PRESS STATEMENT ON THE PLANNED VISIT BY CDE LEILA KHALED

Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association welcomes the planned visit of the Palestine struggle icon and freedom fighter, Leila Khaled to South Africa. This is amid the racist oppressive Zionist Israel sympathisers' noise against such planned visit. This visit by Cde Leila Khaled would further contribute to serve the purpose to bolster solidarity with the Palestine people's struggle for their birth right, in their country, and expose the wanton murder of Palestinians by the terrorist Israel Defence Force.

MKMVA would like to point out that contrary to the terrorist killing of the Palestinians by the Israel Defence Force, no Israeli or a single passenger was killed in the two airplanes that were hijacked by Cde Leila Khaled and her comrades. The only life that was lost was that of Patrick Arguello, who was summarily executed by the Israeli air marshals who were never tried for that illegal act. It is legendary that she treated the passengers with dignity and explained that she was not intending any harm to be visited upon them.

In her actions she was motivated by a greater need to see the dignity of her people restored and the illegal occupation of their land Palestine ended. It is our hope that the hostile noise from a small racist Zionist minority which supports that murdering of the people of occupied Palestine, by the murderous Zionist apartheid Israeli regime does not confuse the masses. The international solidarity for the freedom of South Africa helped to bring a non-racial, non-sexist democracy to our country. So should we offer international solidarity to guarantee the freedom of Palestine.

Statement issued by Kebby Maphatsoe, Chair of the Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association, January 14 2014

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