1968 PFLP Hijacking of El Al Flight

What Happened: On July 22, 1968, an El Al Israel Airlines plan departing from Rome and headed for Tel Aviv, Israel, was hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine(PFLP). They successfully diverted the plane, carrying 32 passengers and 10 crew members, to Algiers. Most of the passengers were released relatively quickly, but for seven crew members and five Israeli male passengers, who were held hostage for five weeks. After 40 days of negotiation, the Israelis agreed to the exchange.

Why?: The PFLP, a Palestinian nationalist organization with different ideological outlooks at different times (from Arab nationalist,to Maoist, to Leninist) sought to use spectacular tactics to bring world wide attention to Palestinian dispossession. They also sought an exchange of Palestinian militants held prisoner in Israeli prisons for the Israeli men they hostage.