“The West demands from us that we stop the resistance. Instead of asking the occupiers to leave our land, they ask us to surrender to the occupier… The peace that reinforces occupation, settlements, and the exiling of the Palestinian people, is not really peace.”¹ - Sheikh Ahmed Yassin

“Yassin’s martyrdom is a new beginning for the resistance, jihad, and Intifada and will have repercussions and consequences far more dangerous than this usurper entity [Israel] has so far seen.”² - Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbullah Secretary General

Sheikh Ahmed’s assassination was met with Palestinian vows of revenge.

Throughout history, wars, revolutions and peace treaties were always regarded as major harbingers of social and political change. An often overlooked force for transformation has been political assassination. In many cases where influential leaders or figureheads were assassinated, a cascade of interrelated consequences and events usually occurred, far exceeding the expectations of those who committed the assassination itself. In this respect, one must note how the 1914 assassination of the heir to the Habsburg throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, by nationalist Serbs set in motion a series of unstoppable events that resulted in World War I - a tragic conflict in which millions died.

For millions of Muslims, the assassination of Hamas leader and founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin represents a watershed event, perhaps signaling a turning point in the Arab-Israeli struggle and in the overall Western-Muslim conflict that has recently taken on global proportions with the US’ declared “war on terrorism.” It is worthy to note that even some Israeli officers referred to the event as a transformative one, equivalent in its importance to Sharon’s visit to the al-Aqsa mosque which sparked the current Intifada in September 2000.³

Perhaps the most telling account of Yassin’s martyrdom and its possible repercussions came from an editorial in the International Herald Tribune, which read: “The assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a figure whose symbolic stature on both sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict far surpassed the actual potential of his paralyzed, feeble body, is certain to become one of those pivotal events around which passions and hatreds coalesce… Sheikh Yassin was already an icon in the Arab world, now he is a martyr.”⁴

Israel’s assassination of Sheikh Yassin was met with Palestinian vows of revenge. Senior Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi suggested: “The battle is open and war between us and them is open. They are the killers of prophets and today they killed an Islamic symbol.” Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of the Fatah organization, called for “war, war, war on the sons of Zion. An eye for an eye. There will be a response within hours, God willing.”⁶ Tens of thousands of Palestinians, fist raised in anger, chanted: “By blood, by sword, we sacrifice for you!” as they mourned the death of the enigmatic Palestinian leader, killed by Israeli missiles in a predawn airstrike as he returned home from prayers in a nearby mosque.

Arab television channels replaced scheduled programs with live coverage of Yassin’s funeral. Mourners among a crowd of 200,000 reached out to touch the flag-draped coffin in the biggest turnout in Gaza since Arafat’s triumphant homecoming in 1994 after interim peace deals with Israel. A few hours later, a statement published on an Islamist website purporting to be from al-Qaeda urged retaliation against the US and its allies for Israel’s assassination of Ahmed Yassin.⁷ However, the swiftest military response to Israel’s crime came from Hizbullah, whose fighters fired rockets and mortar shells at Israeli military outposts in the occupied Cheb’aa Farms on the Lebanese-Israeli border. Near Tel Aviv, a Palestinian man attacked three Israelis with an axe, causing minor injuries. Other scattered outbreaks of violence left at least five Palestinians dead and caused dozens of injuries as protesters clashed with Israeli troops.

Israel’s extra-judicial killing of a frail quadriplegic as he left a mosque in the early hours of the day was no doubt the ugliest expression of state terrorism, the act of a mafia rather than a state governed by responsible leaders educated in civilized international norms. However, this was not an unexpected move by the bloodthirsty government of Ariel Sharon, given regional and international silence at Israel’s daily atrocities in the Palestinian territories. The heavy-handed US military presence in the Middle East and the mild response of Arab governments to Israeli carnage most certainly gave Sharon the “green light” to proceed with his trail of terror.

The Bush administration’s first response came from National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who refused to condemn the killing, instead rationalizing it by pointing to Yassin’s “terror” connection, suggesting that the US had not set any “red lines” for Sharon’s behavior.⁸ After all, the US was already aware that Israel wanted to eliminate Sheikh Yassin from the simple fact that it had already tried and failed to assassinate him last year.

Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi now controls Hamas in Gaza.

Interestingly, the timing of the attack came just weeks after Sharon announced his intention to implement a disengagement plan in which Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza. In fact, a team of top Israeli officials, including Sharon’s Chief of Staff Dov Weisglass and national security chief Giora Eiland, was headed to Washington to discuss the withdrawal plan with American officials. The recent strike against Hamas’ leader was supposedly intended to prevent a situation where Hamas can claim that Israel is withdrawing from Gaza under pressure from the organization, just as Hizbullah had claimed after Israel’s unconditional withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000. In this regard, Yassin’s assassination can be seen as part of an Israeli “offensive” before its expected disengagement. Following Yassin’s assassination, Israeli security sources declared that Israel will try to kill the entire leadership of Hamas, irrespective of further attacks by the militant group. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz declared Hamas a “strategic enemy of Israel,” and an Israeli ministry spokesman added that “it is very important to weaken Hamas in view of the application of the separation plan.”⁹

More importantly though, there was a sense of Israeli confidence that Washington would not oppose the operation since both it and Pakistan are in the midst of an extensive military campaign on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to capture al-Qaeda leaders. Sharon may have believed that if the Americans can kill, arrest and torture hundreds of Islamists and send them overseas to cages in Guantanamo Bay, they would definitely not object to the assassination of a single man in Gaza. Indeed, the assassination of Sheikh Yassin was reminiscent of the US assassination of an alleged al-Qaeda lieutenant in Yemen by a missile launched from a CIA drone in November 2002, exhibiting the same disregard for the norms of international behavior.

Yassin - The Man and the Message

Perhaps one of the most influential leaders in the history of the Palestinian resistance movement, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was an exceptional ideologue, motivator, strategist, and inspiration for thousands of Palestinians yearning for independence. The frail and ailing Yassin, although himself the picture of physical powerlessness, probably did more than any other figure to sear into the consciousness of young Palestinians the notion that death sought in order to inflict harm upon a hated occupier is glorious.¹⁰

Since his early days, the Hamas leader was the inspiration behind both the 1987 and 2000 uprisings, refusing to accept the pessimists’ objections to what they felt was a road to collective suicide. Yassin always asserted that since the Palestinians were fighting from a much weaker position, they must be prepared to accept much greater losses. In his mosque sermons and teachings, Yassin repeatedly portrayed suicide attacks as a divinely inspired means for the helplessly oppressed to strike at a powerful oppressor. The elderly sheikh insisted that Israel is a militaristic garrison state which had blurred the line between civilians and soldiers, explaining that Hamas did not exclusively target Israeli “civilians,” except in direct retaliation for the death of Palestinian civilians. He saw this as a necessary tactic to “show the Israelis they could not get away without a price for killing our people.”¹¹

The current Intifada, which erupted in September 2000, represented the ultimate vindication of Yassin’s thinking. Islamist, nationalist and secular Palestinian movements scrambled to follow Hamas’ suicide bombing strategy, with every movement boasting of its martyrs and of its willingness to sacrifice its sons for the larger goal of national liberation. For mainstream Palestinians, “martyrdom” remained the ultimate goal - a concept repeatedly invoked at every Palestinian mass rally and in videotaped messages left behind by suicide bombers.¹²

Born in 1936 in Majdal near the coastal town of Askalan, in what was then Palestine under the British mandate, Sheikh Yassin’s political views were forged at a time of humiliation and defeat for the Palestinians.¹³ Father to eleven children, the elderly sheikh belongs to one of many families expelled from their homes by invading Israeli forces during the first Arab-Israeli conflict of 1948. After a childhood accident left him a quadriplegic, he devoted his early life to Islamic scholarship and studied at al-Azhar University in Cairo, the birthplace of the Muslim Brotherhood. It was there that he developed the belief that Palestine is Islamic land “consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgment Day,” and that no Arab or Muslim leader has the right to give up any part of this territory.

Back in Gaza, Yassin founded his own movement, al-Mujama al-Islami, in the 1970s and began to recruit young activists. The Iranian Revolution of 1979, the rising tide of Islamism throughout the Muslim world, and the presence of the exiled secular Fatah leadership in Tunisia allowed Yassin to set up a more radical Islamic movement - Majd al-Mujahideen.

Yassin was arrested for the first time in 1984 for the illegal possession of weapons and explosives, but released a year later, after which he worked to create Hamas, the name of which is an acronym for “the Islamic Resistance Movement.”¹⁴ In 1989, Sheikh Yassin was arrested by the Israelis and sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly ordering the killing of Palestinians who had collaborated with the Israeli army. He was eventually released in 1997, in exchange for two Israeli agents arrested in Jordan during an attempt to assassinate another Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal.

Hamas was able to build support by offering material help through the charitable funding of schools, clinics and hospitals that provide free services to families in distress.

New Hamas head Khaled Meshaal has already survived an Israeli assassination attempt.

Since its inception in December 1987, Hamas has carried out the majority of attacks against Israeli targets, becoming the Zionist state’s most lethal enemy. Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, and its long-term aim is to establish an Islamic state on pre-1948 borders. Sheikh Yassin was a staunch opponent of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords between Israel and the Palestinians, repeatedly declaring his movement’s opposition to all Western peace initiatives which do not restore the Palestinians’ full rights.

Despite his attempts to maintain good relations with the Palestinian Authority (PA), there were several attempts by the PA to restrict his activities. In December 2001, one man died in clashes with Palestinian police after Sheikh Yassin was placed under house arrest. Shooting erupted again in June 2002 when Palestinian police surrounded his house. In September 2003, the Israeli army attempted to kill Sheikh Yassin while he was at the house of a Hamas colleague in Gaza.

The Living Martyr - Consequences & Prospects

Perhaps the most immediate consequence of Sheikh Yassin’s assassination was the outpour of anger throughout the Islamic World and the revival of street protests in many Arab and Islamic capitals. The assassination took place only a few days after international protests commemorating the first anniversary of the beginning of the US campaign against Iraq. This ultimately added more anti-US and anti-Israeli sentiment to popular rage at the continued US occupation of Iraq. Interestingly, even in Iraq, where the US is relentlessly trying to establish a pro-US government and win the hearts and minds of the public, thousands of Iraqis took to the streets deploring the US and Israel for the assassination of Sheikh Yassin.

Iraqi outrage over Yassin’s killing was not only confined to the “Sunni Triangle” that has nurtured the insurgency against the US and its allies. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the Shi’ite spiritual leader and the single most influential person in Iraq, called on Muslims to unite against Israel, while the more militant Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr offered the Palestinians “moral and physical support.”¹⁵ In an already tense transition process, the extent to which the US is viewed as complicit in an Israeli action that has enraged Iraqis will not make the task of US soldiers and officials there any easier.

Domestically, the immediate consequence of the assassination would be the increase in the strength and influence of Hamas in the Palestinian street, and an equal increase in popular disillusionment with the PA after it appeared incapable or unwilling to protect resistance leaders despite its numerous security organizations and international connections. As a result, the PA would find it increasingly difficult to act against Hamas - actions like collecting weapons, arresting militants, or preventing the firing of Qassam rockets, will be politically dangerous for the PA.¹⁶

Another possible consequence of the assassination would be that Hamas, lacking a clear cut leadership, would gradually split into more radical factions, as happened to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt after Nasser’s execution of Sayyid Qutb. Those factions usually create their own ideologies and mode of operation that is usually more radical than, and independent of, their parent organization. Mainstream Palestinian movements have so far avoided any public alignment with al-Qaeda. However, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi announced that Hamas had opened a special account with Israel, calling the assassination of Yassin a declaration of war on Islam.¹⁷ Al-Rantissi’s threats could materialize if several leading cadres of the Hamas movement decide to align themselves with al-Qaeda’s global objectives and strike at Israeli, Jewish, or American targets overseas.

In any case, the most certain result of Yassin’s assassination would be the radicalization of Hamas and the sidelining of moderates within the movement. One also has to remember that Israel’s assassination of Ismail Abu Shanab in Summer 2003- the most pragmatic of all Hamas leaders - severely restricted the moderate line within Hamas. The most recent manifestation of the movement’s radicalization was the choice of Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi - perceived as the most radical of all Hamas leaders and one who refuses any form of compromise with Israel - as the new leader of the movement in the Gaza Strip.

Conclusions

The assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin no doubt represents a turning point in the history of the Arab-Israeli struggle and in the larger global conflict between the West and the Muslim world. The occupation of Muslim lands, the support for “friendly tyrants,” and now, the systematic cold-blooded killing of Muslim icons of resistance, will definitely fuel the cause of radicals in the Middle East and silence any possible voices of moderation. For millions of Muslims, Sheikh Yassin was, and always will be, a symbol of resistance, piety, and self-sacrifice. Interestingly, his legacy of resistance and steadfastness had a ripple-effect throughout the Islamic world that far surpassed his frail figure. Perhaps his assassination was the wake-up call needed for many Muslims to rise from their present slumber. One only has to remember how the assassination of Sheikh Abdullah Azzam in Peshawar, Pakistan in 1989, led to the radicalization of Arab-Afghans and the establishment of al-Qaeda. Indeed, living martyrs usually come back to haunt their oppressors.

Kareem M. Kamel is an Egyptian freelance writer based in Cairo, Egypt. He has an MA in International Relations and is specialized in security studies, decision- making, nuclear politics, Middle East politics and the politics of Islam. He is currently assistant to the Political Science Department at the American University in Cairo.

1- Faisal Bodi, “My Meeting with Sheikh Yasin,” Al-Jazeera (English) March 22, 2004

2- Hussein Dakroub, “Hezbollah Guerillas Attack Border Area,” Associated Press March 22, 2004

3- Amos Harel, “Hit May Mean ‘Low Intensity’ Conflict is Over,” Ha’aretz March 23, 2004

4- “A Death in Gaza,” International Herald Tribune March 23, 2004

5- Laura King, “Yassin Instilled the Passion for Glory of Martyrdom,” Los Angeles Times March 22, 2003

6- Andrew Roche, “Yassin Killing Provokes Muslim Fury, US Disavowal,” Reuters March 23, 2004

7- “Al-Qaeda Vows Revenge,” Al-Jazeera (English) March 22, 2004

8- Tony Karon, “How Israel’s Hamas Killing Affects the US,” Time.com March 23^rd, 2004

9- “New Strike on Hamas by Israel is Expected,” International Herald Tribune March 23, 2004

10- Laura King, “Yassin Instilled the Passion for Glory of Martyrdom,” Los Angeles Times March 22, 2003

11- Faisal Bodi, “My Meeting with Sheikh Yasin,” Al-Jazeera (English) March 22, 2004

12- Laura King, “Yassin Instilled the Passion for Glory of Martyrdom,” Los Angeles Times March 22, 2003

13- “Sheikh Yassin: Spiritual Figurehead,” BBC News

14- “Frail Foe of Israel,” Al-Jazeera (English) September 6, 2003.

15- Tony Karon, “How Israel’s Hamas Killing Affects the US,” Time.com March 23^rd, 2004.

16- Ze’ev Schiff, “No Withdrawal Under Fire,” Ha’aretz March 23, 2004.

17- Zvi Bar’el, “Now Hamas Could Align with al-Qaeda,” Ha’aretz March 23, 2004.

The articles posted on this page reflect solely the opinions of the authors. Views Archive Advanced Search Views & Analyses

Related Links:

• Blood on Their Hands
• Who was Sheikh Yassin?
• Hamas and the Future of Palestine
• Palestine in Mourning
• Last Moments In Sheikh Yassin's Life