1978 London bus attack

{{Infobox terrorist attack

| title = 1978 London bus attack

| image =

| caption =

| location = Europa Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London

| coordinates = {{coord|display=inline,title|51|30|45|N|0|9|4|W|scale:1563_region:GB}}

| map =

| map_caption =

| target =

| date = {{start date and age|1978|8|20|df=yes}}

| time = 13:30 pm

| timezone =

| type = Mass shooting, grenade attacks

| fatalities = 1 civilian (+1 attacker)

| injuries = 9 civilians

| perps =

| perpetrator = Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

| weapons = Submachine guns, hand grenades

}}

On 20 August 1978, a staff bus, of El Al airlines in London, England was attacked by Palestinian terrorists.{{Cite book|first1=Barry|last1=Rubin|first2=Judith Colp|last2=Rubin|title=Chronologies of Modern Terrorism|year=2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ynNsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA193|publisher=Routledge|page=193|isbn=9781317474654}} Flight attendant Irit Gidron and one terrorist were killed in the attack, and nine people were wounded.{{Cite news|title=1978: Two dead after El Al crew ambushed|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/20/newsid_2546000/2546593.stm|work=BBC News|date=20 August 1978}}{{Cite news|title=Terrorist Attack on El Al Mini-bus Kills Airline Stewardess, injures 8|url=https://www.jta.org/1978/08/21/archive/terrorist-attack-on-el-al-mini-bus-kills-airline-stewardess-in-jures-8|agency=JTA|date=21 August 1978}}

Attack

At around 13:30, a minibus with staff of El Al airlines was attacked during a stopover at the Europa Hotel in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, central London, when two or three men opened fire with submachine guns and hand grenades. An El Al flight attendant was killed in the attack, while members of a wedding party were among those wounded by gun shots and a taxi driver was blown from his cab by a grenade. A man presumed to be one of the terrorists was found dead after the attack. A second terrorist was captured by the police, while a possible third escaped.

Aftermath

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for the attack. The flight attendant killed in the attack, Irit Gidron, 29, was buried in Israel next to the victims of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.{{Cite news|title=Irit Gidron, Terrorist Victim, Buried Alongside Victims of Munich Massacre|url=https://www.jta.org/1978/08/24/archive/irit-gidron-terrorist-victim-buried-alongside-victims-of-munich-massacre|agency=JTA|date=23 August 1978}} The terrorist arrested, Fahad Mihyi, was sentenced to life imprisonment a year later for the attack.{{cite web |title=My Terrorist: Director's statement |url=https://www.wmm.com/storage/films/my-terrorist/press/myterr_presskit.pdf |website=Women Make Movies |access-date=30 May 2025 |page=5 |date=May 2003}}{{Cite news|title=Terrorist Incidents against Jewish Communities and Israeli Citizens Abroad, 1968-2003|url=https://www.ict.org.il/Article/893/Terrorist-Incidents-against-Jewish-Communities-and-Israeli-Citizens-Abroad-1968-2003#gsc.tab=0|publisher=International Institute for Counter-Terrorism|date=20 December 2003|access-date=21 August 2018|archive-date=26 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326041448/https://www.ict.org.il/Article/893/Terrorist-Incidents-against-Jewish-Communities-and-Israeli-Citizens-Abroad-1968-2003#gsc.tab=0|url-status=dead}}

In 2000, Yulie Cohen Gerstel, one of the flight attendants injured in the attack, contacted Mihyi who was imprisoned at Dartmoor Prison. Mihyi was apologetic for his role in the terrorist attack. Gerstel advocated for his parole as shown in the 2002 documentary My Terrorist.{{cite news |url=https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/7962/ |newspaper=Jewish Journal |title='Terrorist' Helped Israeli Heal |date=2003-05-09 |accessdate=2018-11-12 | author=Naomi Pfefferman}} Mihyi was released in 2005.