1980 Antwerp attack

On 28 July 1980, a Syria-born Palestinian, identified as Said Al Nasr, used grenades 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.

Attack

The attack took place outside the Agoudath Israel cultural centre. The group of children, aged 10 to 14, originating from Britain, France, the Netherlands, Austria, and Belgium were accompanied by their families as they waited to board a bus to take them to a summer camp in the Ardennes hills of southern Belgium. The explosion killed one boy, identified as 15-year-old Parisian David Kuhan, and wounded 20, aged 13 to 27, eight of whom had to be hospitalized, including a 13-year-old Belgian with critical brain injuries and a pregnant woman.

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."

The attack was among a number of anti-Jewish attacks worldwide in the early 1980s.

Perpetrator

Main article: Said Al Nasr

Al Nasr is a Syrian-Palestinian, was convicted in Belgium in 1980, for throwing two hand grenades into a group of Jewish children waiting for a bus in Antwerp on July 27, 1980. He was carrying a Moroccan passport at the time of his arrest.

The jailed Al Nasr was "traded" for part of the family Houtekins-Kets in 1990, a Belgian-French family kidnapped in Libya—a demand of the Abu Nidal group—during the Silco incident.

References

Further reading

• ""We hebben zes jaar van ons leven gemist"; Familie Houtekins spreekt voor het eerst na gijzeling in Libie". Het Nieuwsblad. 24 March 2005.
• "Een vergissing van bijna zes jaar; Verbitterde familie Houtekins doorbreekt na 14 jaar de stilte". De Standaard. 23 March 2005.
• "Een Eeuw in Beeld - 1980". Het Belang van Limburg. Archived from the original on 2006-10-24. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)