ABSTRACT
After understanding the psychology of soft targeting and our vulnerabilities to the threat, it is important to comprehend the phenomena of postmodern terrorism: How did we arrive at this violent juncture in our history? And which actors have the propensity, reach, assets, and abilities to attack a soft target based on their past attempts or successful hits?
The era of modern terrorism began on July 22, 1968, with the hijacking of an airliner traveling from Rome to Tel Aviv by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or the PFLP. The group, whose goal is the establishment of a Palestinian state, is still in business after 46 years. For five weeks, twenty-one passengers and eleven crew members were held hostage in Algiers as the world helplessly watched and learned about the PFLP cause. Eventually, the terrorists released the hostages, in exchange for sixteen Arab prisoners held in Israeli jails. This was not the first hijacking of an airliner; however, the PFLP’s brazen use of the tactic to draw attention to its political cause, as well as concessions given by
