An Innocent Bystander
The Killing of Leon Klinghoffer
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- S/ 49.90
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- S/ 49.90
Descripción editorial
The definitive story of one American family at the center of a single, shocking act of international terrorism that "manages to capture the essence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" (Dan Ephron).
On October 3, 1985, Leon Klinghoffer, a disabled Jewish New Yorker, and his wife boarded the Achille Lauro to celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary with a Mediterranean cruise. Four days later, four Palestinian fedayeen hijacked the Italian luxury liner and took the passengers and crew hostage. Leon Klinghoffer was shot in the head, his body and wheelchair thrown overboard. His murder became a flashpoint in the intractable struggle between Israelis and Arabs and gave Americans a horrifying preview of what it means when terrorism hits home.
In this richly reported book, drawing on multiple perspectives, Julie Salamon dispels the mythology that has grown around that shattering moment. What transpired on the Achille Lauro left the Klinghoffer family in the grip of irredeemable sorrow, while precipitating tragic reverberations for the wives and sons of Abu al-Abbas, the Palestinian mastermind behind the hijacking, and the family of Alex Odeh, a Palestinian-American murdered in Los Angeles in a brutal act of retaliation.
Through intimate interviews with almost all living participants, including one of the hijackers, Julie Salamon brings alive the moment-by-moment saga of the hijacking and the ensuing U.S.-led international manhunt; the diplomatic wrangling between the United States, Egypt, Italy, and Israel; the long agonizing search for justice; and the inside story of the controversial opera about the Klinghoffer tragedy that provoked a culture war.
An Innocent Bystander is a masterful work of journalism that moves between the personal and the global with the pace of a geopolitical thriller and the depth of a psychological drama. Throughout lies the tension wrought by terrorism and its repercussions today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Salamon (Wendy and the Lost Boys) set out to write about the daughters of Leon Klinghoffer, the American tourist murdered during the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship. But her research led to her to produce a much broader book detailing not only the terrorist incident that shook America but also the lives of those involved, including the terrorists. The Klinghoffers and their New Jersey friends were among the 73 tourists who stayed aboard the ship that October day while the rest took a land tour of Cairo. As the luxury liner moved on to Port Said, it was boarded by Palestinian gunmen. Over the course of several days, the world watched in horror as terrorists and governments negotiated the hostages' release. It wasn't until after the authorities left the ship that they realized Jewish American Klinghoffer had been shot and thrown overboard. The author follows the grieving family, the families of the terrorists, the trials, and the Palestine and Israel failed efforts at peace. The alleged mastermind of the hijacking, Abu al-Abbas, was never tried for the crime, dying of a heart attack in American custody in 2004. This moving story stands as the most in-depth look at the hijacking to date. Salamon reinforces her place as one of today's foremost chroniclers of American politics and culture.
