THE ACHILLE LAURO HIJACKING: Lessons in the Politics and Prejudice of Terrorism

Bohn, who directed the White House situation room under Reagan, relates the harrowing tale of one of the most spectacular terrorist acts of the 1980s and its aftermath. In October 1985, Palestinian gunmen under the command of Abu Abbas commandeered an Italian cruise ship, murdered the wheelchair-bound Jewish-American Leon Klinghoffer and tossed his body overboard. Negotiations yielded the perpetrators safe passage in an Egyptian aircraft, but the U.S. intercepted the flight and the terrorists were put on trial in Italy. During the crisis, Arab-American activist Alex Odeh appeared on television and seemed to justify Palestinian terrorism; his remarks were quoted out of context. Police suspected that Jewish extremists were responsible for his subsequent murder. Bohn, a former navy officer, juxtaposes the murders of Odeh and Klinghoffer, two Americans killed because of their differing affiliations in a still-simmering conflict, in drawing lessons about the "politics and prejudice" of terrorism. He attempts to understand the motivations and grievances of the terrorists, not to justify them but to encourage a more effective policy for confronting terror. For Bohm, terrorism is "not just about good versus evil" but exists in a political and cultural context; his book effectively illuminates the backstory of a gruesome example of it. (Nov.)