Analyzing the 1970 Dawson’s Field hijackings requires weighing the moral prohibition against targeting civilians against the deep political grievances that drove radical groups like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

The Commemorative Perspective: Condemning Terror

The commemorative post reflects a foundational principle of international law and modern ethics: civilians are never legitimate targets.

Innocent Victims: Passengers on TWA Flight 741 and Swissair Flight 100 had no direct control over state military actions or government policies.
Coercion through Fear: Hijacking uses terror and hostage-taking to force political concessions from governments.
The Rule of Law: Allowing violence against non-combatants destroys the rules that protect human life during conflicts.

Analyzing the "Last Resort" Premise

The argument that groups turn to hijacking or extreme violence only when all other means of justice are denied addresses the root causes of radicalization, but it creates a complex ethical dilemma.

Political Despair: After the 1967 Six-Day War, Palestinian national movements felt abandoned by the international community and military outmatched by Israel. The PFLP believed standard diplomacy was useless.
The Search for a Megaphone: Hijacking guaranteed global media attention. It forced the world to look at the Palestinian refugee crisis when peaceful appeals failed to yield results.
The Flaw in the Logic: Explaining why a group feels desperate is not the same as justifying their actions. Saying an action is a "last resort" implies no other choices exist. History shows that choices always exist, even if alternative paths are slow, difficult, or blocked.

Critical Assessment and Judgment

The claim that denied justice leads to extreme tactics is historically accurate regarding motive, but logically and ethically invalid as a justification.

Grievances do not legalize terror: Real injustice exists in many conflicts. However, international humanitarian law states that a righteous cause does not permit the deliberate slaughter or kidnapping of innocent people.
Violence backfires: Extreme tactics often harm the very people the fighters claim to represent. The 1970 hijackings led directly to Black September—a brutal military crackdown by Jordan that killed thousands of Palestinians and displaced the movement.
The Cycle of Retaliation: Turning civilians into weapons hardens the opposition, destroys sympathy for the political cause, and makes a peaceful resolution of justice even harder to achieve.

Conclusion: Desperation explains the origin of terror, but it never excuses it. A logical assessment shows that true justice cannot be built by destroying the innocent lives of others.