This tribute to those lost in the Alas Chiricanas Flight 901 attack was written by Alberto Jabiles, president of B’nai B’rith Panama.

On Tuesday, July 19, 1994, just hours after the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the world received news of another horrific attack, this one in Panama. Around 5:20 p.m., Alas Chiricanas Flight 901 from Colón to Panama City exploded shortly after takeoff, killing 20 innocent people. Dozens of Panamanian homes mourned the tragedy and lives lost, twelve of them belonging to the Panamanian Jewish community.

After initial investigations, various theories were raised about the motives that led the intellectual and material authors to plan the worst terrorist attack in the history of Panama. However, the investigations never brought the truth to light, running the risk that this serious episode in our history will be forgotten and, worse still, wrapped in a cloak of impunity.

In May 2018, in a joint statement offered by then-President Juan Carlos Varela and the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, the terrorist nature of this disastrous event was confirmed.

Today we pay tribute to those who are no longer with us, beloved men and women, who were unexpectedly, unjustly and violently torn from their loved ones.

May their names be forever remembered and their memories always live in our conscience.

● Albert Aboud Attie
● Emmanuel Attie
● Jorge Luis Avila
● Martín Bim
● Salomón Chocrón
● Edmundo Delgado
● Omar Jean Francois
● Rani Gabay
● Joseph Gershon
● José Antonio González
● Isaac Harrouche
● Mauricio Harrouche
● Freddy Moadeb
● Vincent Pantaleo
● Moshe Pardo
● Lizzie de Phillips
● Jaica Rascovsky Yaker
● Saúl Schwartz
● James Ward Cain
● Miguel Zubieta