Leila Khaled, the woman who hijacked a plane,
and the Legacy of Palestinian Women in Resistance
As I promised, today I write about Palestinian women fighters — and it is finally time to speak about Leila Khaled, one of the most iconic and influential women in the history of modern resistance. Her story is not just political; it is deeply human, shaped by displacement, survival, and the unbroken will of a people who refuse to disappear.
✦ A Childhood Under Fire: The Making of a Revolutionary
Leila Khaled’s journey did not begin with global headlines.
It began when she was a child — four years old, or even younger — fleeing her home in Haifa during the 1948 Nakba. Her family, like tens of thousands of Palestinians, escaped under bombardment and armed attacks as Zionist militias advanced into Palestinian cities.
Multiple interviews, including her own testimony in Al Jazeera’s Witness documentary and in The Guardian, confirm that her family narrowly escaped death several times during their forced displacement.
A child who sees bombs falling around her, who watches her homeland being taken, who grows up in exile — how can the world expect her to remain silent later in life?
Her resistance was not born out of ideology.
It was born out of survival.
✦ The Right to Resist: What International Law Actually Says — While They Called Leila Khaled a Terrorist
When people rush to label Palestinians as “terrorists,” they ignore the most basic fact:
International law recognises the right of peoples under occupation to resist.
This is not an opinion.
It is written clearly in multiple United Nations resolutions:
UNGA Resolution 37/43 (1982) affirms the right of peoples under foreign occupation to struggle “by all available means.”
UNGA Resolution 3246 (1974) explicitly recognises the legitimacy of armed struggle against colonial domination.
Article 51 of the UN Charter guarantees the inherent right of self-defence.
So when someone calls Leila Khaled a terrorist, they are erasing the legal and historical context:
a displaced person resisting a military occupation.
The truth is simple:
If you start the violence, you cannot complain about the response.
✦ Leila Khaled: A Global Symbol of Defiance
Leila Khaled became internationally known after the 1969 hijacking of TWA Flight 840 — the first aeroplane hijacking ever carried out by a woman. But what the world often forgets is the extraordinary discipline, courage, and clarity of purpose she demonstrated throughout the operation.
The hijacking was not random.
It was not an act of chaos.
It was a political intervention in a world that refused to acknowledge Palestinian existence.
No passengers were harmed.
This is a documented fact across international reporting.
Khaled herself insisted that the goal was visibility, not bloodshed. She famously said she would never harm civilians — and she never did.
The plane was diverted to Damascus, where passengers were released safely. The only symbolic act was the explosion of the cockpit — after everyone had been evacuated — to make a statement about the erasure of Palestine.
A year later, in 1970, she participated in an attempted hijacking of an El Al flight as part of the Dawson’s Field operations.
Even then, her instructions were strict:
No killing
No unnecessary violence
No harm to civilians
She underwent plastic surgery beforehand to alter her appearance — not out of vanity, but out of commitment. She trained rigorously. She accepted the possibility of death without hesitation, like so many other people from different backgrounds. She carried grenades with the pins removed, fully prepared to die rather than be captured, yet still refusing to harm passengers.
These are not the actions of someone driven solely by ideology.
These are the actions of someone shaped by exile, by loss, by a world that erased her people and left them with no platform to speak from.
Whether one agrees with the tactics or not, the reality is this:
Leila Khaled forced the world to acknowledge that Palestinians existed.
She became a symbol of a people demanding to be seen — a woman who refused to disappear, who refused to accept silence, who refused to let the world pretend her people did not exist.
Her strength was not in the weapon she carried.
Her strength was in her conviction.
Her discipline.
Her refusal to bow.
Her insistence that the world confront the truth it tried to bury.
She is one of the strongest women in modern history because she carried a cause the world tried to erase — and she carried it with unwavering clarity, courage, and dignity.
✦ A Personal Connection
I once met her niece, and it was a moment that touched me deeply.
As Palestinians, no matter where we are scattered across the world, we recognise each other instantly.
We carry the same stories, the same wounds, the same longing for home.
Meeting someone from Leila Khaled’s family reminded me that our heroes are not distant figures.
They are part of us.
They are our aunts, our cousins, our neighbours — our living history.
I hope one day I can meet Leila Khaled herself, before life separates us forever.
It would be an honour to look into the eyes of a woman who refused to bow to injustice.
✦ When I Was Attacked for Telling Our Story
When I shared a simple photo of a Palestinian woman — a symbol of our history — I was immediately attacked by the Zionist lobby here in Britain.
The harassment escalated quickly.
I received death threats, and the situation became so serious that the police came to my home to check whether it was safe enough for me to stay there. They inspected the house, the surroundings, and my security measures.
Even after that, the threats didn’t stop. Accusations, Harassment. They attempt to silence me.
This is not new; it is part of a long pattern of trying to erase Palestinian narratives.
But we will not be silent.
People often think activists are unbreakable.
But the truth is: I kept writing even when I was not safe.
I kept speaking even when I was terrified.
I kept standing even when I was exhausted.
And that is exactly why I need people to stand with me, to support, to amplify, to protect. I consider myself the spokesperson of the Palestinian diaspora, like any other activist.
✦ Why I Will Keep Telling Leila Khaled’s Story
For so many reasons, because:
Palestinian women are not footnotes in history.
Our resistance is rooted in survival, not hatred.
The oppressor cannot kill, expel, and occupy — then demand that the victim remain silent.
The world must understand the context before judging the reaction.
The Zionist narrative depends on portraying themselves as eternal victims, even while holding overwhelming military power.
But history is clear:
The violence began with the dispossession of Palestinians.
Image by Sebastian Baryli-Leila Khaled
✦ Conclusion: Strength in the Face of Fear
Leila Khaled is not just a historical figure.
She is me.
She is every Palestinian woman—and every woman worldwide—who refuses to disappear.
And just like her, I have faced threats meant to silence me.
Death threats.
Police visits.
False accusations.
Pressure to apologise for things I never did.
Situations I cannot fully explain because they are still unfolding.
But I am still here.
Still writing.
Still resisting.
Still refusing to be erased.
My strength does not come from being untouched by fear — it comes from continuing despite it.
Because every time they try to break me, they only prove how powerful my voice truly is.
And like Leila Khaled, I will not be silenced.
Taghrid Al-Mawed. Writing from Wales, but with my soul in Palestine.
Share widely — but please credit my writing
✦ Sources on Leila Khaled’s Childhood & Displacement
1. Al Jazeera – “Leila Khaled: Hijacker” (English Documentary)
Includes her own narration of being expelled from Haifa as a child during the Nakba.
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/witness/2019/9/5/leila-khaled-hijacker2. The Guardian – Interview with Leila Khaled
She speaks about her childhood, the Nakba, and how displacement shaped her life.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/01/israel3. Institute for Palestine Studies – Biography
Provides historical context about her family’s expulsion from Haifa in 1948.
https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/16505414. Palestine Remembered – Haifa (Historical Documentation)
Documents the attacks and expulsions from Haifa during 1947–48.
https://www.palestineremembered.com/Haifa/Haifa/index.html
✦ Sources on International Law & the Right to Resist
5. UN General Assembly Resolution 37/43 (1982)
Affirms the right of peoples under colonial and foreign occupation to struggle “by all available means”.
https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/392766. UN General Assembly Resolution 3246 (1974)
Explicitly recognizes the legitimacy of armed struggle against colonial and foreign domination.
https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/193547. UN Charter – Article 51
Establishes the inherent right of self‑defense.
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/full-text
✦ Sources on the Hijacking Operations
8. BBC News – “Leila Khaled: The first woman to hijack an airplane”
Covers the 1969 TWA hijacking and the 1970 El Al attempt.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-541065409. New York Times Archive – 1970 Hijacking Attempt
Contemporary reporting on the El Al flight operation.
https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/07/archives/2d-el-al-hijack-try-foiled.html10. Time Magazine Archive – Profile on Leila Khaled (1970)
Provides historical context and details about the PFLP operations.
https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,878060,00.html
✦ Additional Academic Sources
11. “Women and the Palestinian Liberation Movement” – Journal Article
Discusses Leila Khaled’s role and the broader context of Palestinian women in resistance.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/253580712. “The Palestinian National Movement” – Institute for Palestine Studies
Provides historical background on the PFLP and the political environment of the 1960s–70s.
https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1650540