How An Orange Became A Weapon Of Mass Destruction
By: Reuben Salsa
Tags: Salsa, History, Politics, Israel, Terrorism

The attack

In 1978, a dozen Europeans in at least three countries became ill after eating Israeli oranges, lemons, and grapefruit that had been tainted with mercury. A group of Palestinian extremists took responsibility for the poisoning, saying its goal was to “sabotage the Israeli economy.”

Fear had spread into the European markets. It had all began in Rotterdam, Holland. Five Dutch children were rushed to the hospital to have their stomachs pumped. A parent's worse nightmare. Nobody wants to see their children fall prey to terrorism. The innocent fruit of choice, an orange, was the mechanism the terrorists had chosen to deliver their message. “No one is safe” they declared, “not even your fruit.”

Israel's largest export was halted. Supermarkets from several European countries pulled them from their shelves. Nothing was allowed past Customs. The terrorists sent letters to 18 European and Arab Governments. West Germany and the Netherlands confirmed they had received such a letter from the Arab Revolutionary Army Palestinian Command. The letter explained their actions:

“It is not our aim to kill the population, but to sabotage the Israel economy which is based on suppression, racial discrimination and colonial occupation” stated the terrorists.

The fear spread far and wide. In an age where the only information a person received was from the daily newspapers, radio, or TV, it wasn’t hard to fear the worse. Israeli officials tried their best to remove the imagery of oppressed Palestinians in occupied territories, sinking hypodermic needles into oranges.

The letter claimed that thousands of oranges had been poisoned by Palestinian workers in Israel’s orchards. Not bad for a small group of radicals.

Officials weren’t convinced of the terrorists’ claims. A small group couldn’t possibly coordinate a widespread conspiracy among agricultural workers. Secondly, the poisoned oranges spoiled rapidly, with large rotten spots appearing where the mercury injection had punctured the fruit’s protective rind. There would be nothing but rotten fruit if they had been poisoned from the source.

But the damage had been done.

From Holland to West Germany. A police officer was the second victim. Shopkeepers soon discovered tainted produce in Sweden, Denmark, and then Britain. Four additional victims were treated for mercury poisoning in West Germany. In the end, 31 oranges across six countries were found.

Once the public had been convinced, there was no arguing with them. Moms were extra vigilant. The original forbidden fruit had clear signs of tampering. Israeli officials said that the poisoned fruit had a “visible external sign on the peel” and that had they been poisoned in Israel they would have deteriorated considerably by the time they reached Europe.

Lies and propaganda spread by terror. Fear seeping into the markets. The terrorists wanted to create widespread public apprehension about Israeli citrus products in Europe and disrupt trade patterns. They succeeded. It doesn’t matter that more than a dozen people including children were harmed. The end always justified the means.

The Arab Revolutionary Army had already killed before. The previous October a United Arab Emirates government minister was caught in the crossfire as they attempted to assassinate Syrian Foreign Minister Abdel Halim Khaddam. They were to have more press coverage with fruit tampering. Ultimately, the poisoning was an attempt to discredit the Palestinian Liberation Organization who had disavowed attacks against civilians.