A Palestinian ‘terrorist’ who hijacked two planes and labelled Hamas soldiers responsible for the October 7 attacks as ‘freedom fighters’ could come to Australia.
Leila Khaled is listed as a keynote speaker at June’s Ecosocialism event in Perth which is hosted by the Socialist Alliance and Green Left media outlet.
However, Jewish-Australian community members have called for her to be barred from entering Australia due to her complicated history as a prominent member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The now elderly woman is still a member of the extremist Marxist group which is known for hijacking planes, assassinations and suicide bombings.
The PFLP is regarded as a terrorist organisation by the United States, the European Union and Canada while Australia has subject the group to financial sanctions.
Leila Khaled (pictured) is listed as a keynote speaker at June’s Ecosocialism event in Perth hosted by the Socialist Alliance and Green Left media outlet
The Australian Jewish Association condemned Ms Khaled’s appearance at Ecosocialism in a tweet on Monday.
‘What a great illustration of the fusion of hard left politics, radical “Palestinian” activism [and] terrorism, in this case aircraft hijacking,’ it said.
The PFLP gained global infamy in the late 1960s and early 1970s due to string of airline hijackings and bombings.
Ms Khaled was involved in at least two of the groups hijackings.
In 1969, she helped hijack Trans World Airlines Flight 840 travelling from Rome, Italy, to Tel Aviv, Israel, as the group believed Israel’s ambassador to the United States was on board.
No one was injured in the attack but the hijackers blew-up the plane’s nose.
Ms Khaled was involved in a second hijacking one year later when she attempted to hijack El Al Flight 219 from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to New York City, United States.
She, alongside another co-hijacker, threatened to detonate grenades inside the plane if the pilot did not let them into the cockpit.
Gunshots were fired and the plane went into a nosedive before landing.
Following the attacks, Ms Khaled spent a month-and-a-half imprisoned in Syria and a month detained in Britain.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry wrote to Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus on Monday to urge them to deny Ms Khaled entry.
‘She was the first woman to hijack an airplane. She remains a member of the national committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an organisation which is listed under Australian sanctions laws,’ the letter from Peter Wertheim and Alex Ryvchin reads.
‘Given her criminal background and current associations, her appearance, actual or virtual, would be likely to have the effect of inciting, promoting or advocating terrorism to an Australian audience, to aggravate current social divisions and thus cause damage to social cohesion.’
Ms Khaled (pictured) was involved in at least two plane hijackings in the 1960s and 1970s as part of her involvement in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Sydney Morning Herald claims the Albanese Government has indicated it will not allow Ms Khaled to enter Australia.
In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, a government spokesperson said it ‘is aware of this case’.
‘The Migration Act is clear. All people applying for visas, no matter where they’re from, are required to undergo security checks – as has been the case under all governments,’ they said.
‘The Government is unable to comment on individual cases.’
Organisers of Ecosocialism have stated if Ms Khaled is denied entry to Australia, she will still be invited to speak at the conference through video chat.
On the Ecosocialism 2024 website, Ms Khaled is described as an ‘iconic Palestinian revolutionary activist, member of the national committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and a representative on the Palestine National Council’.
The government spokesperson warned Ms Khaled could face prosecution if she was found to be inciting terrorism in Australia, even if she speaks from another country.
‘It is a criminal offence to advocate terrorism [under] Section 80.2 of the Criminal Code,’ they said.
‘The offence of advocating terrorism can apply even where the person is in a foreign country, provided that the result of the conduct occurs in Australia. As such, it could apply even if an individual appeared online rather than in person in Australia.
‘In addition, the Albanese Government’s Prohibited Symbols legislation, which came into effect last month, makes it a criminal offence under Commonwealth law to glorify or praising acts of terrorism.’
Green Left, one of the organisers for Ecosocialism 2024, published a controversial interview with Ms Khaled earlier this month in which she legitimised Hamas’ actions during the October 7 attacks.
The horror attacks saw Hamas soldiers enter Israel and commit mass murder against 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians.
The tragedy infamously included the slaughter of attendees of Nova music festival.
Israel declared war on Palestine in the wake of the attack as a mean of ‘defending’ itself, leading to the massive humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
While the exact death toll in Gaza is largely unknown due to the inability to fact check Hamas-controlled figures, it is estimated over 29,000 Palestinians have died, most of which are civilians.
In her interview with Green Left, Ms Khaled claimed Hamas did not target civilians.
It is understood Ms Khaled (pictured) will be denied entry to Australia by the Albanese Government
‘The freedom fighters did not attack ordinary people [on October 7], they attacked the military settlements. But when the borders were open, some other people took civilians,’ she said.
‘Neither Israel nor the Western media could prove that there were massacres. The civilian hostages [who were released in one of the deals negotiated] said they were dealt with very kindly.
‘So why are they speaking like this about massacres? Just to say that the freedom fighters are terrorists.
‘So they made lies because they did not have any evidence. Even when [US President Joe] Biden showed some pictures, CNN said that he did not have evidence that this was what happened on October 7.’
