In August 1969, leaders in the
Palestinian left-wing organization
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) learned that
Yitzhak Rabin, then Israeli
ambassador to the United States, was scheduled to be aboard a
Trans World Airlines (TWA) Rome–Athens–Tel Aviv flight. On 29 August two operatives,
Leila Khaled and Salim Issawi, hijacked the aircraft. Rabin was not aboard, but American diplomat
Thomas D. Boyatt was. The hijackers made the pilots land the aircraft at
Damascus International Airport in Syria. They evacuated the aircraft, a
Boeing 707, and blew up the nose section of the aircraft. At the terminal, Khaled delivered a speech to the passengers, further explaining the motives of the hijacking. She said, "I assumed
[Shadia Abu Ghazaleh's] name on flight 840 to tell the world about the crimes the Israelis inflict upon our people and to demonstrate to you that they make no distinctions between men, women and children. But for their own propaganda objectives they repeatedly state in your press how we attack their 'innocent' women and children and how cruel we are. I want you to know that we love children, too, and we certainly do not aim our guns at them. We diverted flight 840 because TWA is one of the largest American airlines that services the Israeli air routes and, more importantly, because it is an American plane. The American government is Israel's staunchest supporter. It supplies Israel with weapons for our destruction. It gives the Zionists tax-free American dollars. It supports Israel at world conferences. It helps them in every possible way. We are against America because she is an imperialist country." The Syrian authorities arrested the hijackers and immediately released the 12 crew members and 95 passengers, retaining at first six Israeli passengers. Of those, four were released on 3 September. The aircraft sustained $4 million in damage. Boeing repaired the aircraft, fitting the nose section diverted from the production line at Renton and outfitted to the aircraft's specifications. The aircraft was re-registered N28714 and returned to service. ==References==