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Daring rescue underscored
Israeli vow to fight terrorism
by Ralph Daniels
Ten years ago on July 4, 1976,
the United States of America cele
brated its bicentennial. Yet, even
the Americans who had all their
attention focused inward on this
momentous occasion were com
pelled to look up and take notice of
another event which took place
thousands of miles away on the
continent of Africa. Entebbe.
On June 27, 1976, Air France
flight No. 139 had stopped over in
Athens on its way from Tel Aviv to
Paris. Two Germans and two Arabs
boarded the plane with pistols and
grenades they had smuggled
through security. They hijacked
the plane and, after a fuel stop in
time for such a complicated mis
sion but the deadline given by the
terrorists for the fulfillment of their
demands was fast approaching.
Since it had become clear that
the Ugandans were actively assist
ing the terrorists, the Israelis real
ized that they would have to take
steps to neutralize not only the
Ugandan ground forces in the vi
cinity of the airport, but also the
Soviet-made MIG fighter-jets be
longing to the Ugandan Air Force.
While the Israelis were in the
midst of their preparations, the
terrorists had meanwhile released
all the non-Jewish passengers so
that only Israeli nationals and other
passengers of the Jewish faith re
mained. To their credit, the cap
We all know the gratifying results of the
Entebbe Operation, recorded for posterity by
several feature films and documentaries. Even
Israel’s enemies in the world must have felt a
secret admiration at this daring enterprise
which caught the imagination of a world
oftentimes helpless to combat the deadly
bacillus of terrorism.’
Libya, proceeded to Entebbe air
port in Uganda where the hijackers
were welcomed with open arms by
Idi Amin and reinforced by the
addition of three more Arab ter
rorists.
On the night of July 3-4, 1976,
Israeli disgorged their cargo of
crack commando and paratroop
units on the runway of Entebbe
airport. The Israelis had first pre
pared a mock-up of the Old Ter
minal at Entebbe where the re
maining hostages from the hijacked
Air France passenger jet were now
being guarded by their PFLP cap-
tors. The Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine is one of
the main elements making up the
Palestine Liberation Organization
(PL.O).
The Israeli troops that were to
take part in the rescue mission
rehearsed their plan for taking
control of the Old Terminal and
eliminating the kidnappers. These
exercises began on Friday after
noon, July 2. Not much practice
tain and crew of the Air France jet
refused to abandon the remaining
hostages. This “selektion” was
reminiscent of the process which
occurred in the Nazi death camps
of Europe where Jews when told to
disembark their cattle cars to the
left went straight to the gas cham
bers; while those who were directed
to the right had their horrible fate
at least postponed while the Nazis
utilized their bodies for labor or
experiments.
This action on the part of the
terrorists made it absolutely clear
that the only recourse left to Israel
was to fulfill her responsibility to
her citizens and fellow Jews by
attempting a near impossible rescue
mission.
We all know the gratifying results
of the Entebbe Operation, recorded
for posterity by several feature
films and documentaries. Even Is
rael’s enemies in the world must
have felt a secret admiration at this
daring enterprise which caught the
imagination of a world oftentimes
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helpless to combat the deadly
bacillus of terrorism.
Of course, the Entebbe Opera
tion had a cost attached to it. Three
hostages died before the rescue
operation was completed. Just be
fore the evacuation of the rescued
hostages was completed, the com
mander of the Israeli force. Col.
Jonathan Netanyahu, was mortally
wounded in the back by a Ugandan
soldier. He was the only Israeli
soldier to die at Entebbe.
In the euphoria of the moment,
many people thought the tide had
been turned against terrorism. Un
fortunately, this was not to be the
case. Israel’s enemies railed against
what they called the infringement
of Uganda’s national sovereignty.
These countries, many of which
(such as Libya and Syria) had been
guilty in the past of incidents of
state-sponsored terrorism (and still
commit them today), want to use
international law to protect them
selves from the just retribution of
the international community. They
want to enjoy the fruits of interna
tional law without themselves being
bound by it.
It is high time for all the coun
tries of the world to ban together
and cooperate in the fight against
terrorism. Nearly all the countries of
the world suffer the ravages of ter
rorism. It is not something just
endemic to the Arab-Israeli con
flict. There are terrorist acts car
ried out by Arabs against other
Arabs, gangs such as the Red Bri
gades in Italy, the Basque separa
tists in Spain and the IRA in
Northern Ireland. Even the com
munist regime in Yugoslavia has
problems with Croatian terrorists.
We must not only stop allowing
terrorists to intimidate innocent
civilians, but it is equally impor
tant to take steps against those
countries which sponsor or actively
assist terrorist acts. The laws, set
up by the international community
to protect itself, must not be per
mitted to protect the perpetrators
of such atrocities.
Ralph Daniels is the informa
tion officer at the Israeli Consulate
General in Atlanta.
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PAGE 7 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE July 4, 1986