Erika Chambers
Encyclopedia
Erika Chambers is the assumed pseudonym
of the Mossad
agent behind the action on January 22, 1979 that killed Ali Hassan Salameh
, leader of Black September
and lead plotter behind the Munich massacre
.
in Munich
, 8 members of Black September (group)
took hostage
and ultimately killed 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team
.
of those suspected of planning the operation. Although Ali Hassan Salameh
, the leader of Black September and purported architect of the Munich Massacre, was one of those targeted, he survived several assassination attempts.
Georgina Rizk
, at her apartment in Snoubra, West Beirut, and when not in meetings spent time at the gym and at a sauna
. After planning a bomb attack on the sauna, the plan was vetoed due to the potential for an excessive number of civilian casualties.
In November 1978, a British
based charity worker named Erika Mary Chambers traveling on a 1975 issued British passport came to Beirut. It is now believed that several other Mossad agents also entered Beirut at the time, including two using the pseudonyms Peter Scriver and Roland Kolberg, traveling with British and Canadian
passports respectively.
Erika Chambers, known as Agent Penelope by Mossad, came with a back story of graduating from the University of Southampton
. In her early 30's and resident in the UK, she joined British-based arms of welfare organisations supporting Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and was subsequently invited to Beirut.
Mossad agents noted that Salameh would often travel down Beka Street from his apartment nearby. On January 10, 1979, Chambers paid 3,500 Lebanese pound
s to rent an apartment on the eighth floor of the Anis Assaf building. Bohemian
in appearance, Chambers was seen as eccentric by her fellow apartment block residents, and would spend her time rescuing stray cats and painting street scenes from the balcony of her flat, overlooking Beka Street and Rue Verdun.
Once resident and working with a Palestinian charity named "The House of Steadfastness of the children of Telsata", she engineered a meeting with Salameh. After taking a liking to her, Salameh took Chambers to various functions, and as a result of getting close to Salameh she learned his detailed daily routine.
station wagon
s headed from Rizk's flat to his mother's for a birthday party. Chambers was on her balcony painting, with her red Volkswagen
parked below on Rue Verdun. As Salameh's convoy passed the Volkswagen at 3:35 pm and turned onto Rue Madame Curie, 100 kg of explosive attached to the car by a fellow Mossad agent was remotely exploded, either by Chambers or on her notification to another Mossad agent.
Salameh was alive but mortally wounded, having a piece of steel metal shrapnel embedded in his head. He was rushed to the American University Hospital
, where he died on the operating table at 4:03 pm. Eight other people were killed in the explosion, including four of his bodyguards and four bystanders, including a West German nun and a British secretary named Susan Wareham. 18 other people in the vicinity were also injured.
The explosion shook Beirut, and was seen by Mossad agent Mike Harari from a boat off the coast. Immediately following the operation the three Mossad officers fled without trace, as did up to 14 other agents believed to have been involved in the operation.
Salameh was buried in front of a crowd of 100,000 mourners in Beirut's Martyr's Cemetery. Yasser Arafat
was one of the pallbearers, and amid chaos commented that "We will continue to march on the road to Palestine. Goodbye, my hero."
in October 1986 about "misuse by the Israeli authorities of forged British passports."
On March 16, 1987, the Sunday Times ran the story, stating that the fake documents were intended to help agents of the Israeli secret service attack foes abroad. In example, the newspaper stated that fake British passports were used by Israeli agents in both Operation Spring of Youth and by Erika Chambers. The article stated that Israel later apologized and promised not to do it again.
Approaching Renton for comment, as is procedure, he directed the newspaper to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
, which refused to comment.
's secret service
the Bundesnachrichtendienst
, journalist Wilhelm Dietl wrote a series of books, including an autobiography revealing his activities. One book was about a Mossad agent he called "Erika Chambers," to whom he also devoted a chapter in another book:
According to Dietl's testimony, Chambers was a British citizen who studied hydrology
in Australia
. She arrived at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
in her early 20's to continue her studies, and was recruited by Mossad.
's film Munich
, the BBC
's Panorama
programme on January 24, 2006, named Chambers as the British woman who detonated the bomb.
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of the Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
agent behind the action on January 22, 1979 that killed Ali Hassan Salameh
Ali Hassan Salameh
Ali Hassan Salameh was the chief of operations—code name Abu Hassan—for Black September, the organization responsible for the 1972 Munich massacre and other attacks. He was also the founder of Force 17...
, leader of Black September
Black September (group)
The Black September Organization was a Palestinian paramilitary group, founded in 1970. It was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of eleven Israeli athletes and officials, and fatal shooting of a West German policeman, during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, their most publicized event...
and lead plotter behind the Munich massacre
Munich massacre
The Munich massacre is an informal name for events that occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria in southern West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed by the Palestinian group Black September. Members of Black September...
.
Munich Massacre
During the 1972 Summer Olympics1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, 8 members of Black September (group)
Black September (group)
The Black September Organization was a Palestinian paramilitary group, founded in 1970. It was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of eleven Israeli athletes and officials, and fatal shooting of a West German policeman, during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, their most publicized event...
took hostage
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
and ultimately killed 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team
Israel at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Israel competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, which began on August 26. On September 5 and 6, eleven members of the Israeli team were captured and murdered by terrorists. The remainder of the team left Munich the day after the conclusion of the horrific event Israel competed...
.
Operation Wrath of God
In response, Israel planned the assassinationAssassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of those suspected of planning the operation. Although Ali Hassan Salameh
Ali Hassan Salameh
Ali Hassan Salameh was the chief of operations—code name Abu Hassan—for Black September, the organization responsible for the 1972 Munich massacre and other attacks. He was also the founder of Force 17...
, the leader of Black September and purported architect of the Munich Massacre, was one of those targeted, he survived several assassination attempts.
Erika Chambers
After making five unsuccessful attempts on Salameh, Mossad recognised they needed a different approach. From October 1978 over a period of six weeks, they noted that Salameh spent most afternoons with his wife, former Miss UniverseMiss Universe
Miss Universe is an annual international beauty contest that is run by the Miss Universe Organization. The pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world with 600 million viewers....
Georgina Rizk
Georgina Rizk
Georgina Rizk was Lebanon's first and so far only Miss Universe.Rizk was born in Beirut to a Christian household. She was crowned in the Miss Universe pageant in 1971 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA. She was the first woman from the Middle East and the fourth woman from Asia to win the title...
, at her apartment in Snoubra, West Beirut, and when not in meetings spent time at the gym and at a sauna
Sauna
A sauna is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these and auxiliary facilities....
. After planning a bomb attack on the sauna, the plan was vetoed due to the potential for an excessive number of civilian casualties.
In November 1978, a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
based charity worker named Erika Mary Chambers traveling on a 1975 issued British passport came to Beirut. It is now believed that several other Mossad agents also entered Beirut at the time, including two using the pseudonyms Peter Scriver and Roland Kolberg, traveling with British and Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
passports respectively.
Erika Chambers, known as Agent Penelope by Mossad, came with a back story of graduating from the University of Southampton
University of Southampton
The University of Southampton is a British public university located in the city of Southampton, England, a member of the Russell Group. The origins of the university can be dated back to the founding of the Hartley Institution in 1862 by Henry Robertson Hartley. In 1902, the Institution developed...
. In her early 30's and resident in the UK, she joined British-based arms of welfare organisations supporting Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and was subsequently invited to Beirut.
Mossad agents noted that Salameh would often travel down Beka Street from his apartment nearby. On January 10, 1979, Chambers paid 3,500 Lebanese pound
Lebanese pound
The Lebanese pound is the currency unit of Lebanon. It is divided into 100 piastres but inflation has eliminated the subdivisions....
s to rent an apartment on the eighth floor of the Anis Assaf building. Bohemian
Bohemian
A Bohemian is a resident of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, either in a narrow sense as the region of Bohemia proper or in a wider meaning as the whole country, now known as the Czech Republic. The word "Bohemian" was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word...
in appearance, Chambers was seen as eccentric by her fellow apartment block residents, and would spend her time rescuing stray cats and painting street scenes from the balcony of her flat, overlooking Beka Street and Rue Verdun.
Once resident and working with a Palestinian charity named "The House of Steadfastness of the children of Telsata", she engineered a meeting with Salameh. After taking a liking to her, Salameh took Chambers to various functions, and as a result of getting close to Salameh she learned his detailed daily routine.
Death of Salameh
On January 22, 1979, Salameh was in a convoy of two ChevroletChevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
station wagon
Station wagon
A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
s headed from Rizk's flat to his mother's for a birthday party. Chambers was on her balcony painting, with her red Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
parked below on Rue Verdun. As Salameh's convoy passed the Volkswagen at 3:35 pm and turned onto Rue Madame Curie, 100 kg of explosive attached to the car by a fellow Mossad agent was remotely exploded, either by Chambers or on her notification to another Mossad agent.
Salameh was alive but mortally wounded, having a piece of steel metal shrapnel embedded in his head. He was rushed to the American University Hospital
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut is a private, independent university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries in 1866...
, where he died on the operating table at 4:03 pm. Eight other people were killed in the explosion, including four of his bodyguards and four bystanders, including a West German nun and a British secretary named Susan Wareham. 18 other people in the vicinity were also injured.
The explosion shook Beirut, and was seen by Mossad agent Mike Harari from a boat off the coast. Immediately following the operation the three Mossad officers fled without trace, as did up to 14 other agents believed to have been involved in the operation.
Salameh was buried in front of a crowd of 100,000 mourners in Beirut's Martyr's Cemetery. Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
was one of the pallbearers, and amid chaos commented that "We will continue to march on the road to Palestine. Goodbye, my hero."
British passports
In 1986, an Israeli embassy worker was picked up in West Germany by an unknown agency with a bag that contained fake British passports. The information was passed to the UK Government, and subsequently, Foreign Office Minister Timothy Renton met with Israeli ambassador Yehuda AvnerYehuda Avner
Yehuda Avner is an Israeli former prime ministerial advisor and diplomat. He served as personal secretary and speechwriter to Israeli Prime Ministers Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Golda Meir and Levi Eshkol, and as Israeli Ambassador to Australia and the United Kingdom.-Early...
in October 1986 about "misuse by the Israeli authorities of forged British passports."
On March 16, 1987, the Sunday Times ran the story, stating that the fake documents were intended to help agents of the Israeli secret service attack foes abroad. In example, the newspaper stated that fake British passports were used by Israeli agents in both Operation Spring of Youth and by Erika Chambers. The article stated that Israel later apologized and promised not to do it again.
Approaching Renton for comment, as is procedure, he directed the newspaper to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
, which refused to comment.
Wilhelm Dietl
After his exposure as an agent of West GermanyWest Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
's secret service
Secret service
A secret service describes a government agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For instance, a country may establish a secret service which has some...
the Bundesnachrichtendienst
Bundesnachrichtendienst
The Bundesnachrichtendienst [ˌbʊndəsˈnaːχʁɪçtnˌdiːnst] is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinated to the Chancellor's Office. Its headquarters are in Pullach near Munich, and Berlin . The BND has 300 locations in Germany and foreign countries...
, journalist Wilhelm Dietl wrote a series of books, including an autobiography revealing his activities. One book was about a Mossad agent he called "Erika Chambers," to whom he also devoted a chapter in another book:
According to Dietl's testimony, Chambers was a British citizen who studied hydrology
Hydrology
Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets, including the hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. She arrived at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
in her early 20's to continue her studies, and was recruited by Mossad.
Naming of Chambers
In 2006, in the run up to the release of the Steven SpielbergSteven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
's film Munich
Munich (film)
Munich is a 2005 historical fiction film about the Israeli government's secret retaliation attacks after the massacre of Israeli athletes by the Black September terrorist group during the 1972 Summer Olympics. The film stars Eric Bana and was produced and directed by Steven Spielberg...
, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Panorama
Panorama (TV series)
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
programme on January 24, 2006, named Chambers as the British woman who detonated the bomb.