Letter Bombs Aimed at British Jews

British Jews appear to be the principal targets of the new wave of letter bombs flooding Britain. To date, 20 of the booby-trapped envelopes have been either intercepted at postal sorting offices or turned over to police by recipients. One recipient, Vivian Prins, a diamond merchant, was injured Friday when he opened a letter bomb in his office. He was reported resting comfortably yesterday at St. Bartholomews Hospital.

Other recipients included Abba Bornstein, former chairman of the British Mizrachi, Chief Rabbi Emeritus Sir Israel Brodie, and the sexton of a small synagogue who said he was probably on the terrorists’ list because his name appears on the synagogue’s note paper. Letter bombs were also received by three Jews in Glasgow.

Several were addressed to offices in White-chapel where many Jewish business firms are located. Scotland Yard has warned Jews not to open unexpected mail from abroad. Police increased security for the 17th biennial national conference of the British Section of the World Jewish Congress which opened here last night.

(The Israeli newspaper, Maariv, reported today that two Palestinian Arabs were arrested in Bucharest after Rumanian authorities found letter bombs in their possession. The Arabs were enroute to Yugoslavia where it was believed they intended to mail the bombs to Israeli individuals and Jewish institutions.)

(A Dutch-Jewish industrialist, Oscar Van Leer, said yesterday in Amsterdam that he may have been the intended target of an explosion that took three lives last week in the Sheraton Hotel in Buenos Aires. He said the blast occurred in a room adjoining his and “may have been the work not of Arab terrorists but of anti-American elements.” Van Leer played a leading role in organizations providing economic aid to Israel. The Dutch Minister of Justice, Andreis Van Agt, told the Netherlands Senate last week that the government is considering making false bomb alerts and the planting of fake bombs a punishable offense.)

JEWS ARE CAUSE OF PROBLEM, SOME SAYING

A Scotland Yard expert told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today that the letter bombs are only dangerous if opened. He warned against putting suspect mail in water because the glue on the envelope could dissolve and the bomb would explode. The letter bombs contain stiff cardboard soaked in a plastic explosive with a metal detonator. The expert said any suspect letter should be put aside and the local police informed immediately.

“It is safe to handle as long as the envelope is not torn,” he said. “Once such precautions are taken, there is no reason to be unduly worried. When the perpetrators discover that nobody falls for the device they will stop doing it because it is not easy.”

Post office workers, meanwhile, were reportedly being given special training to detect and handle letter bombs. There was growing concern, however, that some of the bombs were passing through a metal-detection device without being discovered.

A London newspaper quoted one postal sorter saying: “This job is beginning to get damned dangerous. I wish the Arabs would fight their war in the Middle East.” Another remarked, “Sooner or later one of us is going to get killed and very few of us are Jewish.”