29 Facts About Ahmed Yassin

1.

Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin was a Palestinian politician and imam who founded Hamas, a militant Islamist and Palestinian nationalist organization in the Gaza Strip, in 1987.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,449
2.

Ahmed Yassin served as the organization's spiritual leader after its founding.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,450
3.

Ahmed Yassin was born in al-Jura, a small village near the city of Ashkelon, in the British Mandate of Palestine.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,451
4.

Ahmed Yassin's date of birth is not known for certain: according to his Palestinian passport, he was born on 1 January 1929, but he claimed to have actually been born in 1937.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,452
5.

Ahmed Yassin was forced to be educated at home where he read widely, particularly on philosophy and on religion, politics, sociology, and economics.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,453
6.

Headmaster Mohammad al-Shawa initially had reservations about Ahmed Yassin, concerning the reception he would receive from the pupils due to his disability.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,454
7.

However, according to al-Shawa, Ahmed Yassin handled them well and his popularity grew, especially among the more scholarly children.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,455
8.

Ahmed Yassin's teaching methods reportedly provoked mixed reactions among parents because he encouraged his students to attend the mosque an additional two times a week.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,456
9.

Ahmed Yassin was actively involved in setting up a Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,457
10.

In 1987, during the First Intifada, Ahmed Yassin co-founded Hamas with Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, originally calling it the "paramilitary wing" of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood, and becoming its spiritual leader.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,458
11.

In 1989, Ahmed Yassin was arrested by Israel and sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering killings of alleged Palestinian collaborators.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,459
12.

In 1997, Ahmed Yassin was released from Israeli prison as part of an arrangement with Jordan following a failed assassination attempt of Hamas leader Khaled Mashal by the Israeli Mossad in Jordan.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,460
13.

Ahmed Yassin was released in exchange for two Mossad agents who had been arrested by Jordanian authorities, on the condition that he refrained from continuing to call for suicide bombings against Israel.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,461
14.

Ahmed Yassin immediately repeated his calls for attacks on Israel, using tactics including suicide bombings, thus violating the condition of his release.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,462
15.

Ahmed Yassin sought to maintain relations with the Palestinian Authority, believing that a clash between the two groups would be harmful to the interests of the Palestinian people.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,463
16.

Ahmed Yassin was intermittently placed under house arrest by the Authority.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,464
17.

Ahmed Yassin's injuries were treated at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,465
18.

Ahmed Yassin further promised that Hamas would teach Israel an "unforgettable lesson" as a result of the assassination attempt.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,466
19.

Ahmed Yassin made no attempt to guard himself from further attempts on his life or hide his location.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,467
20.

Journalists sometimes visited his Gaza address and Ahmed Yassin maintained a routine daily pattern of activity, including being wheeled every morning to a nearby mosque.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,468
21.

Ahmed Yassin suggested that the suicide bomber was fulfilling her "obligation" to make jihad, and Israel's Deputy Defence Minister responded by publicly declaring that Ahmed Yassin was "marked for death".

FactSnippet No. 1,951,469
22.

Ahmed Yassin was a founder and leader of Hamas, which is regarded as a terrorist organization by a number of national governments.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,470
23.

Ahmed Yassin was the dominant authority of the Hamas leadership, which was directly involved in planning, orchestrating and launching terror attacks carried out by the organization.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,471
24.

Ahmed Yassin supported armed resistance against Israel and asserted that Palestine is an Islamic land "consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgment Day" and that no Arab leader had the right to give up any part of this territory.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,472
25.

Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, Ahmed Yassin's Deputy, became the Hamas leader after his assassination.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,473
26.

Ahmed Yassin was killed by three rockets fired from a Gunship by the Israeli Military.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,474
27.

Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was the leader of a terrorist organization, one which has proudly taken credit for indiscriminate attacks against civilians, including most recently an attack last week in the Port of Ashdod, which left 10 Israelis dead.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,475
28.

Ahmed Yassin preached hatred, and glorified suicide bombings of buses, restaurants, and cafes.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,476
29.

Ahmed Yassin was opposed to the existence of the State of Israel, and actively sought to undermine a two-state solution in the Middle East.

FactSnippet No. 1,951,477