbul, Turkey

Ahrida (Ohrid) Synagogue is one of the oldest synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey. It is located in Balat, once a thriving Jewish quarter in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1981 Antwerp synagogue bombing</span> Truck bombing in Belgium

On 20 October 1981, a truck bomb exploded outside a Portuguese Jewish synagogue in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium, in the diamond district of Antwerp. The explosion took place shortly after 9:00 AM on a Tuesday morning, a few minutes before Simchat Torah religious services were to begin. Three people were killed and 106 wounded.

The 1981 Vienna synagogue attack was a terror attack that occurred 29 August 1981. The incident took place in the Stadttempel of Vienna, Austria carried out by two terrorists of the Abu Nidal Organization.

Shalom is the Hebrew word for hello, goodbye, and peace, and is a Hebrew given name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Istanbul bombings</span> Series of four al-Qaeda suicide bombings in Istanbul, Turkey

The 2003 Istanbul bombings were a series of suicide attacks carried out with trucks fitted with bombs detonated at four different locations in Istanbul, Turkey, on 15 and 20 November 2003.

These are the collective events from the 19th century in the year 1986 in Israel. With former leaders and development to the Asian states.

Antisemitism in Turkey refers to acts of hostility against Jews in the Republic of Turkey, as well as the promotion of antisemitic views and beliefs in Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Synagogue of Rome attack</span> 1982 Palestinian terrorist attack in Rome, Italy

The Great Synagogue of Rome attack, which was carried out by armed Palestinian terrorists at the entrance to the Great Synagogue of Rome, took place on 9 October 1982 at 11:55 a.m. A 2-year-old toddler, Stefano Gaj Taché, was killed in the attack, while 37 civilians were injured.

The Ulus Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery is a burial ground of the Ashkenazi Jewish community in Istanbul, Turkey. However, it is also used today for Sephardi burials due to overpopulation of the nearby Ulus Sephardi Jewish Cemetery, which is about 500 m (1,600 ft) north of the Ashkenazi Jewish Cemetery on the same street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Jerusalem synagogue attack</span> Terrorist attack in Israel

On the morning of 18 November 2014, two Palestinian men from Jerusalem entered Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue, in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem, and attacked the praying congregants with axes, knives, and a gun. They killed four dual-nationality worshippers, and critically wounded a responding Druze Israeli police officer, who later died of his wounds. They also injured seven male worshippers, one of whom never woke up from a coma and died 11 months later. The two attackers were then shot dead by the police.

Paris attacks may refer to the following:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Istanbul nightclub shooting</span> 2017 nightclub shooting in Ortaköy, Istanbul, Turkey

The Istanbul nightclub shooting was a mass shooting incident on 1 January 2017 around 01:15 local time, in which a terrorist shot and killed 39 people and wounded 79 others at the Reina nightclub in the Ortaköy neighbourhood of Istanbul, Turkey, where hundreds had been celebrating New Year's Day. Uzbekistan-born Abdulkadir Masharipov was arrested in Istanbul on 17 January 2017. Islamic State claimed credit for his actions. The first hearing in the trial of Masharipov and 51 accused accomplices was held on 11 December 2017, and the next hearing was held on 26 March 2018.

References

  1. 1 2 "Neve Shalom Sephardi Synagogues Foundation | Terrorist Attacks". www.nevesalom.org. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  2. "Istanbul's Neve Shalom Massacre: How the 'Oasis of Peace' Turned Into a Scene of Savagery". Algemeiner.com. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Miller, Judith (1987-01-04). "The Istanbul Synagogue Massacre". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  4. "Bır 6 Eylül 1986 Özetı: Barış vahasında duran saat, delik sandalye ve kara mermerde yanan yıldız". Şalom Gazetesi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  5. 1 2 "This Day in Jewish History / A Suicide Attack Strikes an Istanbul Synagogue". Haaretz. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  6. "The Neve Shalom Synagogue Massacre in Turkey". Algemeiner.com. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Bloodiest Synagogue Massacre Since Nazi Era: Abu Nidal Gang Tagged As Killers of 21 Sabbath Worshipp". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  8. "Neve Shalom Victims Commemorated on the 34th Year Anniversary". www.salom.com.tr. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  9. "Message to the Turkish Jewish Community on the Massacre at Neve Shalom Synagogue in Istanbul". Ronald Reagan. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  10. Kendall, John (1986-09-09). "A Bloody Weekend: The Terror and the Tragedy : Services Conducted at Wiesenthal Center for Jews Slain in Istanbul". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-05-22.