1974 French Embassy attack in The Hague

Japanese Red Army siege in the Netherlands thumb|A helmeted policeman stands at the entrance of the French Embassy during the siege, 15 September 1974. The 1974 French Embassy attack in The Hague was an attack and siege on the French Embassy in The Hague in the Netherlands starting on Friday 13 September 1974. Three members of the Japanese Red Army (JRA) stormed the embassy, demanding the release of their member Yatsuka Furuya ja 山田義昭. The ambassador and ten other people were taken hostage. The siege and negotiations lasted five days, resulting in the release of Furuya and the embassy hostages, and a safe flight out of the Netherlands for the terrorists. During the incident, a café in Paris was bombed which was linked to the embassy crisis. Background The Japanese Red Army was a communist terrorist organisation dedicated to eliminating the Japanese government and monarchy and launching a worldwide revolution. The organisation carried out many attacks and assassinations in the 1970s, including the Lod Airport massacre in Tel Aviv two years earlier."Those named by Lebanese officials as having been arrested included at least three Red Army members who have been wanted for years by Japanese authorities, most notably Kōzō Okamoto, 49, the only member of the attacking group who survived the Lod Airport massacre." "Lebanon Seizes Japanese Radicals Sought in Terror Attacks", The New York Times, 19 February 1997. Embassy attack thumb|Police officers around the embassy on 15 September Three Japanese Red Army members stormed the embassy on Friday 13 September 1974. A few minutes later, three Dutch police officers entered the embassy and were immediately caught under fire. Two police officers were seriously injured due to the gunfire and the other opened fire.http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2000/12/01/national/shigenobu-indicted-in-embassy-attack/ Shigenobu indicted in embassy attack Japan Times 21 January 2017 One of them was policewoman Hanke Remmerswaal, who was shot in the back, puncturing a lung. The Red Army demanded the release of their member Yoshiaki Yamada ja 山田義昭 (also known as Yatsuka Furuya), one million dollars, as well as the use of a French aeroplane. Due to the position of the building in a central part of the city (Smidsplein), the Dutch authorities, in consultation with the Government of France, chose to negotiate for the release of the hostages instead of mounting a rescue operation.http://anderetijden.nl/aflevering/497/Gijzeling-Franse-ambassade Aflevering - Gijzeling Franse ambassade - Andere Tijden Andere Tijden nl 2017-01-22 The two female hostages were released after two days. Paris café attack Le Publicis Drugstore bombing Saint‐Germain‐des‐Pres, Paris, France 15 September 1974 Grenade attack 2 34 Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine On 15 September, a grenade was thrown into the Le Publicis Drugstore café in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district in Paris. The attack killed two people and wounded 34, including two children who were maimed.Grenade Explosion Kills 2 and Hurts 26 In Paris Drugstore https://www.nytimes.com/1974/09/16/archives/grenade-explosion-kills-2-and-hurts-26-in-paris-drugstoore-a.html The New York Times 16 September 1974 The attack was linked to the still ongoing siege and hostage-taking at the French embassy in The Hague.Carlos the Jackal to face trial in France over 1974 bombing https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/12/carlos-the-jackal-to-face-trial-in-france-over-1974-bombing The Guardian 12 March 2017 The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for the attack, and in 1996 a former member of the group, Carlos the Jackal, was charged with the attack.Infamous Terrorist Charged in 1974 Paris Cafe Grenade Bombing https://www.apnews.com/45e338cec36a51445279dd1455052c54 Associated Press 22 February 1996 20 June 2018 20 June 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180620180608/https://www.apnews.com/45e338cec36a51445279dd1455052c54 dead The hostage-taking by the PFLP-allied JRA in The Hague had also been orchestrated by Carlos according to prosecutors. The Paris attack was said to have finally pressured the French government into releasing the jailed JRA member. Carlos personally claimed responsibility for the attack in a 1979 interview with an Arab magazine, which he later denied. End of siege thumb|The Boeing 707 carrying the terrorists at Schiphol Airport on 17 September After lengthy negotiations, around 10:00 am on Tuesday 17 September, France agreed, in return for the release of the hostages, to free Furuya from a French prison, US$300,000, in addition to a flight out of the Netherlands in an Air France-owned Boeing 707, which would later take off with the four terrorists and a Dutch-English crew piloted by Pim Sierks from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The plane flew the hostage-takers to Aden, South Yemen for refueling, before bringing them to Damascus, Syria. They were then forced to give up their ransom and weapons, which were then returned to the French Embassy in Damascus.https://www.nytimes.com/1974/09/19/archives/terrorists-land-relinouish-money-four-japanese-fly-to-syria-and.html Terrorists Land,@Relinquish Money The New York Times 19 September 1974 According to Ambassador Jacques Senard, at least 20 shots were fired by the terrorists during the siege. Both the captives and Dutch authorities claimed that the kidnappers were highly trained; the ambassador called the group's leader a "skilled negotiator".https://www.nytimes.com/1974/09/19/archives/french-envoy-felt-terrorists-would-carry-out-death-threat-exchange.html French Envoy Felt Terrorists Would Carry Out Death Threat The New York Times 19 September 1974 Aftermath The Government of France said on 18 September that its secret service would organise an international effort against the Japanese Red Army. The Dutch Budget Day (Dutch: Prinsjesdag), where the reigning monarch addresses Parliament and proposes the next year's budget, was scheduled for 17 September. The traditional ride in the Golden Coach did not happen. Instead Queen Juliana was driven in a car, along a heavily protected route. The JRA's next major activity was the August 1975 AIA building hostage crisis in Malaysia. Trial of attackers Kazue Yoshimura was arrested by Peruvian DIRCOTE agents in Lima on 25 May 1996 after alleged contacts with members of the Maoist Shining Path (SP) insurgency.http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/ca87fbdbdf85af14253e37c761c1c7a1 PERU: SUSPECTED JAPANESE RED ARMY TERRORIST TO BE DEPORTED - AP Archive www.aparchive.com 26 October 2017 The trace to her arrest was established after the 1995 Bucharest capture of Yukiko Ekita with a false Peruvian passport. She had supposedly intended on traveling to the coca-growing Huallaga Valley, the last stronghold of the diminished Peruvian Maoist insurgency as well as a drug-trafficking haven.https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/06/world/peru-to-send-red-army-guerrilla-suspect-to-japan.html Peru to Send Red Army Guerrilla Suspect to Japan The New York Times 6 June 1996 26 October 2017 According to the Peruvian Caretas magazine, she was aiming on helping establish a JRA presence in South America and may have even established contacts with Jun Nishikawa, another JRA operative later captured in Bolivia. Yoshimura was later deported to Japan by the government of Alberto Fujimori (a Japanese Peruvian), who stated that there was no proof against her despite the overwhelming intelligence data. The move was allegedly the result of pressure from Japanese authorities. In December 1997, Yoshimura was sentenced to two and half years imprisonment for passport forgery.http://www2.caretas.pe/2000/1618/articulos/terruca.phtml CARETAS HOME PAGE www2.caretas.pe 26 October 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20171012090559/http://www2.caretas.pe/2000/1618/articulos/terruca.phtml 12 October 2017 dead Two of the three members who allegedly attacked the embassy, Haruo Wakō and Nishikawa were detained and extradited to Japan, where they were later imprisoned.31 March 2007 Japanese hijacker sentenced to life https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2007/03/31/Japanese-hijacker-sentenced-to-life/90251175341402/ 2025-07-31 United Press International en2023-11-06 Haruo Wako, ex-Japanese Red Army member serving life sentence, dies at 75 https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/44189 2025-07-31 Kyodo News en The other member, Junzō Okudaira, is still at large.November 2016 Fusaku Shigenobu was captured by the Japanese police on 8 November 2000, after many years on the run. She was found guilty of her involvement in the attack and sentenced in 2006 to 20 years in prison.http://www.jurist.org/paperchase/2006/02/japanese-red-army-founder-sentenced-to.php JURIST - Japanese Red Army founder sentenced to 20 years for French embassy attack www.jurist.org 23 February 2006 en 2017-01-22http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1048487.stm BBC News ASIA-PACIFIC Japanese Red Army leader charged news.bbc.co.uk 30 November 2000 2017-01-22 She was released in 2022.2022-05-28 Japanese Red Army founder Shigenobu freed after 20 years https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61615018 2025-07-31 BBC News en-GB Carlos the Jackal faced trial for the Paris café attack in 2017, and was given a third life sentence. During the trial he claimed that "no one in the Palestinian resistance has executed more people than I have," and claimed responsibility for a total of about 80 killings.'Carlos the Jackal' jailed over 1974 Paris grenade attack https://news.sky.com/story/carlos-the-jackal-jailed-over-1974-paris-grenade-attack-10816476 Sky News 28 March 2017Carlos the Jackal loses bid to fight last of three life sentences https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-carlos/carlos-the-jackal-loses-bid-to-fight-last-of-three-life-sentences-idUSKCN1GR3I2 Reuters 16 March 2018 It is thought he bombed the café to put more pressure on the French government into the JRA's demands in Netherlands. Carlos had already been imprisoned since 1996 for other international terrorist activities.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/carlos-the-jackal-blows-kisses-court-terrism-france-revolution-my-job-a8241506.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/carlos-the-jackal-blows-kisses-court-terrism-france-revolution-my-job-a8241506.html 2022-05-01 subscription live Carlos the Jackal blows kisses in court during theatrical diatribe: 'Revolution is my job' The Independent 6 March 2018 In popular culture This event was featured in the 2010 biopic miniseries Carlos about the terrorist Carlos the Jackal. In the film The Assignment the attack is fictionalized as one Carlos launched specifically to kill a CIA agent who he recognized incidentally while at the cafe there, disconnected from the French Embassy attack. Gallery Footnotes References http://www.geschiedenis24.nl/andere-tijden/afleveringen/2003-2004/Gijzeling-Franse-ambassade.html http://www.boekenwebsite.nl/geschiedenis/de-gijzeling http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20001202a6.html Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in 1974 Category:September 1974 in Europe Category:1974 crimes in the Netherlands Category:History of South Holland Category:Hostage taking in the Netherlands Category:Attacks on diplomatic missions of France French Embassy attack Category:Attacks on diplomatic missions in the Netherlands Category:1974 conflicts Category:Battles and conflicts without fatalities Category:20th century in The Hague Category:Japanese Red Army Category:Palestinian terrorist incidents in Europe Category:Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine attacks Category:Terrorist incidents in the Netherlands in the 1970s Category:France–Netherlands relations Category:Palestinian terrorist incidents in France Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in 1974 Category:1974 in international relations Category:1970s sieges Category:Sieges involving France Category:Sieges involving the Netherlands Category:Reactions to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in the Netherlands