# What was the first Islamist terrorist attack on American soil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 10, 2015, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-islamist-terrorist-attack-on-american-soil/714679 "2015-03-10T06:16:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-islamist-terrorist-attack-on-american-soil/714679/1 "2015-03-10T06:16:32Z")
Do you think the assassination of Meir Kahane could count? It was done by the same guy who was behind the 1993 WTC bombing, and the motive was anti-Semitic. . Then again, even calling the 1993 bombings “Islamist” might be a bit of a bending of the truth since anti-Israeli/Palestinian nationalist sentiment seems to have been the primary motive. The LaGuardia bombing of 1975 was claimed by someone from the PLO, but the most popular theory is that a Croatian separatist is responsible for it. You also had the Riverdale Press bombings in 1989 though nobody was killed in those. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-islamist-terrorist-attack-on-american-soil/714679/2 "2015-03-10T07:13:23Z")
[Black September](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_September_Organization) began a campaign of mailing letter bombs to targeted individuals around the world. Most of these attacks were in Europe or the Middle East. But on September 20, 1972 the police intercepted letter bombs that were being sent to Israeli diplomats in New York City. There was a second wave of attacks in New York City in October and these bombs arrived at their targets. Two of them failed to explode when opened but a third did, injuring a mail clerk named William Figueroa on October 14, 1972. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-islamist-terrorist-attack-on-american-soil/714679/3 "2015-03-10T07:47:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > [Black September](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_September_Organization) began a campaign of mailing letter bombs to targeted individuals around the world. Here one has to distinguish between ostensibly _Muslim_ terrorists and _Islamist_ terrorists. The BSO was, as far as I know, not Islamist in motivation. Probably more Marxist-tinged than anything else. There _were_ some militant Islamists running around in the 1970’s, particularly in Egypt, but it was not a dominant movement at the time and they were mostly very local in outlook. The more internationally active terror movements of the day, even in Muslim countries, tended much more towards radical leftist ideologies and secularism. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-islamist-terrorist-attack-on-american-soil/714679/4 "2015-03-10T10:31:14Z")
Anything from Nation of Islam \*splinter groups earlier than the [1977 Hanafi Siege](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Hanafi_Siege)? \*distinct because the Nation of Islam itself stayed out of the rough stuff, only seeking to protect (and discipline) its own with violence. I recall reading how they’d send representatives to major Civil Rights events in the South, but beforehand would secretly meet with the KKK to negotiate “do what you’re going to do, but keep your hands off our members and we won’t come after your people later.” ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-islamist-terrorist-attack-on-american-soil/714679/5 "2015-03-10T10:39:22Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > Do you think the assassination of Meir Kahane could count? It was done by the same guy who was behind the 1993 WTC bombing, and the motive was anti-Semitic. I think the motive was to kill Meir Kahane, specifically. ---
**Author:** ![jezzaOZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@jezzaOZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jezzaOZ)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-islamist-terrorist-attack-on-american-soil/714679/6 "2015-03-10T11:08:26Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > Do you think the assassination of Meir Kahane could count? It was done by the same guy who was behind the 1993 WTC bombing, and the motive was anti-Semitic. Not all Islamists are antiSemitic and certainly not all anti-Semites are Islamists (and that’s using the restricted and political anti-Semitic definition of being anti-Jew - whereas non Hebrew Semitic languages are the predominate languages in the Middle East and North Africa. As Yasser Arafat pointed out - how could he be anti-Semitic when he was himself a Semite!) ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-islamist-terrorist-attack-on-american-soil/714679/7 "2015-03-10T11:20:02Z")
Um, the assassination of RFK? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-islamist-terrorist-attack-on-american-soil/714679/8 "2015-03-10T11:25:23Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Um, the assassination of RFK? Are you joking? He was an Arab Christian, of varying denominations. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-islamist-terrorist-attack-on-american-soil/714679/9 "2015-03-10T11:46:02Z")
> [@jezzaOZ](#): > > and that’s using the restricted and political anti-Semitic definition of being anti-Jew Because that’s the intended and accepted usage of the word/phrase since its creation. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-islamist-terrorist-attack-on-american-soil/714679/10 "2015-03-10T12:02:42Z")
Territories count? There’s the Moro Rebellion 1898-1913. It’s part of a couple centuries of the Muslim Moros fighting everyone that’s been in the region with various levels of religious vs secular influence. The latest variants resisting Philippine security forces are split between more islamist and not nationalist groups. That period did see use of suicide attackers (just armed with swords instead of bombs) who were recruited for martyrdom by imams as part of an offensive jihad. Those attacks likely count even if the overall goals included strong elements of nationalism. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-islamist-terrorist-attack-on-american-soil/714679/11 "2015-03-10T14:08:09Z")
It depends on whether you consider the black muslims as part of the islamist movement. If so the Zebra killings in San Francisco would qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-islamist-terrorist-attack-on-american-soil/714679/12 "2015-03-10T16:43:34Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Anything from Nation of Islam \*splinter groups earlier than the [1977 Hanafi Siege](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Hanafi_Siege)? There’s still a lot of questions about the Mosque No. 7 incident in New York City in 1972. Somebody claiming to be “Detective Thomas” made a fake call to the NYPD saying he needed emergency assistance at an NOI Mosque in Harlem. Five police officers responded and entered the Mosque. There were about fifteen to twenty people inside who protested there was no emergency in the Mosque and resisted the officers’ entry. The incident escalated and one police officer, Phillip Cardillo, was shot. He died a week later. A large crowd and some local politicians gathered around the Mosque and protested the police had caused the incident by their unnecessary attempt to enter the Mosque. One of the unanswered questions in the aftermath was who had made the initial call. There was no Detective Thomas. One theory is the Nation of Islam faked the call in order to lead the police into an ambush. Another theory is the police faked the call in order to justify entry into the Mosque. Both of these theories seem doubtful; the incident seems to have caught both the NOI and the police by surprise. A third theory is that a separate radical group had faked the call in order to provoke a confrontation between the NOI and the police. ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-islamist-terrorist-attack-on-american-soil/714679/13 "2015-03-10T21:14:02Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > It depends on whether you consider the black muslims as part of the islamist movement. If so the Zebra killings in San Francisco would qualify. the Nation of Islam is no relation to the Islamist trend in any way. > [@DinoR](#): > > Territories count? > > There’s the Moro Rebellion 1898-1913. How can the restistance of the Moro peoples to the outside invaders, on their own lands be something related to “terrorism” on American soil???