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Ahmed Yassin

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File:Sheikahmedyassin300.jpg
Photograph of Ahmed Yassin taken on March 19, 2004, three days before his assassination.

Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Yassin (Arabic: الشيخ أحمد ياسين) (circa 1937 — March 22, 2004) was the co-founder and leader of the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas. Because of its attacks on civilian targets, Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by the European Union[1], the United States[2], Israel, and several other contries.

Yassin co-founded Hamas with Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in 1987, originally calling it the Palestinian Wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. In addition to being nearly blind, he was a paraplegic and had to use a wheelchair after a playground accident in his youth.[1] . He was assassinated by an Israeli helicopter gunship.

Early life

Yassin was born near the town of Majdal (called Ashkelon in hebrew) in then British Mandate of Palestine. His date of birth is not known for certain: according to his Palestinian passport, he was born on January 1, 1929, but he claimed to have actually been born in 1938. He and his family moved to Gaza after his village was destroyed in 1948 during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Yassin studied at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, following secondary school. Islamist and Arab nationalist movements were strong influences at the University. Yassin joined the Muslim Brotherhood during his studies at Al-Azhar.

Yassin opposed peaceful conciliation with the Israelis, asserting that the land of Palestine/Israel is "consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day" and that "The so-called peace path is not peace and it is not a substitute for jihad and resistance." [2].

In 1989 Yassin was suspected by the Israelis to have authorized the killing of Palestinians believed to be collaborating with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Israel accused Yassin of ordering the execution of two captured Israeli soldiers, a crime for which he was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment by an Israeli military court.

Release from prison and life after imprisonment

In 1997 Yassin was released from Israeli prison as part of an arrangement with Jordan following a failed assassination attempt of Khaled Mashal conducted by the Israeli Mossad in Jordan. Yassin was released by Israel in exchange for two Mossad agents who had been arrested by Jordanian authorities, on condition that he refrain from calling for suicide bombings against Israel.

Following his release, Yassin resumed his leadership of Hamas. He immediately resumed his calls for rebel attacks on the "Terrorist State of Israel" using tactics including suicide bombings against the Israeli military, thus violating the condition of his release. His epigram is his most famous quote: "We chose this road, and will end with martyrdom or victory".

During the various stages of the "peace process" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), Yassin was repeatedly placed under house arrest by the PA. Each time Yassin was placed under house arrest he was eventually released, often after extended demonstrations by his supporters.

On June 13, 2003, unnamed Israeli officials announced that Yassin "is not immune" to assassination under the Israeli policy of "targeted interception."[citation needed].

Three months later, on September 6, 2003, an Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-16 dropped a quarter-ton bomb on a building in Gaza City, the Gaza Strip. Yassin was in the building at the time and was lightly wounded by the bomb. Israeli officials later confirmed that Yassin was the target of the attack. His injuries were treated at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Following the assassination attempt, Yassin told reporters that "Days will prove that the assassination policy will not finish the Hamas. Hamas leaders wish to be martyrs and are not scared of death. Jihad will continue and the resistance will continue until we have victory, or we will be martyrs." [3]

Yassin further promised that Hamas would teach Israel an "unforgettable lesson" as a result of the assassination attempt [4]. Yassin made no attempt to guard himself from further attempts on his life or hide his location. Journalists sometimes visited his Gaza address and Yassin maintained a routine daily pattern of activity, including being wheeled every morning to a nearby mosque.

After a woman's suicide bombing at the Erez crossing on January 14, 2004, in which Reem Raiyshi detonated herself, Yassin expressed his satisfaction with the execution of the attack. When asked about the execution of the attack by a woman, Yassin said, "Hamas views women as the reserve force".

Assassination

Ahmed Yassin was killed in an Israeli attack on March 22 2004. While he was being wheeled out of an early morning prayer session, an Israeli helicopter gunship fired Hellfire missiles at Yassin and both of his bodyguards. They were killed instantly, along with eight other bystanders.[5] Allegedly, more than a dozen people were injured in the operation, including two of Yassin's sons. Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi replaced him as Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, and Rantissi himself was assassinated by Israel on April 17 2004.

The anti-rebel operation, part of an ongoing Israeli action against Hamas-sponsored rebel operations, followed Sheikh Yassin's taunt that Israel's response to the recent Ashdod rebel operations was weak, and that Hamas would gain strength as a result.

Israel said the targeted killing was punishment for dozens of suicide attacks by Hamas against Israeli civilians, and meant to thwart further attacks on Yassin's orders. Yassin's supporters and many countries condemned his assassination.

The Israel Defense Forces issued the following statement regarding the operation:

"This morning, in a security forces operation in the northern Gaza Strip, the IDF targeted a car carrying the head of the Hamas terror organization, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and his aides.
Yassin, responsible for numerous murderous terror attacks, resulting in the deaths of many civilians, both Israeli and foreign, was killed in the attack."

International reaction

The killing provoked widespread condemnation from the international community. Kofi Annan, UN General secretary, strongly condemned the killing and also called on Israel to halt its policy of assassination [6]. The UN Commission on Human Rights passed a resolution condemning the killing [7] supported by votes from 31 countries including China, India, Indonesia, Russian Federation and South Africa with 2 votes against and 18 abstentions. The Arab League council also expressed condemnation [8], as did the African Union [9].

Jack Straw, the British Foreign Secretary, said: "All of us understand Israel's need to protect itself - and it is fully entitled to do that - against the terrorism which affects it, within international law. But it is not entitled to go in for this kind of unlawful killing and we condemn it. It is unacceptable, it is unjustified and it is very unlikely to achieve its objectives."

The White House equivocally condemned the action. Scott McClellan, the White House Press Secretary, said, "We are deeply troubled by this morning's incident," but he added, "Israel had the right to defend itself" and stressed that Yassin had been "personally involved in terrorism".

A State Department spokesman said: "This does not help efforts to resume progress towards peace."

US ambassador to Iraq John Negroponte stated that the USA was "deeply troubled", and characterized Yassin as "the leader of a terrorist organization [...] who preached hatred, and glorified suicide bombings of buses, restaurants, and cafes."

Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli Defense Minister, branded Yassin "the Palestinian bin Laden" and said, "If we have to balance how many more terrorists Yassin would have sent, how many terrorist attacks he would have approved - if we weigh this on the scales, we acted rightly."

Avraham Poraz, Israel's Interior Minister and member of the centrist Shinui Party, said he believed the assassination of Yassin would "foster further hate and more attacks". Shimon Peres, then leader of the Labour opposition, said, "I do not believe that we can eliminate terrorism by assassinating leaders. It was a misguided decision."

An informal survey by the BBC suggested support for the attack from Israelis [10].

The Palestinian Authority declared three days of mourning and closed Palestinian schools. Flags at President Arafat's compound in Ramallah were lowered as he recited a Muslim prayer for Yassin and said, "May you join the martyrs and the prophets. To heaven, you martyr."

Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh said, "This is the moment Sheikh Yassin dreamed about". The Hamas leadership said Ariel Sharon had "opened the gates of hell." Hamas called for retaliation against Israel. About 200,000 people took to the streets of the Gaza Strip for Yassin's funeral as Israeli forces declared a national alert.

The UN Security Council failed to pass a resolution condemning Yassin's assassination as the United States vetoed it. Britain, Germany, and Romania abstained. The United States stated that it vetoed the resolution because it did not include an explicit condemnation of Hamas terrorism.

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Council Decision" Council of the European Union, December 21, 2005
  2. ^ "Country reports on terrorism", U.S. State Dept., April 27, 2005.
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