Israel Versus Jibril: The Thirty-Year War Against a Master Terrorist - Hardcover

Katz, Samuel M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1557784337 ISBN 13: 9781557784339

Publisher: Universal Sales & Marketing, 1993

Synopsis

Looks at the terrorist career of Jibril, the commander of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, including the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland

About this title

Reviews

Israeli-American military historian Katz's workmanlike study presents the few known facts about Ahmed Jibril and his Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. Responsible for major terrorist acts from the 1970 destruction of a schoolbus filled with Israeli children to the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988, the PFLP-GC has established itself as the most effective and technologically sophisticated terrorist organization. Katz describes ambushes, kidnappings and bombings perpetrated by the PFLP-GC, its relationship with sponsors Libya, Iran and Syria, and the futile efforts of Israeli authorities to destroy the organization. He also discusses the innovations the PFLP-GC has introduced into the terrorist scene, such as commando-carrying hang-gliders and the use of unwitting human "mules" to carry explosive devices aboard targeted airliners. Jibril, the "Teflon Terrorist," continues to elude arrest, and his organization remains at the forefront of the "holy war" against the state of Israel.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

An arresting account of Ahmed Jibril, the technoterrorist mastermind whose exploits include the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie. Israeli-American military historian Katz (Days of Fire, 1968) details Jibril's past and present terrorist operations as head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command. Presented by the author as a lethal threat to the democratic world, Jibril emerges as an egotistic, mad genius of mayhem who pulled off a series of brazen skyjackings, kidnappings, and assassinations in several countries without risking more than a few expendable henchmen. His daring hang-glider attack on an Israeli army base is credited with having jump-started the Intifada. But his cause, as well as that of the Palestinians, is tarnished in Katz's view by all the big bucks earned and by the indiscriminate murder committed in the name of liberation politics. Moreover, the armed Palestinian factions--particularly Jibril's--are seen engaged in fratricidal combat more fierce than their confrontations with outside enemies. Apart from the Palestinians exploited for the larger cause, Katz depicts various naive European women who were wooed by Arab men for the sole purpose of serving as conduits for explosives. A chronology of terrorists attacks, a rundown of armed Palestinian groups, and a listing of Israel's counterterrorist units append this fast-paced record of Jibril's exploits and his uncanny ability to stay a step ahead of the world's intelligence community. As exciting as a good thriller--but far more frightening. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Universal Sales & Marketing
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1557784337
• ISBN 13: 9781557784339
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 285