Saturday, April 11, 2026

Today in
Middle East History

1936 - Turkey requested a revision of the 1923 Lausanne Convention in order to regain control of Dardanelles.

1956 - In Tel Aviv, an Arab guerilla raid killed 4 and wounded 16.

1961 - Israel began the trial of Adolf Eichman, accused of World War II war crimes.

1967 - In Israel, three Arab guerillas killed 18 people in Qiryat Shemona.

1982 - In Jerusalem, an Israeli killed two Arabs at the Dome of the Rock mosque.

1988 - In Larnaca, Cyprus, hijackers of a Kuwait Airways jet killed a second hostage and then dumped his body onto the ground. The plane had been hijacked on April 5.

1991 - U.N. Security Council issued a formal cease-fire with Iraq.

1996 - Israel began a 17-day bombardment of Lebanon under the name "Operation Grapes of Wrath."

2003 - The U.S. military issued a most-wanted list of 55 regime leaders that "must be captured or killed."

2003 - U.S. Central Command said that the Iraqi army's 5th Corps at Mosul had surrendered and agreed to a cease-fire.

2003 - U.S. President George W. Bush announced that Saddam Hussein's regime was out of power in Iraq.


Middle East Quote

"We see in Islam a religion that traces its origins back to God's call on Abraham. We share your belief in God's justice, and your insistence on man's moral responsibility. We thank the many Muslim nations who stand with us against terror. Nations that are often victims of terror, themselves." - U.S. President George W. Bush