1980 Antwerp attack

1980 Antwerp attack
LocationAntwerp, Belgium
Date27 July 1980; 44 years ago (1980-07-27)
TargetJewish civilians outside Agoudath Israel cultural centre
Attack type
Bombing
Weapon2 grenades
Deaths1 child
Injured20 civilians
PerpetratorSaid Al Nasr
MotivePalestinian nationalism

On 27 July 1980, Said Al Nasr, a Syria-born Palestinian, used grenades to attack a group of 40 Jewish children waiting with their families for a bus to take them to summer camp. One boy was killed and 20 other people were wounded in the attack. The attacker was convicted.

Attack

The attack took place outside the Agoudath Israel cultural centre in Antwerp. The group of children, aged 10 to 14, originating from Britain, France, the Netherlands, Austria, and Belgium, were accompanied by their families as they waited to board a bus to take them to a summer camp in the Ardennes hills of southern Belgium.[1] The explosion killed one boy, 15-year-old Parisian David Kohane, and wounded 20, aged 8 to 27, eight of whom had to be hospitalized,[1] including a 13-year-old Belgian girl with critical brain injuries and a pregnant woman.[2] 2 young brothers Zevi and Motti Glejser aged 8 and 9 respectively were walking past at the time of the attack and were wounded and hospitalised.

The attacker was arrested after witnesses chased him down. In addition to the thrown grenades, he was carrying a pistol and "several magazines of ammunition" that had not used in the attack.[2]

The attack was among a number of anti-Jewish attacks worldwide in the early 1980s.[3]

Perpetrator

Main article: Said Al Nasr

Al Nasr is a Syrian-Palestinian, was convicted in Belgium in 1980, for throwing two hand grenades into a group of Jewish children waiting for a bus in Antwerp on 27 July 1980.[4] He was carrying a Moroccan passport at the time of his arrest.[2]

In 1990, the jailed Al Nasr was "traded" for part of the Houtekins-Kets family, a Belgian-French family kidnapped in Libya—a demand of the Abu Nidal group—during the Silco incident.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "Jewish youth dies in blast of grenade". The Globe and Mail. 28 July 1980. ProQuest 386914648.
  2. ^ a b c "Arab Held in Fatal Attack On Young Jews in Belgium". The Washington Post. 28 July 1989. ProQuest 147136318.
  3. ^ "Jewish Targets: Recent Attacks: Chronology". The New York Times. Associated Press. 7 September 1986. ProQuest 426275757.
  4. ^ Mickolus, Edward (1989). International Terrorism in the 1980s: 1980-1983. Iowa State University Press. p. 71.
  5. ^ "FREED HOSTAGES 'IN BELGIAN HANDS' FAMILY HEADS HOME AFTER PALESTINIAN GUERRILLA LEAVES PRISON NEAR BRUSSELS". Orlando Sentinel. Reuters. 13 January 1991. ProQuest 277798387.

Further reading