PA leader glorifies plane hijacker Laila Khaled:‎ ‎"The fighter, the hero, the symbol"‎

Head of the Supreme Council for Sport and Youth Affairs Jibril Rajoub: "I was at Al-‎Quds University, on Student Day. Someone asked me: 'Who is Laila ‎Khaled (i.e., plane hijacker)?' So I spoke about Laila Khaled, the fighter, the hero, the symbol, etc. After a ‎while, someone spoke about Yasser Arafat... and he spoke disrespectfully. I told them: ‎‎'There are three sacred things that should not be maligned - the fighter, the Martyr and ‎the prisoner. They are sacred. We should always speak positively about them, whether ‎they are from the PFLP, Fatah, Hamas, etc.'”‎

Laila Khaled - PFLP terrorist who participated in the hijacking of TWA flight 840 on Aug. 29, 1969 from Rome to Athens and the hijacking of El Al flight 219 on Sept. 6, 1970 from Amsterdam to New York. The second hijacking was averted by the pilot and security personnel on board. They shot Khaled’s accomplice, Patrick Argüello, who had killed one of the flight attendants. Khaled was overpowered and the plane landed in London where Khaled was handed over and held by British police until she was exchanged on Oct. 1, 1970 with hostages held by the PFLP.