Sen. Joseph S. Clark, Pennsylvania Democrat, said today in the Senate that the Arab hijacking of an Israeli commercial airliner represents “a new and frightening threat to the security of air travellers of all nations.”
A member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Clark said the action was “a serious and unprecedented escalation of the Arab cold war against Israel.”
The Senator said the hijacking was “one step over the brink” and asked how the United States would respond if Chinese Communist terrorists hijacked a Pan-American airliner. He called on Algeria to release the plane, with its crew and all passengers, at once. Sen. Clark also demanded a trial of the hijackers for “piracy” with “appropriate punishment.” Sen. Clark said the hijacking ‘was a pre-planned act of piracy conceived against a sovereign nation, with the lives of innocent passengers – including an American – hanging in the balance.”
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