stephen  d. leece

At the risk of causing offence to Ms. Irving, this enjoyable biography of the most iconic of Palestinian Militants after Arafat, occasionally strays dangerously close to hagiography.

There are two reasons for this flaw: firstly Irving based the book on interviews conducted with Khaled at her home in Amman, and also with those who have known her throughout her long and varied life; secondly Khaled is a very likeable person, so it will be hard to find anyone who has a constructive criticism to make about her.

Nevertheless, in spite of, or even because of this flaw Irving has much that is of interest to tell us.

Khaled was not born a hijacker, but it could be argued that her brothers were- they were in the Arab National Movement and Irving hints, but does not explicitly state, that they took part in the Lebanon Crisis of 1958.

The younger Leila had a much more conventional life studying at the American University of Beirut, and becoming a teacher in Kuwait- her only real contribution to politics was joining the General Union of Palestinian Students, which was standard for anyone born in Palestinian Haifa (part of Israel from 1948) but living in the Palestinian Diaspora that had made the grade.

Following the collapse of the ANM afrer the Arab defeat of 1967, Leila joined the newly-formed PFLP but her gender restricted her to light duties- which given her later hijackings has contributed much to her image as a feminist icon.

But Irving and Khaled herself, are keen to point out that hijackings and the iconic photo of her clad in a keffiyah, wielding an AK-47 and looking like Audrey Hepburn gone nuts to one side, there is a lot more to her.

Irving quite rightly stresses her post-militant political and social career. She is after all a politburo member on the Palestinian National Council that champions the rights of the Palestinian woman.

The only disappointment with this account of her life is that Irving does not attempt to address the repeated rumours of Khaled having studied in Moscow in the 1980s.

However it will be a long time yet before a fuller, more critical account of Khaled’s life will be published.