# Norfolk Hotel bombing (31 December 1980)

URL: https://allhistories.com/kenya/timeline/1980-norfolk-hotel-bombing
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Themes: main-event

On 31 December 1980 a bomb exploded in the Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi, a landmark of the colonial era favoured by tourists and the business elite. The blast killed about 16 people and wounded dozens more. The hotel was owned by a Jewish Kenyan family, and the attack was widely linked to Palestinian militants and was described as revenge for Kenya's perceived help to Israel during the Entebbe raid. A group calling itself the Palestine Liberation Organisation faction claimed responsibility, according to press reports, but details remain murky and nobody was prosecuted in Kenya. The bombing was Kenya's first major terrorist attack and foreshadowed the more devastating embassy bombing of 1998. It prompted a review of security at hotels and airports and brought Kenya into the sphere of Middle Eastern politics. At the date of this event the principal authority over the largest part of present-day Kenya, by the convention of this dataset, lay with Daniel arap Moi, President of Kenya (1978–2002). The attack showed that Kenya's alliances and tourism economy were exposed to terrorism long before the better-known attacks of the 1990s and 2000s. The hotel was rebuilt and reopened, and the memory of the attack later fed public debate on whether Kenya's foreign policy exposed ordinary citizens to terrorism.

## Why it matters
The Norfolk bombing was the first major terrorist attack on Kenyan soil and an early warning of later attacks.

Ruler at the Time: [Daniel arap Moi](https://allhistories.com/kenya/rulers/daniel-arap-moi)

## Sources
- [Norfolk Hotel (Kenya)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Hotel_(Kenya))
- [Entebbe raid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entebbe_raid)
- [History of Kenya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Kenya)