cover image Israel Versus Jibril: The Thirty-Year War Against a Master Terrorist

Israel Versus Jibril: The Thirty-Year War Against a Master Terrorist

Samuel M. Katz. Paragon House Publishers, $24.95 (285pp) ISBN 978-1-55778-433-9

Israeli-American military historian Katz's workmanlike study presents the few known facts about Ahmed Jibril and his Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. Responsible for major terrorist acts from the 1970 destruction of a schoolbus filled with Israeli children to the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988, the PFLP-GC has established itself as the most effective and technologically sophisticated terrorist organization. Katz describes ambushes, kidnappings and bombings perpetrated by the PFLP-GC, its relationship with sponsors Libya, Iran and Syria, and the futile efforts of Israeli authorities to destroy the organization. He also discusses the innovations the PFLP-GC has introduced into the terrorist scene, such as commando-carrying hang-gliders and the use of unwitting human ``mules'' to carry explosive devices aboard targeted airliners. Jibril, the ``Teflon Terrorist,'' continues to elude arrest, and his organization remains at the forefront of the ``holy war'' against the state of Israel. (May)