Lifestyle/Community

Hijacker Leila Khaled still stands for violence

Much to the chagrin of SA Jewry and many other South Africans, convicted multiple plane hijacker Leila Khaled, arrives in South Africa next week for a series of fundraising talks for Boycott, Divest and Sanctions SA. With tickets selling at up to R500 a seat, this is likely to bolster the BDS war-chest for the forthcoming Israel Apartheid Week campaign next month.

Published

10 years ago

January 29, 2015

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ANT KATZ

Since Jewish Report on January 7 broke the news of Khaled’s impending visit, the story has erupted into a flutter of media hyperbole.

A furious SA Jewish Board of Deputies Chairman Mary Kluk had a go at BDS-SA, the local arm of the US-based anti-Israel NGO, for its bringing Khaled to South Africa as its guest and for the pre-publicity which “depicts Khaled holding an AK-47 and represents her past hijacking of one plane and an attempted hijacking of another, as something to be admired”, said Kluk.

RIGHT: After widely published picture of a youthful Leila Khaled holding an AK-47 rifle, it is believed she underwent six plastic surgery operations on her nose and chin to conceal her identity. Speculation about this is rife, with some sources believing it was to allow her to take part in future terrorist activities

Now in her seventies, Khaled is anything but a has-been revolutionary sitting looking after grandchildren at her home in Amman, Jordan.

She still sits on the executive of the PLFP, which is on the list of banned terrorist organisations in many countries, including the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and most of Europe and others.

In April 2014 she was quoted saying: “My party (the PLFP) has not changed, it has stuck to its original programme. We are calling to escalate the resistance, so we decided to take our destiny into our hands by waging an armed struggle; negotiating will get us nowhere.”

In an interview with Paula Schmitt from 972 magazine, she said: “Resistance doesn’t only happen through violence but violence is the mainstream!” She stressed that her PLFP still believed that violence was the way forward.

“By the time she was 28, Leila Khaled had already hijacked two planes and held dozens of passengers hostage. Her image appeared on the covers of news magazines, her face was plastered on the walls of student dorms; she became a pop phenomenon and an inspiration for TV and film characters,” wrote the magazine.

“Leila has no regrets about her choices. For her, what she did was fair and justified. In fact, it was a duty. She often quotes Che Guevara with corroborating lines, but Leila didn’t need a guerrilla to help her rationalise her acts,” wrote Shmitt.

“The plane hijackings were tactical. Just for a short time, just to ring a bell for the world and make people ask the question: Why?” It seemed to have worked,” she said.

LEFT: emotive Images such as this one had Spotlighting SA admonished by social media sites

She emphasised: “There were very strict instructions not to hurt anyone, especially the passengers; they are not the ones we targeted. Our goal was to release the prisoners from Israeli jails… to show our comrades and brothers and sisters in jail that you are not alone, we are behind you, we are freedom fighters.”

Palestinian director Lina Makboul produced an award-winning documentary “Leila Khaled: Hijacker”, in which she questions whether Khaled’s actions were good or bad for their people. “This action stained your struggle,” said Makboul

RIGHT: Leila Khaled is still very much an activist and plotter within the PLFP leadership

But Khaled is unapologetic: “That’s not terrorism, I am a victim of oppression and occupation; we, as a people, have the right to resist by all means.”

The PFLP is still very active and responsible for some of the most heinous recent terrorist attacks, including the November 2014 West Jerusalem shul massacre in which four Jewish worshippers and a Druze policeman were killed with axes, knives, and a gun.

Khaled’s first target was Yitzhak Rabin when, on August 29, 1969, Khaled was part of a team that hijacked TWA Flight 840 on its way from Rome to Athens, diverting the Boeing 707 to Damascus. No-one was injured, but the aircraft was blown up after hostages had disembarked. The PFLP leadership thought that Rabin, then Israeli ambassador to the United States, would be on board.