Incident Summary:
11/29/1985: It is suspected that a fire in the building that houses the offices for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) in Washington D.C. in the United States, was deliberately set by a Jewish militant. The fire began in a public relations firm located two floors below the ADC and before the fire ignited, the ADC offices were ransacked. There were no casualties but the fire caused around $500,000 in damages to the office building and an adjacent supermarket and liquor store.
Overview
GTD ID:
198511290012
When:
1985-11-29
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
District of Columbia
City:
Washington
Location Details:
1731 Connecticut in the Dupont Circle neighborhood
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Facility/Infrastructure Attack |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: NGO |
Name of Entity |
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee |
Specific Description |
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Offices, Washington D.C. |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
Value of Property Damage |
$500,000.00 |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Incendiary |
Gasoline or Alcohol |
Weapon Details |
fire believed to be started with an accelerant |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Additional Information |
The fire began around 8:00 PM and raged for 45 minutes before firefighters put it out. After the incident, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) received from letters from leaders of the Jewish Defense League claiming the attack, however it was not believed that these letters were authentic. Authorities believed that this incident might have been connected to the bombing of the ADC offices in Santa Ana California and the attempted bombing of the ADC offices in West Roxbury Massachusetts during the previous year (198508070007 and 198510110002). |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Jewish Extremists (suspected) |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
John Ward Anderson, "Arab Group Building Was Ransacked," Washington Post, December 1, 1985. |
David K. Shipler, "Terrorism in U.S. Low As Attacks Abroad Rise," New York Times, December 6, 1985. |
John Ward Anderson, "Arab Group Satisfied With Probe," Washington Post, December 7, 1985. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties