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and Bashir Moussa, all Sunni Muslims who are said to including one on October 26 to commemorate the
have been inspired by the Shiite groups that came to anniversary of Shaqaqi’s death.
power during Iran’s Islamist revolution in 1978–1979.
See also HAMAS; HEZBOLLAH
The PIJ has focused primarily on terror attacks
against Israel. Shaqaqi had publicly stated that the
PIJ shares a name and ideology with many other Further Reading
Islamic jihad groups (e.g., in Egypt, Lebanon, and Bhatia, Shyam. “Shadow of Mossad Over Shooting in
Turkey); however, the groups have little contact with Malta.” The Observer, October 29, 1995.
one another. Many of the groups, such as the PIJ, Fisk, Robert. “Suicide Bombing of Israeli Café Heralds
have material and ideological ties to Iran. Fresh Wave of Attacks.” The Independent (London),
August 13, 2001, 1.
After the assassination of Egypt’s president Anwar
Gellman, Barton. “Two-Stage Bombing Kills 19 at Israeli
Sadat in 1981, the Egyptian government cracked down
Military Bus Stop.” Washington Post, January 23,
on Islamic terrorists. Shaqaqi, Odeh, and Moussa were
1995, A1.
expelled from the county and they returned to
Sachs, Susan. “Terrorism Inc.; Islamic Jihad Founder
Palestine. During the 1980s, the group began organiz- Admits Funding by Iran.” Newsday, April 11, 1993, 7.
ing in territories occupied by Israel. The PIJ carried out U.S. State Department. “Appendix B: Background Infor-
its first successful military operation in 1987, assassi- mation on Terrorist Groups.” Patterns of Global Terro-
nating an Israeli military police captain. Shaqaqi and rism—2000, Released by the Office of the Coordinator
Odeh were later deported to Lebanon, finding refuge in for Counterterrorism, April 30, 2001, http://www.state.
Damascus, Syria, where they plotted multiple bomb- gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2000/2450.htm.
ing attacks on Israeli military and civilian targets.
The PIJ strongly opposed the Arab-Israeli peace
process and continued to attack Israel as negotiations PAN AM FLIGHT 73 HIJACKING
intensified. In 1995, the PIJ blew up a military bus
stop near Netanya, killing 19 in an attack that press
reports said seemed timed to cause the maximum The takeover of a Pan American World Airways
number of casualties. Just months later, the group took jumbo jet in the predawn hours of September 5, 1986
responsibility for a suicide nail bomb in Tel Aviv that developed into a tragic 16-hour ordeal. Hijackers
killed 13. linked to the Abu Nidal Organization killed 22
In October 1995, on the evening before U.S. secre- hostages during the standoff at the Karachi Inter-
tary of state Warren Christopher’s trip to Damascus, national Airport in Pakistan.
assassins thought to be working for Israel’s intelli- As the last busload of passengers was boarding a
gence service Mossad gunned down Shaqaqi on the flight to Frankfurt, Germany, en route to New York,
Mediterranean island of Malta. four men dressed as security personnel took over the
After Shaqaqi’s death, an academic working in the plane. According to a 1991 U.S. indictment, they had
United States, Ramadan Abdullah al-Shallah, became passed through the Karachi airport security in a van
the PIJ’s new leader. Al-Shallah left his post at the outfitted to look like a security vehicle. The hijackers
University of South Florida to take command of the stopped the van at the bottom of the plane’s stairs, ran
group. His departure caused much controversy, and up firing shots, and commandeered the aircraft.
federal agents arrested one of al-Shallah’s Palestinian Flight attendants on board alerted the crew, who
academic colleagues several years later. Among escaped through an emergency exit in the cockpit. The
protests and lawsuits brought by civil liberties groups, 379 passengers aboard were held hostage as the
al-Shallah’s colleague continues to be held without hijackers demanded a new crew to fly them to Cyprus,
being charged with a crime. in order to free “friends” in prison there. To enforce
According to the U.S. State Department, the PIJ the demand, the men selected and executed American
has never specifically attacked U.S. interests, despite citizen Rajesh Kumar. They also threatened to blow
a July 2000 public threat to carry out attacks if the up the aircraft with all passengers on board.
U.S. embassy is moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In Many of the deadlines set by the hijackers went
late 2000, the PIJ continued to work to stall the peace unheeded as they pursued discussions with Pakistani
process, initiating several attacks against Israel, police about whether the hijackers would release