Klinghoffer Family Sets Up Fund to Fight Terrorism

The family and friends of Leon Klinghoffer on Thursday announced the establishment of a memorial fund in his honor to fight international terrorism.

The fund, commemorating the partially paralyzed businessman who was slain by Palestinian hijackers on Oct. 8 aboard the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, will be used to lobby for international laws to prevent the escape of terrorists, to oppose leniency for those who commit acts of terrorism and to provide awards to people who take gallant action against them.

Milton Gralla, a family friend who announced the memorial fund at a news conference near the United Nations in Manhattan, said: “We believe an attack . . . by four young men armed with guns against one partially disabled man in a wheelchair is an attack on all of us. We feel if we don’t speak out, we’re inviting the world to do this again and again.”

“The Klinghoffer family, and their friends and associates, already have received immeasurable nationwide and worldwide expressions of concern and support,” Gralla said. “A common thread in most of these expressions is that if it can happen to Leon Klinghoffer, it can happen to anyone, so people want to take action now.

‘Sewing Up The Net’

“To sum it up, civilized society allegedly has set up a net of justice to prevent and punish crimes against our friends and neighbors. We believe the international net is full of holes, through which terrorists usually escape. We want civilized people and governments everywhere to start sewing up that net.”

Gralla, the co-founder of the publishing company that employs Klinghoffer’s widow, Marilyn, said he and his wife have donated $25,000 to the fund. Joining him at the news conference were Klinghoffer’s daughters, Lisa, 34, and Ilsa, 28; Lisa’s husband, Jerry Arbittier, and Paul Dworin, Ilsa’s fiancee. Klinghoffer’s widow remained in seclusion at her Greenwich Village home.

Klinghoffer, who was 69 and spent most of his time in a wheelchair, was killed and his body dropped overboard from the Achille Lauro off the Syrian coast. His body was recovered earlier this week at the Syrian port of Tartus. American officials say two bullet wounds were found in the corpse.

On Thursday, Viola Meskin, one of the U.S. citizens who was held hostage on the ship, said that as the hijackers were about to surrender in Egypt, they received applause and kisses from some passengers who were not Americans. But she said the accolades may have been triggered by fear, because the pirates were still armed and carried hand grenades.

Americans Segregated

Meskin, in a telephone interview, said the passengers were kept for three days in one of the ship’s lounges, and the Americans were segregated on one side of the room.

“They had us separated, had our passports,” she said. “The Americans were at one end of the lounge and at the other end were other passengers and crewmen. They (the hijackers) were still holding their guns and had hand grenades. They left like conquering heroes.”

Meskin said that because of the distance across the room and the language barrier, it was impossible to determine the true motive of many of those who applauded the terrorists.

“It was a five-language ship,” she said. “ . . . I don’t blame anyone.”

Italian authorities have brought murder charges against the four men who hijacked the ship on Oct. 7.

Dworin was asked at the news conference how the family had reacted to statements by the Palestine Liberation Organization that Klinghoffer may have died of a heart attack. “I think you could characterize it as anger,” he said.

He said the grieving family was being helped and strengthened by “absolutely unbelievable support from the nation.”

“Last night alone, we opened and read 250 letters of support from people, people who say, ‘Your grief is our grief. Your father was our father. Your husband was our husband,”’ Dworin said.