On 27 July 1980,

Said Al Nasr Said Al Nasr (alt. Said al-Nasser; Nassar Saeed, ar, سعيد النصر) was a Syrian Palestinian known for carrying out the 28 July 1980 Antwerp summer camp attack, in which he attacked a group of 40 Jewish children waiting with their families ...

, a Syria-born Palestinian, used

grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade ge ...

s to attack a group of 40 Jewish children waiting with their families for a bus to take them to summer camp. One boy was killed and 20 other people were wounded in the attack. The attacker was convicted.

Attack

The attack took place outside the Agoudath Israel cultural centre in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. The group of children, aged 10 to 14, originating from Britain,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, were accompanied by their families as they waited to board a bus to take them to a summer camp in the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

hills of southern Belgium. The explosion killed one boy, 15-year-old

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

ian David Kohane, and wounded 20, aged 8 to 27, eight of whom had to be hospitalized, including a 13-year-old Belgian girl with critical brain injuries and a pregnant woman. 2 young brothers Zevi and Motti Glejser aged 8 and 9 respectively were walking past at the time of the attack and were wounded and hospitalised. The attacker was arrested after witnesses chased him down. In addition to the thrown grenades, he was carrying a pistol and "several magazines of ammunition" that had not used in the attack. The attack was among a number of anti-Jewish attacks worldwide in the early 1980s.

Perpetrator

Al Nasr is a Syrian-Palestinian, was convicted in Belgium in 1980, for throwing two

hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade ...

s into a group of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

children waiting for a bus in Antwerp on 27 July 1980. He was carrying a Moroccan passport at the time of his arrest. In 1990, the jailed Al Nasr was "traded" for part of the Houtekins-Kets family, a Belgian-French family kidnapped in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

—a demand of the

Abu Nidal Sabri Khalil al-Banna (May 1937 – 16 August 2002), known by his '' nom de guerre'' Abu Nidal, was the founder of Fatah: The Revolutionary Council, a militant Palestinian splinter group more commonly known as the Abu Nidal Organization ...

group—during the Silco incident.

Attack

Perpetrator

References

Further reading