Paul Green

Forgotten Hostages: a Personal Account of Washington's First Major Terror Attack Paul Green

Along with 125 of his colleagues, Paul Green faced threats of beheading and death from the Hanafi Muslim terrorists who violently captured the B'nai B'rith building on March 9, 1977. Men and women were shot, stabbed, beaten and assaulted as the attack gained momentum. Across town, from a second attack, the future mayor of Washington, Marion Barry, almost died from a shotgun pellet near his heart and a young reporter, Maurice Williams, was killed. A third location, a mosque, was also attacked with multiple hostages taken. Washington's first major terrorist incident, with its anti-Semitic vitriol and explosiveness, left more than 150 lives hanging in the balance. With Washington in chaos, the future of all the hostages was in jeopardy. It was the first time local and federal law enforcement authorities faced such a terror attack in our nation's capital. When three Islamic ambassadors became involved in the rush to try and find a way to save the hostages lives, it became an international event. But for the hostages, it was 40 hours of terror, pain, dismay, enlightenment and hope.