THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS – This may sound like the beginning of a joke – three Japanese walk into a French Embassy in the Netherlands – but terrorism is not funny.
Do you have triskaidekaphobia?
You may not be entirely familiar with that term. It is Greek for ‘fear of the number 13’. And it is tied to a fear – or desire to avoid – the number 13. Apartments often skip that floor, going from 12 to 14.
And then there is Friday the 13th. As if the belief that this day on the calendar was not scary enough, we have the whole Friday the 13th horror movies to contend with!
That particular day is so bad that even terrorists like it!
On this day in 1974
Japanese Red Army (JRA) terrorists stormed the French embassy in The Hague (Netherlands) and took 11 hostages, including the ambassador. They did so apparently on orders of their leader Fusako Shigenobu and demanded the release of Yatsuka Furaya, another JRA member. Dutch officials believed at the time that there was a better‐than‐even chance that they would carry out their threat to kill the hostages.
We were continuously under the threat of their revolvers and deprived of food and water for 60 hours.
Ambassador Jacques Senail
After lengthy negotiations, on Tuesday 17 September the French government agreed to free Furuya from a French prison, in return for the release of the hostages, US$300,000, and a flight out of the Netherlands to Yemen and on to Syria. Some of the terrorists were eventually captured and some are still at large. And I bet there are some who won’t go to ANY embassy on Friday the 13th after reading this!
Read More Today in Terrorism
May 31, 1906: Spanish anarchist bombs royal wedding
On May 31, 1906 a Spanish anarchist threw a bomb hoping to hit King Alfonso XIII, killing 24 and wounding more than 100.
May 30, 2009: Anti-government group bombs TV station in Ecuador
On May 30, 2009 two pamphlet-bombs exploded outside an Ecuadorian TV station and ministry: no victims or significant damage ensued.
May 29, 2016: ISIS uses chlorine gas in terrorist attack
On May 29, 2016 35 civilians were wounded in an ISIS attack using rockets containing chlorine gas in Iraq’s Nineveh Province.
