In September 1970, commandos from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked five planes, landing three of them near Zarqua, Jordan, at a remote desert airstrip called Dawson’s Field, which the commandos renamed Revolution Airport. While they held hundreds of passengers and flight crew hostage in the desert, the PFLP issued their demands for release of Palestinian militants who were imprisoned in Europe.
Joining me on this episode to help us understand more is American historian Prof. Martha Hodes, who was a 12-year-old passenger on one of the planes, flying with her 13-year-old sister, Catherine. Dr. Hodes is Professor of History at New York University and the author of My Hijacking: A Personal History of Forgetting and Remembering.
Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode music is “Calm Piano Dramatic” by AleXZavesa and is available for use via Pixabay. The episode image is “Pan Am Boeing 747-121 N736PA,” by Rob Russell, CC BY 2.0.
Additional Sources:
“History of the Question of Palestine,” United Nations.
“Creation of Israel, 1948,” Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State.
“Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP),” BBC, November 18, 2014.
“Skyjackings: What's Being Done And How Passengers React,” by John Brannon Albright, The New York Times, June 21, 1970.
“A Brief History of Airplane Hijackings, From the Cold War to D.B. Cooper,” by Janet Bednarek, The Conversation, Smithsonian Magazine, July 18, 2022.
“Leila Khaled freed after US pressure,” The Guardian, January 1, 2001.
“An Infamous Hijacking, Revisited Through a Child’s Eyes,” by Jennifer Schuessler, The New York Times, June 1, 2023.
“1970 Hijackings,” PBS American Experience.
“Terror in Black September: The First Eyewitness Account of the Infamous 1970 Hijackings,” by David Raab, Palgrave Macmillan, September 4, 2007.
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