Dora Bloch () née Feinberg, a dual Israeli-British citizen, was a hostage on
Air France Flight 139
Operation Entebbe, also known as the Entebbe Raid or Operation Thunderbolt, was a counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by commandos of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976.
A week ear ...
from
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. The flight was hijacked on 27 June 1976 after a stopover in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
and rerouted to
Entebbe
Entebbe is a city in Central Uganda. Located on a Lake Victoria peninsula, approximately southwest of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda prior to independence, in 1962. The c ...
,
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
. Bloch became ill on the plane and was taken to a hospital in
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
, the capital of Uganda. She was not rescued with the other hostages during
Operation Entebbe
Operation Entebbe, also known as the Entebbe Raid or Operation Thunderbolt, was a counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by commandos of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976.
A week earl ...
, and went missing from the hospital. Her disappearance led to Britain cutting diplomatic ties with Uganda. Her body was discovered in 1979 in a sugar plantation near the capital. In February 2007, declassified British documents confirmed that she was murdered on the order of Ugandan president
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...
.
Biography
Dora Feinberg was born in
Jaffa
Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...
, then a part of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
and later part of Israel.
[ Her father, , was among the founders of the village of ]Rishon LeZion
Rishon LeZion ( he, רִאשׁוֹן לְצִיּוֹן , ''lit.'' First to Zion, Arabic: راشون لتسيون) is a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan ar ...
[ along with his brother, Dora's uncle, Israel Feinberg. After her father's death, she was raised by an uncle in Egypt. She moved to Jerusalem as an adult.][ She spoke Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, German, Italian, and English.] In 1920, she met Aharon Bloch () whilst he was serving in the British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
in the mandate of Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
.[ The two married in 1925.][ As Aharon Bloch was a naturalised citizen of the United Kingdom, this gave Dora British citizenship.] They had three sons.[ In 1976 she was a grandmother and a widow living in ]Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
.
Disappearance
On 27 June 1976, Bloch, aged 74[ or 75,][ was on Air France Flight 139, an ]Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is a wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Airbus.
In September 1967, aircraft manufacturers in the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a large airliner.
West G ...
plane, travelling to New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
for her youngest son Daniel's wedding. The flight was hijacked by terrorists after a stopover in Athens and was redirected to Entebbe
Entebbe is a city in Central Uganda. Located on a Lake Victoria peninsula, approximately southwest of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda prior to independence, in 1962. The c ...
, Uganda.[ With her fluency in languages, Bloch served as an interpreter between the hostages and hijackers.]
Bloch became ill on the plane and was transferred to Mulago Hospital
Mulago National Specialised Hospital, also known as Mulago National Referral Hospital, is a component of Mulago Hospital Complex, the teaching facility of Makerere University College of Health Sciences. It is the largest public hospital in Ug ...
in Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
.[ She is believed to have choked on food, and ]Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...
papers say that she was also being treated for leg ulcers
Venous ulcer is defined by the American Venous Forum as "a full-thickness defect of skin, most frequently in the ankle region, that fails to heal spontaneously and is sustained by chronic venous disease, based on venous duplex ultrasound testing." ...
while at the hospital. Bloch's son Ilan Hartuv, who was freed during the subsequent Operation Entebbe
Operation Entebbe, also known as the Entebbe Raid or Operation Thunderbolt, was a counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by commandos of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976.
A week earl ...
counter-terrorist
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...
hostage-rescue mission,[ was able to speak to a Ugandan doctor about his mother's health.] Henry Kyemba
Henry Kisaja Magumba Kyemba (simply known as Henry Kyemba likely born 1937-1939) is a Ugandan retired political figure who held several high positions and finally became Minister of Health during Uganda's rule by Idi Amin. He served in that post ...
, then Uganda's Minister of Health, said that he had allowed Bloch to stay in hospital for an extra night before being returned to the other hostages. As a result of this, Bloch was not with the other hostages, and so was not freed during the Operation Entebbe raid.[
During Operation Entebbe, Bloch's family in Israel were taken to the ]HaKirya
HaKirya, or The Kirya ( he, הַקִּרְיָה, ''lit.'' The Campus), is an area in central Tel Aviv, consisting of an urban military base north of Kaplan Street, and a civilian area south of it.
HaKirya contains the Tel Aviv District's govern ...
military complex in Tel Aviv, before going to the airport. Once at the airport, they were told that Bloch was still in Uganda. They spent an hour observing the traditional mourning ritual (shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
), but no longer as she was not confirmed dead.[
On 4 July, the British Government were informed that Bloch was not among the hostages released during Operation Entebbe.] As a result, she was visited by James Hennessy, then- High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Uganda,[ and Peter Chandley, second secretary of the ]British High Commission
A British High Commission is a British diplomatic mission, equivalent to an embassy, found in countries that are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Their general purpose is to provide diplomatic relationships as well as travel information, ...
in Kampala. Bloch told Chandley that she had been treated well in the hospital, but did not like the food.[ They were also told that Bloch was going to be moved to the Grand Imperial Hotel in Kampala.][ Chandley and his wife went to get some food for Bloch, but when they returned, they were denied entry to the hospital.][ The reason for this was that four men including ]Farouk Minawa
Farooq (also transliterated as Farouk, Faruqi, Farook, Faruk, Faroeq, Faruq, or Farouq, Farooqi, Faruque or Farooqui; ar, فاروق, Fārūq) is a common Arabic given and family name. ''Al-Fārūq'' literally means "the one who distinguishes b ...
, head of the State Research Bureau (Ugandan secret police) and Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...
's Chief of Protocol Nasur Ondoga had taken Bloch from her hospital bed and murdered her.[ The policeman guarding Bloch was also killed.][
]
Aftermath
A Ugandan police search did not find Bloch, and the Ugandan government informed the UK that they "had no responsibility" for Bloch after Operation Entebbe.[ In early July, a Ugandan traveller reported seeing a body, which he believed to be Bloch, near a group of Ugandan soldiers,][ around from Kampala.][ On 9 July, the ]United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
debated the Entebbe hijacking incident. The United Kingdom suggested a resolution that condemned both the hijack and the loss of life, so as not to endanger the lives of Britons in Uganda, including Bloch.[ During the debate, the Ugandan government reiterated their claim that Bloch had been returned to Entebbe airport.]
On 13 July, Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...
for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ted Rowlands
Edward Rowlands, Baron Rowlands (born 23 January 1940) is a Welsh politician, who served as a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party Member of Parliament for over thirty years, including a period as a junior minister in the 1960s and 1970s.
Educatio ...
said that Bloch was presumed dead.[ On 15 July, the British Government demanded a full search for "Bloch or her body", a request that was never fulfilled. A suggested motive for her killing was retaliation for the deaths of 50 Ugandan soldiers during Operation Entebbe.][ Amin later expelled Chandley from the High Commission, alleging that he was pro-Israeli and had supported the death of Ugandan troops.][
As a result of Bloch's disappearance, Britain withdrew their High Commissioner to Uganda,][ and on 28 July, Britain cut all diplomatic ties with Uganda.][ It was the first time in 30 years that Britain had severed ties with a ]Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
country. The British Government said that the main reason for cutting ties was the disappearance of Bloch, although other events during Amin's leadership had also contributed. In retaliation, Amin declared himself the "Conqueror of the British Empire (CBE)", and the unofficial King of Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. He added "Conqueror of the British Empire" to his list of official titles. After the fall of Amin in 1979, Britain recommenced diplomatic relations with Uganda.
In 1987, Kyemba said that Bloch had been dragged from her hospital bed and murdered by members of the Ugandan Army loyal to Amin.[ Declassified British documents released in February 2007 confirmed that Bloch had been killed on Amin's orders. According to the documents, a Ugandan citizen told the British High Commissioner in Kampala that Bloch had been shot and her body deposited into the boot of a car with Ugandan intelligence services number plates. The documents also showed that Britain continued to press Amin for information on Bloch's whereabouts, and that Amin continually denied knowledge of her fate.]
Recovery of body
After the Uganda–Tanzania War
The Uganda–Tanzania War, known in Tanzania as the Kagera War (Kiswahili: ''Vita vya Kagera'') and in Uganda as the 1979 Liberation War, was fought between Uganda and Tanzania from October 1978 until June 1979 and led to the overthrow of Uganda ...
,[ Tanzanian troops discovered Bloch's body in 1979 in a ]sugar plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
around from Kampala,[ near the ]Jinja Road Jinja may refer to:
* Jinja, Uganda, a city in eastern Uganda close to the source of the Nile River
** Jinja District, Uganda, named after the above city
* Shinto shrine, also called a "jinja", a structure that houses one or more Shinto kami (spi ...
.[ Visual identification was impossible because her face was badly burned, but the corpse showed signs of a leg ulcer.][ A pathologist working with the ]Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
formally identified Bloch from the remains.[ Her remains were returned to her son in Israel,][ where she was given an Israeli ]state funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...
.[ She was buried in Jerusalem's ]Har HaMenuchot
Har HaMenuchot ( he, הר המנוחות, Ashkenazi pronunciation, Har HaMenuchos, lit. "Mount of Those who are Resting", also known as Givat Shaul Cemetery) is the largest cemetery in Jerusalem. The hilltop burial ground lies at the western ed ...
Cemetery.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloch, Dora
1970s missing person cases
1976 murders in Africa
Burials at Har HaMenuchot
Deaths by firearm in Uganda
Deaths by person in Africa
Female murder victims
Formerly missing people
Jewish martyrs
Missing person cases in Greece
Operation Entebbe
People from Jaffa
Uganda–United Kingdom relations