The Shadow that Ripped Through the Mediterranean - The Achille Lauro Incident (1985)

The Shadow that Ripped Through the Mediterranean - The Achille Lauro Incident (1985)

In October 1985, the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked by a faction of the Palestine Liberation Front, demanding the release of prisoners held by Israel. In the background was the complicated situation in the Middle East during the Cold War, including the Lebanese Civil War, the Iran-Iraq War, and internal divisions within the PLO. The incident culminated in the tragic murder of American Leon Klinghoffer, instilling in American society a fear of terrorism and a sense of retaliation. The "Sigonella Crisis," in which U.S. Navy F-14 fighter jets forcibly grounded an Egyptian plane carrying a group of perpetrators, resulted in a diplomatic clash over U.S. and Italian sovereignty, and the ringleader, Abu Abbas, was allowed to escape. The incident symbolized the bargaining between states and the rise of non-state forces, and the presence of arms dealer Monzer al-Kassar highlighted the dual structure of the Cold War era. Furthermore, the opera The Death of Klinghoffer,
based on the victims, provoked controversy over the relationship between art and ethics, and the memory of the incident was engraved in cultural history.