Souhaila Sami Andrawes Sayeh ( born 28 March 1953 in Beirut) is a former militant and Lebanese member of the

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation ...

(PFLP).

Early life and education

Souhaila Andrawes was born to Palestinian parents who were forced to leave their hometown of Haifa after the

first Arab-Israeli War First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

. She grew up in Beirut and was raised in the Christian faith. She graduated from a girls' school run by French nuns. In 1965, she moved with her parents to Kuwait, where she briefly attended a Muslim school, but left. Her original goal of becoming a nun herself would never have been possible in predominantly Muslim Kuwait, so she wanted to move to Jerusalem. However, the outbreak of the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

in 1967 thwarted her plans. Although Andrawes graduated as a top student of her class, she was denied a place at university because she had neither Kuwaiti citizenship nor the necessary connections. She then studied English language and literature in Lebanon.

Lufthansa Flight 181 hijacking

In 1977, she participated in the

hijacking Hijacking may refer to: Common usage Computing and technology * Bluejacking, the unsolicited transmission of data via Bluetooth * Brandjacking, the unauthorized use of a company's brand * Browser hijacking * Clickjacking (including ''likej ...

Lufthansa Flight 181 Lufthansa Flight 181, a Boeing 737-230C jet airliner (reg. D-ABCE) named ''Landshut'', was hijacked on 13 October 1977 by four militants of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine while en route from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, to Fr ...

and the murder of pilot

Jürgen Schumann Jürgen Schumann (29 April 194016 October 1977) was a German commercial airline pilot and former German Air Force officer. He served as the flight captain of the Lufthansa plane ''Lufthansa Flight 181, Landshut'' during its Aircraft hijacking, hi ...

. Andrawes was the only one of the four hijackers to survive the

GSG 9 , formerly , is the police tactical unit of the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei). The unit is responsible for combatting terrorism and violent crime, including organized crime. In addition to its headquarters location in Sankt Augustin-H ...

storming of the plane in

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

. During the rescue operation, she was shot in the legs and lungs. Andrawes was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment in

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

, but was released a year later due to health-related issues, after which she moved to

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. In 1991, she moved to

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

with her husband, Palestinian academic and human rights activist Ahmad Abu Matar, and her daughter until she was tracked down by

Norwegian Police Security Service The Norwegian Police Security Service (, ) is the police security agency of Norway. The agency was previously known as ''POT'' (' or Police Surveillance Agency), the name change was decided by the Parliament of Norway on 2 June 2001. History an ...

(PST) in 1994 and handed over to Germany in 1995. The arrest was followed by a strong debate on how to deal with foreign terrorists. She was sentenced to 12 years on terrorism charges and was released after three years due to poor health. She was the first woman to be sentenced twice for such a crime. Andrawes has since resided in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

with her husband and their daughter.

References

1953 births Living people People from Beirut People imprisoned on terrorism charges Foreign nationals imprisoned in Somalia People convicted of murder by Germany Hijackers People extradited to Germany People extradited from Norway Palestinian emigrants to Norway Palestinian people imprisoned abroad Refugees in Norway Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine members {{Palestine-bio-stub