Leila Khaled: Hijacker

A Palestinian journalist raised in exile in Sweden, Lina Makboul worked with Swedish television to produce Leila Khaled: Hijacker, a first-person account of how Khaled, a legendary figure in the Palestinian struggle for independence, captured her imagination.

Khaled became globally notorious in 1969 when she was the first woman to hijack an airliner. After several years of revolutionary action, Khaled receded from the public stage, still allied to her cause, but living in Jordan with her husband and sons. In telling Khaled’s story and getting to know her, Makboul comes to explore her own identity as a Palestinian and to ponder the difficult distinction between being a “freedom fighter” and being a “terrorist.” (58 mins., video)

This screening is part of an occasional yearlong series marking and commemorating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel.