Jules Jammal Jules Yusuf Jammal ( ) is a possibly fictitious person , said to have lived from April 1 , 1932 to October 29 , 1956 , who is credited as a Syrian military officer who killed himself in a suicide bomb attack during the 1956 Suez Crisis , in Egypt . The narrative is that Jammal rammed his boat into a French warship , thereby sinking the ship . This story is given credence in some sources . However , as related in the 1967 book " Six days in June : Israel ' s fight for survival " by Washington correspondent and historian Robert J . Donovan , the tale is false but gained traction in the Arab world after being aired on Radio Cairo . It is cited as an example of the " potency of [ the station ] to propagate myths [ as being ] beyond dispute . " Narrative . According to sources from Arab countries , Jammal ' s biography and actions are the following : He was born in al - Mishtaya ( ) , which is located between the cities of Homs and Latakia , into an Arab Orthodox Christian family . He later joined the Syrian Navy as an officer . During the 1956 Suez Crisis , he is said to have volunteered in the name of Arab nationalism to launch a suicide bomb attack against the tripartite invasion by Israel , Britain , and France into Egypt ' s Sinai Peninsula in order to capture the Suez Canal . Jammal activated a suicide bomb when he rammed his boat into a French ship , destroying it and dying in the process . It is not clear which actual ship he is supposed to have sunk . One source calls the ship at issue the " liner " Jean D ’ Arc " " and another the " French warship , " Jeanne D ’ Arc " " . There was a French cruiser " Jeanne d ' Arc " in service at that time , but it was decommissioned in 1964 rather than sunk . Some sources name the battleship " Jean Bart " , which did see action in the Suez Canal , but that vessel was also not sunk ; it was decommissioned in 1961 . Legacy . Considered a hero in both Syria and Egypt , he was decorated post - mortem by the two countries . He received the highest military medal by the Syrian government after his death . Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser gave him the Egyptian military star . He also received the high honors by the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and the medal of St Peter and St Paul from the same church . There are a number of streets named after him , including two in Syria ( in Damascus and in Latakia ) , two in Egypt ( one in the Muhandseen area of Giza , Cairo and another in Alexandria ) and one in the Palestinian Authority region ( Ramallah ) . Syrian President Hafez al - Assad received his secondary education at the Jules Jammal High School in Latakia . A 1960 film called " The Giants of the Sea " ( in Arabic : عمالقة البحر pronnounced " Amaliqat el Bahr " ) was released , directed by Al Sayyed Badir and starring Ahmed Mazhar , Abdel Monhem Ibrahim and Nadia Lutfi . The role of Jules Jammal was played by his brother Adel Jammal . The Arab film director Gassan Abdullah announced plans to make a film about Jammal in 2008 , since he was regarded as a hero for many in Syria and Egypt for his Arab nationalism . A school in Latakia , Syria is named after Jammal . as well as a military school in Syria . The current Grand Mufti of Syria , Ahmad Bader Hassoun , mentioned Jammal in a speech aimed at Western countries , warning that Syrians and Lebanese would engage in suicide bomb attacks against Europe and the United States if they bombed Syria during the 2011 Syrian uprising . He cited Jammal as an example of a non - Muslim Syrian who carried out a suicide bomb martyrdom attack on the west , and warned that non - Muslims would assist Syria in those attacks .