1982
October 9, Rome
Stefano Gaj Taché, 2 years old
Dynamics of the attack to the Synagogue of Rome
The attack occurred at 11:55 AM on Saturday, October 9, 1982, a day when Shabbat, the bar mitzvah of several dozen teenagers from the Roman Jewish community, and Shemini Atzeret, marking the end of the Sukkot festival, were being celebrated simultaneously. It is estimated that at least 300 people were present in the Temple, including at least fifty minors with their families.
The five terrorists, dressed elegantly, walked calmly to their target. Three positioned themselves to block all three potential escape routes on Via Catalana, which faces the rear exit of the Synagogue, while the other two positioned themselves in front of the main entrance of the building, located on Via del Tempio. According to reconstructions, a security guard employed by the Jewish community asked two members of the commando to identify themselves. They responded by throwing at least three grenades and then opening fire with submachine guns on the crowd. The attack lasted about five minutes, after which the assailants were seen fleeing in a red Volkswagen and a white Austin.
The only victim of the attack was a 2-year-old boy, Stefano Gaj Taché, who was fatally struck by shrapnel from a grenade. Forty people were injured, including the victim’s parents and his brother, Gadiel Gaj Taché (4 years old), who was hit in the head and abdomen.
Reactions
The attack occurred five months after the start of the Lebanon War, a period during which Jews worldwide were under accusation for the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon, and the Jewish community in Rome felt surrounded by a hostile atmosphere. In Via Garfagnana, a banner reading “We will burn Zionist nests” had been posted, and a coffin was placed in front of the synagogue during a CGIL march.
Immediately after the attack, there were harsh reactions from the Jewish community: a journalist from l’Unità had to take refuge in a nearby building, insulted by the crowd. Then Prime Minister Giovanni Spadolini arrived on the scene to offer his support to the then Chief Rabbi of the Roman Jewish Community, Elio Toaff. Spadolini was welcomed by the crowd as the only one, along with Marco Pannella, not to have received Arafat (referring to the recent visit of the Palestinian leader to Italy, where he met President Sandro Pertini, the mayor of Rome Ugo Vetere, and Pope John Paul II). Rabbi Toaf invited Pertini not to attend the funerals.
Two days after the attack, Roman city councilor Bruno Zevi delivered a famous speech at the Campidoglio (published in full the next day in Il Tempo) on behalf of the Jewish Community, in front of then-mayor Ugo Vetere. Zevi spoke of widespread anti-Semitism, accused the Ministry of the Interior of “not having set up defensive measures in the ghetto and around the synagogue, despite persistent requests,” noting an Italy “that sends its bersaglieri to Lebanon to protect the Palestinians but does not protect Italian Jewish citizens,” and criticized the Vatican “for the pompous way in which it received Arafat,” politicians, and the media “who, with few exceptions, distorted facts and opinions.” At the end of his speech, Zevi said: “Anti-Semitism has existed for two thousand years, not since 1948, from the proclamation of the State of Israel. We do not believe in philo-Semitic anti-Zionism: it is a contradiction in terms.”
Investigations
In the days following the attack, the act was attributed to the Abu Nidal-led Revolutionary Council of Fatah, responsible for numerous attacks against Jewish targets in Italy and Europe throughout the 1980s. A claim by self-proclaimed “Red Brigades PLO” was not deemed credible by investigators.
To date, only one of the attackers’ identities is known, Osama Abdel Al Zomar, who was arrested on November 20, 1982, while trying to cross the border between Greece and Turkey carrying a load of explosives. Following his arrest, further checks conducted by the police and testimony from his Italian girlfriend identified him as a member of the commando.
Al Zomar served a sentence for arms trafficking in Greece, at the end of which, despite Italy’s extradition requests, he was released. Zomar took refuge in Libya, where he remained until the fall of Gaddafi’s regime. In 1991, he was convicted in absentia for massacre by the Court of Appeal of Rome.
One of Abu Nidal’s main collaborators was arrested in Switzerland in September (before the attack), but the news was made public only in mid-October, as it was suspected that the detainee was among the masterminds of this and other attacks against Jewish sites and institutions.