their home country, initially forbidden by the State Department. 40 In 1968 alone, Holden remarks, nineteen hijackings of ‘domestic U.S. flights’ landed in Cuba. 41 In the wake of Arab-Israeli conflict, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) ‘consciously adopted terrorism as the centrepiece of its strategy.’ 42 They would utilise hijackings as a means of extortion, allowing the release of hostages in exchange for the release of imprisoned comrades. On September 6, 1970, the PFLP hijacked four consecutive airlines – including two jets from Trans World Airlines and Pan America: the planes were flown to Dawson’s Field in Jordan, where they were destroyed following the disembarking of passengers and crew. 43 All passengers and crew were released in exchange for a small number of Palestinians highlighting the effectiveness of the deed, particularly under such heavy media scrutiny. As a continuation of hijacking attempts, Middle Eastern terror cells adopted the tactic of hostage taking, in order to stir media attention and promote their cause; subsequently there are two key hostage situations that haunt the 1960s and 1970s. During the Munich Olympics in 1972, Black September terrorists (a faction of the PLO) stormed the Olympic village, where they took nine Israeli athletes hostage and killed a further two, demanding the release of ‘over two hundred Arabs jailed in Israel.’ 44 The outcome of this attack was a ‘colossal failure’ in terms of the hostage situation and the attempt to rescue the captives, Bruce Hoffman contends. 45 No Israeli athletes survived and no Arab prisoners were released. Hoffman later adds, however: 40 Holden, p. 880-882. 41 Ibid, p. 881. 42 Rubin and Colp Rubin, p. 176. 43 Ibid, p. 187. 44 Rubin and Colp Rubin, p. 188. 45 Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism (New York: Columbia University Press, 2006) p. 68.
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