There’s a certain attention that a lone Kalashnikov rifle commands. Even more so when it is carried by a woman wearing a keffieh (the chequered scarf once used as the symbol of the Palestine resistance movement). This is exactly how the world learned to know of Leila Khaled.
What made the Palestine-born activist a terrorist was not the rifle but the first time she played a part in hijacking a plane in 1969, while still in her 20s.
It was after this hijacking that the now-iconic photo (see next page) of Khaled holding the Kalashnikov was taken by American photographer Eddie Adams. Khaled since underwent six facial surgeries to change her appearance, which also allowed her to participate in the second plane hijacking in 1970.
Her cause? That of the Palestinians, and their right to return to their homeland as a free people.
Today, at 70, she’s a mother of two sons and has a granddaughter she dotes on. The Palestinian Right to Return, as she explains during her visit to Johannesburg in February, is just as close to her heart.
“It’s very important to put the Palestinian question on the international agenda. After the first intifada [Arabic word for resistance] in 1987, it was a widespread awareness about the Palestinians because we did not, up to now, achieve our goals, in return for the refugees [to go back] to their homeland, to their cities, villages, properties,” says this member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
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“The Right of Return is still a dream. We cannot practice our self-determination without being in our land, and to establish an independence.”
Khaled’s visit to Johannesburg was however not without controversy. Her visit was organized by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions South Africa (BDS South Africa), which is part of the global campaign aimed at pressurizing Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian land.
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), alongside a number of other parties, were quick to condemn the visit before Khaled had arrived, and continued to do so. The SAJBD issued a statement against Khaled’s visit and BDS South Africa’s role in bringing her to the country, adding to the recent tension between South Africa’s Jewish and pro-Palestine groups.
Despite the tense backdrop to her visit, Khaled is nevertheless vocal about the Israel and Palestine conflict, and her crucial duty to fight for her people.
“Israel is still having [exclusions] against our people, in the West Bank and in the Gaza strip, and lately they have [committed] a holocaust for the Palestinians in Gaza. Now Israel denies all rights of Palestinians,” she says.
The Israeli-Palestine conflict has now become a focus of the International Criminal Court, and the Hague-based power could prosecute both parties for war crimes. At the center of any conflict, however, are women and children, and especially at a time where civilians have now become the target. Rape and systematic sexual assault is also a weapon of war, and according to Khaled, a societal ill that has taken too long to remedy.
“[These challenges] should be supported by civil society. It’s not just by one person. It needs time, it needs education, and the steps for the betterment of the people. It doesn’t mean that everything is okay. There are many big challenges facing not only the government, but society as well,” she says.
While there are societies in which some women have succeeded alongside men, statistics point to the gaping gender pay gap.
“[There is still a need] to have consciousness about the woman as a human being, not as a sex. Women’s rights are part of human rights, so if any country doesn’t apply this to its rules and laws, it means that they are violating human rights,” says Khaled.
Her active role extends beyond her iconic photograph, which has also become a part of popular culture, the same way Che Guevara’s image is emblazoned on T-shirts. The keffieh, which has been used as a symbol of Palestinian resistance and support, is now a fashion accessory. The message these symbols carry, according to Khaled, is however not lost.
“When I look at Che Guevara as a symbol, and also Nelson Mandela as a symbol of the struggle against injustice, whether it’s under [the] apartheid regime or [not], it’s not the whole thing that I see. I see behind it,” she explains.
“It means that this image should be in [popular] culture. We should learn from history, from other people. It’s not only our people who are struggling, there were many other people in the world who struggle.”
Young Khaled’s image is almost timeless as it speaks for the many women on the frontline, taking on an equal role alongside men in conflicts around the world.

CTX1557

The Grandmother who Hijacked Planes

Justin Smith pulled into the driveway after attending his mom’s surprise 60th birthday. His girlfriend at the time got out the car to fix the jammed gate when she suddenly screamed and ran inside the house.
“There was a knock on the window and I instinctively put the car into reverse and as I was reversing out, the hijackers started shooting at me,” says Smith as he draws a deep breath.
He lost control and crashed the car across the road. The hijackers came around, tossed him out the car and demanded his cell phone, wallet and jacket.
“As I was taking off my watch, I heard a gunshot and that was that. It was like a computer rebooting. As you hit the reset button it all goes dark and then everything starts coming back again.”
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Smith was airlifted to hospital where he received the devastating news. The bullet was lodged in his C6 vertebra and doctors could not operate as it would cause more damage. There was nothing they could do other than sticking a band-aid over the hole and hope for the best. Lying in the hospital bed, with no sensation from his shoulders down, reality began to set in.
“My mind was just racing: Where to now? What are we going to do? What’s my future going to be? Here I am, 28 years old, a week before my 29th birthday, now what?”
The months that followed were spent with councilors and physiotherapists in a rehabilitation center where Smith began to regain his strength. Smith’s unnatural positivity had one of the councilors concerned about his state of mind.
“At the end she said to me, ‘Did anyone explain to you there are certain steps that you go through in terms of acceptance?’ I said, ‘No, I obviously just went straight to the end.’”
His progress was slow yet consistent and as he began to move his arms, toes and legs the possibility of being able to walk again seemed promising.
Smith’s research led him to the Project Walk website, a company based in the United States (US) that specializes in spinal injuries. He relocated to California for nine months where he went through intensive rehabilitation and was able to walk with a walker. The trip cost him close to R1 million ($90,000). It was here that he met a friend who would introduce him to EKSO Bionics, a company that made a suit that could help paralyzed people walk. The battery-operated suit fits over people’s clothes and its motors control the steps of the person inside it. When EKSO came to South Africa in 2012, Smith went to test the so-called miracle suit. After only 30 steps in the EKSO, he was sold.
His dream of creating a center like the one he had seen in the US began to take shape when he bought an EKSO suit for R1.7 million ($153,000). He found a small office space in Johannesburg and created a gym with the equipment he had acquired over the years. Just Walk Bionics opened its doors in June 2012 and has since acquired more than 40 clients who have clocked in more than 80,000 steps in the EKSO suit. Sessions cost R900 ($80) for an hour in the suit and R370 ($33) for 45 minutes on the fitness equipment. The rehabilitation center’s aim is to bring hope to wheelchair-bound patients who never thought they would walk again.
“It’s like a light switch goes on. They’re apprehensive at first because they don’t know what’s going to happen. Then they go through all the steps and it stands them up into a bridge position and they stand there and they just look at the world from a totally different elevation,” he says.
Like any business, Just Walk Bionics has its fair share of challenges.
“The problem with the clients is that they are people with huge expenses already because of what their disability brings. Because we use new technology, medical aids don’t pay for it, they only refund a certain part of it.”
The company is currently running case studies to show medical aid companies the benefits of EKSO in the hope that they will fund it. The benefits include: relief of pressure sores caused by long periods of sitting, improved circulation and cardio vascular improvements.
Smith sees this project as part of his responsibility to give back to the community and to aid those who cannot afford to take a trip overseas or buy the suit.
“We had a client in Cape Town who spent £5,000 ($8,156) for just one week in the UK to experience the unit. I calculated that he could have walked for an entire year, three times a week for that same price.”
There is no doubt that Smith has achieved a lot. And even though he is wheelchair bound he has enough movement in his legs to drive his dream car.
“Of course you can image the response I got when I rolled in the dealership and said, ‘I’d like to look at one of your Range Rovers.’ The salesman brought one around and I wheeled to the side. I sat there for about five minutes in the doorway looking at everything. With my dad holding the door I managed to pull myself up into a standing position and onto the driver’s seat&#8230; Six months later, I bought one.”
“Nobody said life was going to be easy. Life is full of challenges and it’s how you approach those challenges that get you through it.”
Smith’s face lights up as he speaks of the future upgrades of EKSO and its ability to allow people to climb up ramps and stairs. It all sounds pretty impressive. One day you are told you will never walk again and the next you are climbing stairs. Imagine that.

One Cruel Shot Changed A Life

Our roads are peppered with potholes; hijackings are a way of life; wildlife sometimes seems to have a vendetta against moving vehicles; traffic jams can rival the migration in the Serengeti, and all this is when we have roads to begin with! And let’s not forget the plight of the minibus drivers; having to furiously shuttle their sardine tins full of people, who are sometimes laden like hermit crabs with their personal belongings.
What is to be done about the seemingly Sisyphean mountain of obstacles that befall us as regular road users, you ask? Extreme all-terrain vehicles are, in my humble opinion, the obvious answer to Africa’s daunting road conditions. Take for example the Russian-built Viking-2992 from Aton Impulse (brought to you by the people who built some frighteningly effective submarines, so why not surface-dwelling amphibious vehicles too?). This road-legal behemoth is capable of conquering not only the worst tarmac, but it’s just as comfortable in more aquatic climes.
Looking, for all the world, like a bullfrog on steroids, the Viking’s high-flotation boat frame allows it to traverse the water at speeds of up to 15km/h. Equally suited to that leisurely weekend trip across the Vaal dam in South Africa (imagine the stares from those overpriced boats packed with scantily clad women and cigar-chomping businessmen), or those unscheduled flash floods, the car boasts pneumatic front and rear suspension and balloon tyres—equipped to “minimize environmental impact and soil damage”. Exactly what we were concerned about. And, should the humanitarian bug ever bite, the Viking makes a superb search-and-rescue vehicle; coming in a 6&#215;6 wheel configuration that can transport 12 people. Enough to make any taxi driver flush with envy; especially considering the car’s got climate control and a rear-view camera for ease of parking.
Another contender, in our bid to conquer Africa’s unforgiving terrain, is the Mercedes-Benz Zetros. The towering Teuton comes in either a four-liter six-ton payload or seven-liter, ten-ton variety. This truck is perfectly suited to hosting those pesky, end-of-month shopping expeditions with parking posing no problem—that Hummer’s roof will do nicely, thank you. Hijackers will stare agog, contemplating how on earth to scale the sides so they can point their quivering gun at the safely ensconced driver. Twin axles mean the cabin and payload move independently (like a belly dancer working her way through college)—helpful when encountering potholes the size of Australia, as we do after a brief cloud burst. Water reaching up to a height of 1,100mm (with the additional modifications) holds little fear for this übertruck. Let’s see someone try to push in front of one of these at the next intersection.
When it comes to sure-footedness though, nothing beats the insanity of the Chainlink extreme 4&#215;4. Powered by a fuel-injected five-liter V8 engine sourced from a Ford Mustang, the unique feature of this vehicle is that its one-meter-high tires dangle off the end of hydraulically controlled swing arms that can work independently or as a team. This unsurpassed articulation (two meters in total travel) means the Chainlink virtually bounds over boulders, seemingly negating the need for roads at all. While disturbing to look at, and its gait is reminiscent of a drunkard at a twisting competition, the Chainlink gets the job done.
Ever wary of expenditure, we’ve managed to uncover a more cost-effective manner of taming the African wilderness. It comes in the form of the Desert Fox conversion. Designed to fit your existing Toyota Land Cruiser or Nissan Patrol (chosen specifically for their impervious nature and easy access of parts), the kit comprises of a fully galvanized platform that simply bolts on (housing eight molded seats protected by three rollover bars) and transforms the ‘bakkie’ into a light infantry patrol vehicle. In addition, the suspension undergoes some radical reworking thanks to new leaf and coil springs, gas-powered shock absorbers, a heavy-duty steering damper and anti-sway bar.
Criminals stand no chance against the Desert Fox’s optional armor plating, and it even comes with its own water supply (100 liters) and dual battery with charging system. Making this kit a must-have for those expeditions to war-torn territories is the optional gun turret. A handy feature, to keep the masses at bay; especially if you’ve opted to purchase another product from the same company—the mobile field kitchen. Simply throw this contraption onto the tow hitch, and you can almost literally make food for Africa; 300 people at a go, and up to 1,000 in total. The kitchen uses diesel to power its hot plates (switching over to solar when hot) and can pump out 24 loaves of bread in 20 minutes. That’ll satisfy the biggest appetite! No wonder military brass, from numerous countries, are showing interest—and it’s exactly what a hungry, take-no-crap, sick-to-death-of-traffic road user really needs.
If the Desert Fox has piqued your interest in military grade vehicles, take a gander at www.milweb.net—apparently they are “the world’s largest and busiest military marketplace for military vehicles”. Nothing says “get the hell out of my way” quite like a tank, which is why we’d simply have to opt for one if we inadvertently won the Lotto. While owning and driving a tank on public roads might be completely illegal, such technicalities haven’t stopped a host of drivers in our laissez faire continent, thanks to the pliability of our cash-strapped authorities. Ah, Africa—the cradle of mankind. We might not have invented corruption, but we’ve certainly come close to perfecting it. And yet, this is our land—diverse, unique, challenging and exciting. If you don’t like it—well, you know the rest&#8230;

Tag: hijacking

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

The Grandmother who Hijacked Planes

One Cruel Shot Changed A Life

Conquering Africa’s Roads With More Than Passing Fun