Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Terrorist Slaughter Of Father And Baby Daughter In Israel Was Catalyst For Archille Lauro Hijacking And Klinghoffer Murder
Terrorist Slaughter Of Father And Baby Daughter In Israel Was Catalyst For Archille Lauro Hijacking And Klinghoffer Murder
October 27, 2014
The untold story of the horrendous murders which led to the 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking - the terrorist outrage that's been made into an opera sparking protests in America
Death of Klinghoffer opera drew protests when staged at NY Metropolitan opera last week. Critics say it glamorizes 1985 Palestinian terrorist hijacking
But Israeli widow is angry production doesn't make reference to the murder of her family at hands of terrorists in 1979 - which led to Achille Lauro attack
Hijackers demanded the release of Samir Kuntar, who shot dead her husband and smashed her daughter's skull with a rifle butt
Smadar Haran Kaiser tragically smothered their other daughter to death as they hid from Kuntar in a crawl space in their home.
Jewish and disabled protestors - including Rudy Giuliani - camped outside the New York Metropolitan Opera at the premiere of 'The Death of Klinghoffer' last week which tells the story of four Palestinian hijackers who brought terror to the Achille Lauro cruise ship in the Mediterranean in 1985.
The slick production has been criticized for glamorising terrorism in its portrayal of the infamous atrocity in which the terrorists murdered an elderly disabled American Jewish passenger, Leon Klinghoffer in full view of many of the American and British passengers on board.
They then threw his blood-stained body - still in his wheelchair - overboard.
The hijackers threatened to execute more passengers if their demands to release 50 Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails were not met.
But what the opera fails to explain is one of the true motives behind the Achille Lauro attack - and why one prisoner in particular was of key significance.
Abu Abbas, the murderous leader of the Palestinian Liberation Front - the terror group behind the hijacking - was determined to make Israel release Samir Kuntar. His was the only name specified by the hijackers.
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