Leila Khaled: Hijacker Page #4

comfortable life in Sweden,

would want the struggle

for a free Palestine to be fought

with discreet diplomacy

rather than spectacular skyjackings.

Maybe I secretly admire her

for daring to do something

I'd never dare to do.

I am pretending to

look through my notes.

I am just about to ask her

if she realizes that she

has given the Palestinians a bad

reputation.

- I smoke too much.

- Me too!

When I've finished this film,

I'll quit smoking.

There are quite a few things you're

going to do when it's finished.

You're going to get pregnant and

give us a cute boy or girl.

The question will have to wait.

How about if we film...

- A shot of you lying down resting.

- No, no.

- Why not?

- Never!

- Tell me why?

- You think...

Not in your room, here on the sofa.

Everyone needs rest.

Everybody knows that.

Do you need to film it?

Leila is resting!

Everybody rests some time.

We've got no footage

of you doing nothing.

- Yesterday we sat down and drank...

- You're always doing something!

Why don't you film me

when I'm taking a bath?

- That'd be great, if it's OK.

Sure... when I'm taking a bath...

You can watch me take a pee if you want.

Leila Khaled undergoes

plastic surgery six times.

She is held in detention in

Syria and Britain.

She hi-Jacks two airplanes

and becomes world famous.

As I understand it, there's just

one reason:

she wants to go back home.

I travel to Haifa to see for myself

what it is she wants to go back to.

And I find her childhood home

on what used to be Stanton Street.

This is what it looks like today.

You have said that what you want is

to get to Haifa and Palestine.

I have seen your home

and it's about to collapse.

What do you really want?

I have a dream,

when Palestine is liberated

I'm going to sleep

under a tree for three days.

I want to smell the soil.

It's not the house. it's my country.

We can build a new house.

The important thing is to go back.

- To Haifa?

- Of course.

We were there and found your home.

We couldn't take the house with us,

but we brought this.

- It's a tile from your house.

- That's incredible!

The photographer went in and got the tile.

I don't know if you...

it's tiling from my home...

I can't believe it!

Unbelievable!

Come and sit down.

We will go there too...

But I'm not going

to fetch the house for you!

Now you got her started.

I'm going to meet Uri Bar-Lev,

the pilot of the plane you hi-jacked.

He said to me... by the way,

he doesn't like you.

Do you have anything

you want to ask him?

Why would I want to

ask him anything?

His answers don't interest me.

What language should I use

with an occupier?

As long as the enemy occupies our

country, there's nothing to discuss.

Those are photographs which I did.

It's part of lsrael.

So you know how to drive a plane and

you can take pictures.

Not too difficult.

- And even to cook.

- That's good.

Can you understand why she did it?

There is no way how to use terror

against civilians. There is no way.

How can you justify air terror?

How can you justify any kind of terror?

What is a freedom fighter?

What is that?

A terrorist - I know what it is.

It's a person who kills civilians.

What is a freedom fighter?

You just cover the gun with something?

You Just put the knife with a nice cloth?

A red cloth or a nice one.

What is it?

Just a word.

There you are.

- So tell us, is this for co-pilot?

- That's co-pilot.

Three stripes.

Can you understand why

she hijacked the plane?

I know the reasons that they give,

but to understand it...

I say yes, I can say that.

I can say yes, I think I understand.

But that doesn't imply agreement.

An eye for an eye and

soon we are all blind.

- We're going to see Leila again soon...

- Yes.

Do you want to say anything to her?

I really don't know what I'd want to say to her.

No... not directly but...

On the whole, in conflicts like these where

innocent people are involved...

that don't have anything to do

with their cause, it's a bit cynical.

I don't hold any grudges...

they didn't hurt me...

it's still a shame that it's the way it is...

that the Palestinians

don't have a country.

Do you know the story of Leila's background,

that she was forced to leave her home in 1948?

Of course she was forced.

Again, there is so much false information here...

that people don't know them.

I read her book.

The book is full of lies and if you want,

the book is here in English and I can show you.

This is lie, this is lie, this is lie...

As far as Haifa is concerned, it's very easy

to show where the lies are...

because Haifa was a combined city

between Arabs and Jews.

When the independent war broke...

Not because we agreed to the separation...

lsrael agreed to be a very small country.

We were attacked by the Arabs.

It was not vice versa.

So she lived in Haifa.

She was a small child.

She was not forced, her parents

decided to leave Haifa.

So...

- Have you ever heard about the

Deir Yassin massacre?

- Yes, of course.

- Did that happen?

- Deir Yassin happened.

It was one place, 20 or 40 people were killed.

I don't know how many.

Who killed them?

A Jewish group, part of the army.

This time the army was not an army yet.

It was the paramilitary... it was before the

establishment of lsrael.

Okay, there was a case like this, yes.

So...

I'm confused.

Isn't terrorism always wrong?

Maybe it isn't.

The Stern Gang became

celebrated heroes.

One of them even became

the Prime Minister of lsrael.

We, the Palestinians, still live

with the bad reputation.

Maybe it's OK to be a terrorist...

if you win...

Which brings us back, to the

question I still haven't dared to ask.

- Hi Leila!

- How are you?

Fine. And you?

Did I wake you?

- No! it's not so late.

- OK.

Leila, I have a question.

The whole time I've wanted

to ask but I'm ashamed.

Why?

When you boarded the plane...

What I'm trying to say is...

Didn't you ever think

that what you were doing would

give the Palestinians a bad reputation?

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