February 27, 2024
The Albanese government has been urged to intervene to stop a Palestinian activist who took part in a series of aeroplane hijackings in 1969 and 1970 from speaking at a Perth conference on "ecosocialism".
In a letter to Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil, and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry asked that Ms Khaled be blocked from speaking, even via video link, at the conference in June.
Organisers of the Ecosocialism 2024 conference have promoted Palestinian "activist" Leila Khaled's appearance at the conference, which is billed as a chance to "fight climate change not war".
According to the conference website, "Khaled is a national committee member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a socialist organisation that advocates for the creation of a democratic, secular Palestine".
However Ms Khaled was also one of the PFLP hijackers who took over a TWA flight from Rome to Tel Aviv in 1969, forcing the plane to divert to Damascus.
The group had thought that then-Israeli ambassador to the US Yitzhak Rabin was on the flight, although he was not.
No one was killed in the hijacking but two Israeli passengers were held for a number of months.
The following year, after undergoing plastic surgery to change her appearance, Ms Khaled took part in the nearsimultaneous hijacking of four separate airline flights. Ms Khaled was arrested by UK police in the wake of the hijackings but later freed as part of a hostage-prisoner swap.
"(Ms Khaled) 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 the Executive Council of Australian Jewry states.
"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." In a series of incidents in 2020 and 2021, tech companies YouTube, Facebook (Meta), and Zoom have refused to carry broadcasts by Ms Khaled, citing terms of service and potential violations of US export control, sanctions and anti-terrorism laws.
In 2017, Ms Khaled was barred from entering Italy after being stopped by authorities at Rome's international airport after landing on a flight from Jordan.
Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson said: "A convicted plane hijacker and terrorist is self-evidently not someone we want in Australia.
"The Albanese government must immediately commit to refusing any visa application from Leila Khaled ... we have a serious enough problem with anti-Semitism on Labor's watch already." Sam Wainwright, one of the organisers of the conference, called Ms Khaled "an authentic representation of an important part of Palestinian society" and said that while she had confirmed her attendance by video, they were hopeful a visa could still be arranged.
"We are exploring options for her to attend in person as she would like to visit Australia as part of a speaking tour," Mr Wainwright said.
A spokesman for Mr Giles said that the government was "aware" of the situation but it was "unable to comment on individual cases." However, the spokesman pointed out that "it is a criminal offence to advocate terrorism (and) 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" he said.
