summary of My People Shall Live by Leila Khaled:

Leila Khaled’s My People Shall Live is both an autobiographical narrative and a political manifesto that offers a firsthand account of the Palestinian struggle through the eyes of one of its most iconic figures. Khaled, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), recounts her life story, beginning with her childhood in Haifa and the traumatic displacement of her family during the Nakba of 1948, which left them as refugees in Lebanon. This formative experience of exile, poverty, and dispossession shaped her deep sense of identity and commitment to the liberation of Palestine. She narrates her political awakening as a young woman, her decision to join the armed resistance, and her eventual involvement in revolutionary activities, including the internationally famous plane hijackings of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Far from sensationalizing these events, Khaled situates them within the broader historical and political context of colonialism, imperialism, and the denial of Palestinian nationhood, presenting them as acts of resistance designed to draw global attention to her people’s plight. At the same time, she provides a rare glimpse into the emotional and psychological dimensions of militancy—the personal sacrifices, family tensions, and gendered challenges she faced as a woman in a male-dominated revolutionary movement. The book blends personal memoir with political theory, making the case that armed struggle was, in her view, a necessary response to the violence of displacement and occupation. Yet it is also imbued with hope, as Khaled emphasizes the resilience of the Palestinian people and her conviction that, despite immense suffering, justice and liberation are inevitable. My People Shall Live thus functions as both a testimony of lived experience and a revolutionary text, capturing the spirit of defiance and determination that has made Khaled a symbol of Palestinian resistance.