1969 Jerusalem bombings

{{Short description|Fatal supermarket bombing by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine}}{{pp-extended|small=yes}}

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = 1969 PFLP bombings in Jerusalem

| location = Jerusalem

| date = {{start date and age|1969|2|21|df=yes}}

| native_name = הפיגוע בסניף שופרסל בירושלים

| native_name_lang = heb

| type =

| weapon = Explosive device

| fatalities = 2 civilians

| injuries = 9 civilians

| perpetrator = PFLP

| numparts = 5

}}

On February 21, 1969, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) carried out a bombing attack on a supermarket in Jerusalem, killing 21-year-old Leon Kanner of Netanya and 22-year-old Eddie Joffe, students at the Hebrew University, and injuring 9.

Supermarket bombing

The deaths and injuries were caused by a bomb placed in a crowded Jerusalem SuperSol supermarket which the two students stopped in at to buy groceries for a field trip.{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/trial-set-for-jerusalem-terror-convict-who-moved-to-us/|title=Trial set for Jerusalem terror convict who moved to US|date=3 September 2014 |work=The Times of Israel}}{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/1.613739|title=Palestinian convicted of two bombings back in U.S. court over immigration fraud|date=2 September 2014|work=Haaretz}} The same bomb wounded 9 others.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/372065/convicted-terrorist-worked-obamacare-navigator-illinois-jillian-kay-melchior|title=Convicted Terrorist Worked as Obamacare Navigator in Illinois |author=Jillian Kay Melchior |date=26 February 2014|work=National Review Online}} A second bomb was found at the supermarket, and defused.{{cite web |url=http://www.jta.org/1969/02/24/archive/jerusalem-supersol-re-opens-for-business-2-young-bombing-victims-are-buried |title=Jerusalem Supersol Re-opens for Business; 2 Young Bombing Victims Are Buried|date=24 February 1969|agency=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}}

In the investigation that followed the bombings, authorities uncovered an arsenal of PFLP weaponry including explosives.{{cite news|title=Forty Members of Terrorist Cells Rounded Up in Supermarket Bombing Case|url=http://www.jta.org/1969/03/04/archive/forty-members-of-terrorist-cells-rounded-up-in-supermarket-bombing-case|accessdate=16 March 2017|publisher=JTA|date=4 March 1969}}

Bombing of British Consulate

On 25 February 1969 the same PFLP terrorists planted two bombs in a window of the British Consulate in Jerusalem. The bomb exploded in the apartment of a secretary at the consulate, who was not home at the time. There were no injuries, although the room was wrecked.{{cite news|title=ConsulateBombed|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1969/02/26/page/3/article/consulate-bombed|accessdate=16 March 2017|publisher=Chicago Tribune|date=26 February 1969}} A bombing attempt at the Consulate the previous Friday failed when the bomb was discovered and detonated.{{cite news|title=Officials Escape Injury in British Consulate Explosion|url=http://www.jta.org/1969/02/26/archive/market-blast-hurts-2-arabs-officials-escape-injury-in-british-consulate-explosion|accessdate=16 March 2017|publisher=JTA|date=26 February 1969}}

=Rasmea Odeh=

These two attacks are often cited in connection with Rasmea Odeh, a PFLP activist who confessed to involvement and attained later a degree of notability after she was released from an Israeli prison in a prisoner exchange and violated American immigration laws.{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/24/woman-faces-immigration-c_0_n_4157797.html|title=Rasmieh Yousef Odeh, Community Activist, Accused Of Hiding Terror Conviction To Gain Citizenship|date=24 October 2013|author=Michael Tarm |work=The Huffington Post}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/05/federal-trial-rasmea-odeh-immigration-fraud|title=Arab-American activist on trial for allegedly concealing terror role in immigration papers |date=5 November 2014|work=The Guardian}}{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/1.619036|title=Trial set for U.S.-Palestinian immigrant convicted in Israel deaths; Rasmieh Odeh is accused of hiding she was convicted in Israel for terror attacks from American immigration officials.|date=3 October 2014 |work=Haaretz}}{{cite web|url=http://patch.com/illinois/evergreenpark/evergreen-park-woman-accused-of-hiding-terrorist-past|title=Evergreen Park Woman Accused of Hiding Terrorist Past |author=Lorraine Swanson |date=21 October 2014|work=Evergreen Park, Illinois Patch}}{{cite web|url=http://abc13.com/archive/9298742/|title=Evergreen Park woman Rasmieh Odeh charged with lying about Palestinian terrorist past |date=23 October 2013 |publisher=ABC13 Houston}}{{cite web |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-feds-woman-hid-terror-conviction-to-get-citizenship-20131022-story.html |title=Feds: Woman hid terror conviction to get citizenship|date=22 October 2013 |author=Jason Meisner |work=Chicago Tribune}} In 1980, Odeh was among 78 prisoners released by Israel in an exchange with the PFLP for one Israeli soldier captured in Lebanon.

References