Learn about the history of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, equality and justice by exploring major events in the history of their oppression on this day of the year.
4 February
ISRAELI STATE HIJACKING OF A CIVILIAN AIRLINER
On this day in 1986, Israeli fighter jets intercepted a Libyan civilian aircraft in international airspace en route to Damascus and forced it to land in Israel, believing Dr. George Habash, Secretary General of the PFLP, was on board. Libya and Syria branded the incident as an act of air piracy. Israel claimed it had a legal right to force the plane to land as part of its campaign against “terrorism”. The US later vetoed a UN Security Council condemnation of Israel’s action.
إسرائيل تختطف طائرة مدنية
4 فبراير
في مثل هذا اليوم من عام 1986 ، اعترضت مقاتلات إسرائيلية طائرة مدنية ليبية في الأجواء الدولية في طريقها إلى دمشق وأجبرتها على الهبوط في إسرائيل ، معتقدةً أن الدكتور جورج حبش ، الأمين العام للجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين ، كان على متنها. وصفت ليبيا وسوريا الحادث بأنه عمل من أعمال القرصنة الجوية. وزعمت إسرائيل أن لها حق قانوني في إجبار الطائرة على الهبوط في إطار حملتها ضد "الإرهاب". وفي وقت لاحق ، استخدمت الولايات المتحدة حق النقض ضد إدانة مجلس الأمن -التابع للأمم المتحدة- قرصنة إسرائيل.
Israel fighter jets forced a Libyan civilian aircraft bound for Damascus to land at a military airfield in northern Israel. The Libyan aircraft was detained for four and a half hours, before being released to proceed to its destination.
The pilot reported 55 miles east of Cyprus, nearing the Syrian coast, that he was being tailed by unidentified aircraft. Libya charged that the U.S. Sixth Fleet, operating off its coast, helped the Israelis identify and pinpoint the plane. On February 22, 1973, Israel Air Force jets shot down a Libyan commercial airliner enroute from Benghazi to Cairo, which had strayed into Israeli airspace over Sinai.
Syria demanded an immediate meeting of the UN Security Council to take up the incident of air piracy, Libya also branded the incident as an act of piracy and accused the United States of abetting it.
Israeli claimed the aircraft was intercepted because there was reason to believe "dangerous terrorists" were aboard and insisted it has a right to force planes in international airspace to land for interrogation to combat "terrorism".
Yitzhak Shamir, Israeli Foreign Minister in 1986, addressed delegates at the Zionist General Council in Jerusalem the day after the air piracy and insisted that such interceptions were “one of the means we have to resort to in order to defend ourselves...from international terrorism".
Shamir had a gruesome record of terrorism; he organised the killings of hundreds of Palestinian civilians and hundreds of Jews as well in brutal terrorist attacks. "Israel has the right to take steps to prevent acts of murder and terror", he claimed.
ICAO condemns Israeli action - US supports and UK tries to minimise gravity of Israel's actions
A month later (March 3), the Governing Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) voted 21-1 Friday to “condemn” Israel for the interception and diversion by Israeli Air Force jets of a civilian Libyan aircraft in international airspace over the Mediterranean last February 4."
The US voted against and the UK asked the ICAO not to "condemn" since no-one was killed or injured in the attack. There were nine abstentions - Japan, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, France, West Germany, Spain, Sweden and Belgium. Israel "deplored" the resolution.
"The ICAO Governing Council rejected an amendment to the resolution proposed by the British representative which would have substituted the word “deplore” for “condemn” on grounds that “condemnation” was disproportionate in connection with the act since none of the people on the jet were harmed."
42-minute video: Tom Suarez, author of State of Terror, on Israel's history of state terrorism