Johannesburg Considering Changing Street Name to Honor First Female to Hijack an Airplane

The City of Johannesburg yesterday released a notice of proposed street renaming, seeking to rename Sandton Drive to Leila Khaled Drive in honor of the now 80-year-old Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) member.

Inviting stakeholders to provide feedback on the proposed notice within 28 days, the municipality stated on X, "Join the conversation and help shape Joburg's identity."

South Africa Supporting Palestine

The proposed sign is a clear symbol of the African nation's support for the Palestinian cause, with South Africa bringing Israel to the International Criminal Court in December 2023 to answer for its alleged breaches of the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide as a result of its retaliation to Hamas' attack on October 7th, which killed 1,139 Israelis.

Palestinian health authorities have claimed that approximately 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its counteroffensive in late October, although these figures have been disputed by Israeli officials due to the fact that the Palestinian health authorities do not distinguish civilian deaths from those of Hamas fighters.

Leila Khaled rose to prominence within the PFLP as well as within the wider Palestinian liberation movement due to her role in the 1969 hijacking of TWA Flight 840 from Rome, Italy, to Tel Aviv, Israel, when she was just 25.

Forcing the plane to land in Damascus, Syria, Khaled and her associates then blew up a portion of the aircraft after the passengers had disembarked.

Becoming the first woman in history to hijack an airplane, Khaled then sought to disguise herself, undergoing a series of cosmetic surgeries to obscure her identity, as an image of her with an AK-47 rifle had been widely disseminated in the aftermath of the hijacking.

A year later, on September 6th, 1970, Khaled and a male associate attempted to hijack another aircraft—the Israeli El Al Flight 219—from Amsterdam to New York City. The hijacking was part of three other simultaneous hijackings of aircraft heading to the American city.

The three other planes—TWA Flight 741, Swissair Flight 100, and Pan Am Flight 93—were diverted to Dawson's Field near Zarqa, Jordan.

After being refused entry to the cockpit, Khaled's associate shot and killed a crew member before being shot several times by the plane's marshals. The plane was diverted to London's Heathrow Airport, where Khaled was arrested and held for 24 days before being exchanged in a prisoner swap due to pressure from the Dawson's Field hijackers, who themselves held 56 Jewish passengers hostage.

In the aftermath of the hijackings, Khaled became a symbol of Palestinian resistance, speaking at various global conferences to highlight the Palestinian struggle.

So, What Now?

Sandton Drive, the street chosen for the proposal, is also home to the U.S. Consulate General, which may be seen as a move by South Africa to illustrate its displeasure with the U.S.'s continued military support of Israel.

However, street name changes are not new to South Africa, with William Nicols Drive renamed to Winnie Mandela Drive in September 2023. In the Eastern Cape alone, 103 geographical name changes have taken place since 2019, with the African National Congress (ANC) claiming at the time it sought to "set the country on a path toward healing by changing names of towns and cities that have unsavory colonial and apartheid connotations."

However, in a nation that records 84 murders a day and in which 62 percent of the population lives below the national poverty line, some members of the Government of National Unity (GNU) have voiced their concern over the name change.

Noting that Sandton Drive is a neutral and unifying name, ActionSA chairperson Funzi Ngobenzi claimed that despite the intent to honor a liberation icon, "more pressing issues need attention."