Volume 32, Number 13 · August 15, 1985
The Hijacking
By B. L.
Why did they do it? As usual in the Middle East, the stated reason is not the important one, particularly in this case, where the hijackers or those who sent them must have known perfectly well that the Israelis were already planning to release the Shi'ite and other Lebanese captives, and that a public challenge of this kind could only delay, rather than accelerate, their release. The immediate cause was undoubtedly the exchange negotiated not long previously by the Damascus Palestinian leaders, which had secured the release of some 1,100 Palestinians held in Israel. The Palestinians had not negotiated for the release of the Shi'ites, who were not their concern and who were at that moment their enemies.
Feature, 759 words
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