Leila Khaled

Leila Khaled
ليلى خالد‎
Khaled at the Beirut International Forum for Resistance, Anti-Imperialism, Solidarity between Peoples, and Alternatives, 2009
Born (1944-04-09) April 9, 1944 (age 80)
Haifa, Mandatory Palestine
OrganizationPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Known forPro-Palestinian militancy
MovementArab Nationalist Movement

Leila Khaled (Arabic: ليلى خالد [ˈlajla ˈxaːled]; born April 9, 1944) is a former Palestinian militant and member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). She is famous as the first woman to hijack an airplane.[1]

Khaled gained her prominence for her role in the TWA Flight 840 hijacking in 1969 and one of the four simultaneous Dawson's Field hijackings the following year as part of the campaign of Black September in Jordan.[2] After being imprisoned, she was released in a prisoner exchange for civilian hostages kidnapped by other PFLP members.[3]

  1. ^ Ettachfini, Leila (August 4, 2016). "'I Had to Be the Voice of Women': The First Female Hijacker Shares Her Story". VICE. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  2. ^ "Notorious Palestinian Plane Hijacker to Promote BDS in South Africa". January 7, 2015. Archived from the original on February 17, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  3. ^ MacDonald, Eileen (1991). "Leila Khaled". Shoot the Women First. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-679-41596-3.