The untold story of the horrendous murders which led to the 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking

Daily Mail ^ | 10-27-14

[SJackson]

the terrorist outrage that's been made into an opera sparking protests in America

Jewish and disabled protestors - including Rudy Giuliani - camped outside the New York Metropolitan Opera at the premiere of 'The Death of Klinghoffer' last week...

The slick production has been criticized for glamorising terrorism in its portrayal of the infamous atrocity in which the terrorists murdered an elderly disabled American Jewish passenger, Leon Klinghoffer in full view of many of the American and British passengers on board.

They then threw his blood-stained body - still in his wheelchair - overboard.

...snip...

Kuntar and an accomplice launched an attempted kidnapping of a Jewish family in Israel which resulted in the horrific deaths of a young father and two young daughters.

...snip...

According to eyewitnesses, Danny was shot in front of Einat - so the last thing she would see was her father being murdered. Then Kuntar killer her by smashing her skull against a rock with a rifle butt.

In Smadar's own words: 'By the time we were rescued from the crawl space, hours later, Yael, too, was dead. In trying to save all our lives, I had smothered her.'

The next day Abu Abbas, who planned the attack with Kuntar - who was caught that night - said it had been done 'to protest the signing of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty at Camp David' seven months earlier.

...snip...

Smadar, who is now a clinical social worker who cares for Jewish and Arab children in her mixed community in the Galilee, has not seen 'The Death of Klinghoffer'.

But she expresses concern at the glaring omission of the truly horrific catalyst to the story – her story - which they fail to mention at any point.

[GeronL]

I wonder if the NAZI’s also made heroes of killers?

of course.

Now the taxpayers have to support this filth?

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

Worth clicking the source and reading the entire sordid article. Thanks to the British press for the reminder, our mainstream media aren't about to tell it. And here I thought the Met was telling the whole story about the palestinian's sympathetic viewpoint. When they do the sympathetic Sirhan Sirhan opera, but they leave out that the last pre-Obama killing of an Ambassador, Cleo Noel and charge de affairs George Moore was on the orders of Yasser Arafat, after being taken prisoner to trade for the sympathetic Sirhan.

[punknpuss]

Here is the letter I wrote to the Met on August 27th regarding this opera.

Dear Sir,
I remember the death of Leon Klinghoffer when it made the news in 1985. I was a young person then and thought how horrible are the people who would murder an old man just because of his religion. How can such people like that exist on this earth? I thought everyone felt the same about that evil episode in the history of mankind.

But evidently that’s not the case. Antisemitism is on the rise due mainly to the influence of Muslims in America and people, like you and the directors of the Met, who hate as Muslims hate. What is your justification? Are you Jewish? I have to ask because of your name and because of the curious existence of Jewish people who hate their own kind. If you are not Jewish are you one of those Germans who believe that Hitler and Goebbels had the right idea in trying to exterminate the Jewish people? To cleanse the world of their presence?

I don’t know if there will ever be a time in history that this opera will be seen as harmless, artistic expression, but I can tell you that now is not that time. We are living during a most dangerous time to ramp up anti-Jewish sentiment. I cannot understand how thinking people, intelligent people even, can justify this rubbish of an opera. I hope that you and the directors will derail this performance and choose something that is higher minded. Opera should lift people out of their dreary lives and give them a glimpse of heaven, not drag them into the dark hearts of mankind to take part in the murder of a helpless old man.

Respectfully,

[punknpuss]

And here is their response:

September 3, 2014

Thank you for contacting us.

The Metropolitan Opera has championed the work of John Adams, one of America’s greatest living composers. This will be the third of his operas that the Met has presented over the last seven seasons. The Met is committed to presenting the finest works across the operatic repertory, as well as increasing the accessibility and relevance of the art form.

The Death of Klinghoffer is an opera about a terrible incident that has become part of a pattern of violence that in the ensuing decades continues to repeat itself. Since this opera dramatizes a horrific act of violence, the Met acknowledges that some members of its audience may disagree with the decision to present this work and the Met would like to assure its audiences that it is not endorsing any political views expressed in the libretto. In deference to the daughters of Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer, the Met has agreed to include a message from them both in the Met’s Playbill and on its website. The Met believes that in staging it, audiences are being given the opportunity to hear one of the best operas of the late 20th century.

Please know that after an outpouring of concern that its plans to transmit John Adams’s opera The Death of Klinghoffer might be used to fan global anti-Semitism, the Metropolitan Opera announced the decision to cancel its Live in HD transmission, scheduled for November 15, 2014.

Sincerely,

The Metropolitan Opera

[SJackson]

We'll see if one of America’s greatest living composers will compose a sympathetic piece on Sirhan Sirhan, James Earl Ray, Lee Harvey Oswald or perhaps Adolph Eichman. Heck, Hitler loved his dog. Or if he or anyone else does, if the Met will produce it. I left out Stalin, Castro and Pol Pot since to the left they're sympathetic. I guess Arab child murders are too.

BTW, it's not about a terrible incident that has become part of a pattern of violence that in the ensuing decades continues to repeat itself. This incident was one of Arabs murdering civilians, a practice that stretched back nearly a century at the time it happened, and continues. It wasn't novel, other than in it's brutality. Murdering young children, following up by murdering an old man in a wheelchair. And a 3 month old just a couple days ago. Perhaps an opera dwelling on the murder's motivation is in order.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Thank you for your letter protesting this outrage. I remember the incident too and am appalled that anyone would glorify it.

[rrrod]

I was working in Egypt at the time....the Egyptians had a field day..overjoyed with happiness. The world did nothing...American Jews hardly even mentioned it....but they donate a few dollars to Israel charities so they can say they are good Jews....

Israel has enemies in many forms.

[SJackson]

Don’t know about the world, but there was plenty of outrage in the US, within and without the Jewish community. You might recall President Reagan created a diplomatic incident by having the plane flying the mastermind of this and other attacks and a dozen or so cohorts, Mohammed Zaidan, aka abu Abbas, intercepted and forced down in Italy. However he was unable to get him out of Italy, who released him, then convicted him of murder in absentia. The Oslo process gave him effective immunity for the murders. Zaidan died a natural death in US custody in Iraq where he was thought to have been in charge of funneling funds from Sadaam to the families of palestinian martyrs.

[omega4412]

And how many Jews in NYC will continue to contribute to the Met?

[SJackson]

BTW, the landing at a base in Italy resulted in a brief, tense faceoff between SEALs and Italian Carabinieri who were tasked with preventing the SEALs from assaulting the plane and removing the terrorists.

[SJackson]

Plenty, I’m sure. Christians too. I doubt David Koch will pull his support, in fact he attended the opening.

[rrrod]

Yes I do recall that....just will Id see more outrage from the American Jewish community over the play....Israelis are also outraged over the goings on with obla, Kerry and the general RAT party.

[marron]

Christians too.

Not one.

I don't believe in "ethnic christianity".

Anyone donating has already sold his soul to the devil.

[SJackson]

Plenty are outraged, more aren’t. I’ll bet not two out of a hundred know who Klinghoffer and the Achile Lauro are, almost none the back story. Hopefully the protests, which are planned to go on till it closes, might raise a bit of awareness.

[SJackson]

I understand your position

[piytar]

“become part of a pattern of violence”

Elitist newspeak for “It’s the Jooos fault.” /SPIT

[LucyT]

I was in Greece at the time, and they took it seriously. There were armed soldiers everywhere.

[punknpuss]

Yet, why should we be surprised? These are the same people who believe that murdering a child in the womb is justified because a woman finds its life inconvenient. Maybe the old Jewish man was inconvenient to his murderers too.

[elcid1970]

Israel’s enemies are moral savages. Period.