Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Panama’s Varela Says ‘Terrorism’ Cause of 1994 Plane Crash
Error: Contact form not found.
by Reuters and Algemeiner Staff
Panama’s President Juan Carlos Varela delivers a speech during the Americas Business Summit in Lima, Peru, April 12, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Andres Stapff / File.
Panama’s president said on Monday a 1994 plane explosion in the country that killed 21 people, most of them Jewish, was the result of a terrorist attack and called for the case to be re-opened.
President Juan Carlos Varela told reporters that Israel provided reports late last year about the plane crash, whose victims included prominent Jewish Panamanian businessmen and which stirred suspicion of hate-motivated sabotage.
The 1994 crash came soon after a bomb at a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires killed 85 people, raising concerns that Jews worldwide could increasingly become the targets of militants amid tense peace talks in the Middle East.
Varela told reporters he will ask Panamanian and Israeli authorities to reinvestigate the incident.
“I’ve requested the re-opening of the case given intelligence reports that clearly show it was a terrorist attack,” he said.
The 1994 Panamanian President-elect, Ernest Perez Balladares, said at the time sources close to the investigation told him they believed the apparent mid-air explosion to have been caused by a bomb.
