Leon Klinghoffer
Leon Klinghoffer (September 24, 1916 – October 8, 1985) was a proud American Jewish entrepreneur, inventor, and World War II veteran who was brutally murdered by Arab-"Palestinian terrorists from the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) during the 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro hijacking. The wheelchair-bound 69-year-old was shot in the head and chest before being thrown overboard simply for being a Jewish American, in a stark act of Arab racist antisemitic terrorism..[1][2] They murdered Leon "not for any known crime but, rather, for the obvious crime of being Jewish."[3][4]
Contents
Personal Life
Klinghoffer was raised on Suffolk Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a classic example of Jewish immigrant grit and community. Among his childhood friends was the legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby. He embodied the hardworking Jewish-American spirit that built much of New York and the nation.
In September 1949, he married Marilyn Windwehr, the daughter of a haberdasher. Together they raised two daughters. Later in life, after suffering strokes, Klinghoffer faced physical challenges with dignity, continuing to live fully despite needing a wheelchair.
Career
Klinghoffer worked in his family’s hardware store, Klinghoffer Supply Company, learning the value of honest enterprise from a young age. During World War II, he answered the call of duty, joining the U.S. Army Air Force as a navigator. He flew combat missions over Europe in B-24 Liberator bombers with the 93rd Bombardment Group, helping defeat Nazi tyranny. After an honorable discharge in 1944, he and his brother Albert expanded the family business and became successful inventors and businessmen.
The brothers founded the Roto-Broil Corporation of America. Their flagship product, the Roto-Broil Rotisserie Oven (Roto-Broil 400), became a staple in American kitchens during the 1950s — a testament to Jewish American innovation and the postwar economic boom fueled by free enterprise.
Hijacking and Murder
In 1985, Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer were celebrating their 36th wedding anniversary on a peaceful Mediterranean cruise aboard the Achille Lauro. On October 7, four armed terrorists from the Palestine Liberation Front seized the ship off Egypt. They demanded the release of convicted Palestinian terrorists held in Israel, including Samir Kuntar, a murderer who had previously slaughtered innocent civilians.
When their demands were not met, the terrorists chose to execute an innocent hostage to spread fear. They selected Leon Klinghoffer — an elderly, disabled Jewish American — precisely because of his faith, nationality, and vulnerability. One terrorist, Youssef Majed al-Molqi, later admitted they wanted to show “no pity,” equating the cold-blooded murder of a wheelchair user with Israeli self-defense against terrorism.
Molqi forced Klinghoffer onto the deck, shot him in the head and chest at point-blank range, and then ordered crew members at gunpoint to dump his body and wheelchair into the sea. Marilyn Klinghoffer was denied the chance to see her husband and only learned of his murder after the terrorists fled. The PLF’s leader Muhammad Zaidan (Abu Abbas) later called the hijacking a “mistake,” while a PLO official grotesquely suggested Marilyn had killed her own husband for insurance money.
This was not a political protest — it was the deliberate, antisemitic murder of a Jewish American veteran by radical Palestinian terrorists who targeted civilians and celebrated brutality.
President Ronald Reagan responded decisively, ordering U.S. fighter jets to intercept the terrorists’ getaway plane and force it to land in Italy. This strong conservative leadership stood in sharp contrast to later administrations that showed weakness toward terrorists.
Aftermath and Legacy
Klinghoffer’s body was recovered and returned to the United States. His funeral at Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York drew 800 mourners, a powerful tribute to a decent man whose life was stolen by hatred. Marilyn Klinghoffer passed away from cancer in 1986.
In response to this outrage, Jewish student activists and Rabbi Morris Gordon held a mock Jewish funeral in front of the PLO’s Washington office, rightly condemning Palestinian terrorism. Klinghoffer’s daughters established the **Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer Memorial Foundation** in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League to combat terrorism through education, politics, and law. A civil lawsuit against the PLO helped secure compensation and contributed directly to the passage of the important **Antiterrorism Act of 1990**, strengthening America’s ability to hold terrorists accountable.
Abu Abbas, the PLF commander, was initially protected and later received lenient treatment under the Clinton administration, which failed to aggressively pursue his extradition despite a unanimous 99–0 Senate resolution. He was finally captured by U.S. forces in Iraq in 2003 and died in custody.
The Achille Lauro itself later sank after a fire — a fittingly ignominious end for the vessel associated with such evil.
Portrayals
The hijacking inspired several works, but one stands out for controversy: John Adams’ opera *The Death of Klinghoffer*. Critics, including Klinghoffer’s own daughters, have rightly condemned it for moral equivalence, antisemitic undertones, and humanizing terrorists while downplaying the victimhood of a Jewish American family. Such artistic efforts often reflect a dangerous cultural tendency in elite circles to sympathize with Palestinian terrorists rather than unequivocally condemn their barbarism.
Klinghoffer’s story also appears in other media, including the 1990 TV movie *Voyage of Terror* and Philip Roth’s *Operation Shylock*.
Leon Klinghoffer’s murder remains a powerful reminder of the enduring reality of antisemitic terrorism, the importance of strong American leadership against it, and the resilience of the Jewish people and the United States in the face of hatred. His memory continues to inspire the fight against terrorism and the defense of Western and Jewish values.
References
- ↑ Salamon, J. (2019). An Innocent Bystander: The Killing of Leon Klinghoffer. United States: Little, Brown.
- ↑ Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress. (1996). United States: U.S. Government Printing Office, p.9500
- ↑ Kimmage, Michael. In History's Grip: Philip Roth's Newark Trilogy. United States: Stanford University Press, 2012, p.145
- ↑ Alexander, Y., Richardson, T. B. (2009). Terror on the High Seas: From Piracy to Strategic Challenge [2 Volumes]. Indonesia: ABC-CLIO, p.84
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