Major City Plans to Rename Street After Palestinian Militant Who Was First Woman in History to Hijack a Plane

The City of Johannesburg, South Africa, may rename a major street after Leila Khalid, a Palestinian woman who hijacked a plane over 50 years ago.

The motion, presented by former Johannesburg mayor Thapelo Amad, proposes changing the name of Sandton Drive, in the city's financial district of Sandton, to Leila Khalid Drive.

A member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Leila Khalid made headlines in 1969 when she became the first woman in history to hijack a plane. Khalid was a member of a team responsible for hijacking TWA Flight 840 on its way from Rome to Tel Aviv, diverting it to Damascus. No one was injured in the incident, and the hijackers blew up the nose of the plane after passengers disembarked.

Some nations, including Italy and Israel, consider Khaled to be a terrorist. However, she has been also celebrated as a freedom fighter due to her staunch support for an independent Palestinian state.

"Gaza is now all over the world. The area of Gaza is now going to all continents because of the people of the world who support the struggle of the Palestinians. Even though if they kill, and kill, and kill, there will still be life in Gaza. You are the eyes of Gaza now, you are the media." said Khaled in an interview with Capire in Oct. 2023, following the Oct. 7th attack on Israel.

"We have only one choice: it is to fight, to liberate our land and ourselves from this occupation," she continued.

The idea of renaming Sandton Drive was first brought up in 2018 by Al Jama-ah, a pro-Palestinian minority party in the Johannesburg council. It was then supported by South Africa's largest party, the African National Congress.

The South African Zionist Federation has heavily opposed renaming the street, which it believes is only subject to renaming due to the U.S. consulate's location on the same street. Spokesperson Rolene Marks warned of the name change causing conflict within South Africa, advocating against naming the street "after a failed terrorist with ties to a globally recognized terrorist organization."

"As much as Ms. Khaled could be seen as a freedom fighter in a thin slice of South African society, her fight has been for the Palestinian cause, not for the development of Johannesburg," said Fana Mkhonza, a council member for the African Christian Democratic Party who also opposes the proposal, to AP News. "The ACDP does not see any tolerance, reconciliation and peace in this proposed person's name to replace Sandton Drive."

South Africa has accused Israel of committing genocide in Palestine's Gaza Strip in a case that was brought before the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations. Khaled has also previously visited South Africa.