Chasing Shadows: The Mysterious Life and Death of Wadie Haddad
Wadie Haddad, a towering figure of rare magnitude, remains an unknown legend, unrecorded in history’s pantheon. An unfortunate omission that plagues those whom posterity disregards with indifference.
His life began in violence, in the brutality of dispossession. Born in 1927 to a Christian family in Palestine, the war of 1948 turned him into an exile, torn from his land. For him, Palestine became more than a territory; it became an emotion celebrated by the humiliated in shared communion.
The Nakba was the foundational event of his life, a trauma that propelled all his actions. The law of retaliation became his ethics, his act of faith.
His mission was to hunt down Zionists wherever they may be, seeking to turn his despair into a promise of liberation.
After completing his medical studies, he co-founded the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) with his close friend George Habache, another great but lesser-known figure in the Palestinian struggle. The organization’s slogan encapsulated the essence of Haddad: “Behind the enemy, everywhere.”
Thus, fear began to shift its course. He believed that by attacking the enemy everywhere, he could turn Israel into a colossus with feet of clay, with an Achilles’ heel he could exploit: the fear of reprisals against Jewish citizens.
Aircraft hijackings became his signature, marking the skies of the 1970s with the flag of his country.
The first operation took place in September 1970. Members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked four planes bound for New York and one for London. Three planes were forced to land at Dawson’s Field, a landing strip in the Jordanian desert that Haddad would name the “revolutionary airport” of the PFLP.
More operations followed — some successful, others bitter failures — but all contributed to solidifying Wadie Haddad’s reputation as a seasoned revolutionary and Leila Khaled as a terror to airlines.
Indeed, Leila Khaled became the emblematic figure of aircraft hijackings, displaying courage and gaining Haddad’s complete trust to the point where she became his confidante.
Nevertheless, despite this unwavering support, Haddad recognized the limitations of this approach. While the hijackings were spectacular, their sole purpose was to draw international attention to the Palestinian question, obscured by the allied imperial forces of Israel.
Thanks to Haddad, the Palestinian issue became the center of conflicting passions. His greatest victory: the abolition of the status quo.
A victory he knew would be temporary unless backed by troops experienced in military combat. Unlike other Palestinian organizations, Haddad specialized in recruiting from all over the world.
His most infamous recruit was Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, better known as Carlos “the Jackal.” He also trained Andreas Baader in his camps in Jordan. In short, extreme left-wing groups from around the world volunteered to seek justice for a wounded Palestine. His training camp became an irresistible attraction for idealists in search of revolution.
He entrusted the most determined among them with an audacious, almost impossible mission: to seize the OPEC headquarters in Vienna. Thus, in 1975, a commando of professional revolutionaries headed for the summit, armed to the teeth.
The operation was led by a group of six people, led by Carlos, including Gabriele Kröcher-Tiedemann, Anis Naccache, and Hans-Joachim Klein. The goal was to kidnap the eleven Oil Ministers present, ransom nine of them, and assassinate two others: Saudi Ahmed Zaki Yamani and Iranian Jamshid Amouzegar.
The intent to kill the two ministers was motivated by the oil embargo imposed by Arab countries, which had led to an oil crisis. The measures aimed to exert pressure on the West, which had supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War and were to be lifted by these two countries.
The mission initially appeared to be a resounding success. Carlos’ team, accompanied by 42 hostages, was given a plane bound for Algeria, where thirty hostages were released. A photograph from the tarmac in Algiers, showing Carlos accompanied by Bouteflika, the Foreign Affairs Minister at the time, circulated around the world.
However, under pressure from the Saudi and Iranian governments, Carlos and his squad ultimately released the two OPEC leaders they were supposed to execute.
Not only had Carlos disobeyed, but he also appropriated a significant portion of the ransom money. Deeply affected by the betrayal, Wadie Haddad chose to exclude him from the movement to spare him from retaliation.
While Wadie Haddad’s life seems littered with events that made headlines in the international press, significant portions of his existence remain murky.
Declassified documents from the 1990s suggest he led a double life — as a revolutionary committed to the Palestinian cause and as a Soviet spy.
Under the code name “Nationalist,” the documents describe Haddad as a valuable and irreplaceable Soviet agent.
Another mystery surrounds his death in 1978. While the official version claims that Haddad died from leukemia, a book challenges this narrative. Aaron Klein’s book, “Striking Back,” speaks of an assassination by Mossad. The modus operandi was disconcertingly simple. A close associate of Haddad, working for Mossad, reportedly offered him his favorite chocolate, laced with a deadly and undetectable poison.
The Mossad’s ingenuity lay in crafting a poison that didn’t cause immediate death. The aim was to inflict prolonged suffering on their longtime enemy.
The symbolism of the poison was all the more tragic, as it was a longtime friend who contributed to his protracted agony, which ultimately ended in an East Berlin hospital.
A friend who, according to Aaron Klein, currently holds high-ranking positions in Palestinian organizations while collaborating with Israel.
Proof that the viper could gain the upper hand over the lion. Wadie Haddad’s life had assumed the guise of an ironic fable. Despite it all, Wadie Haddad lived as he died, in pain and hope.
