Sheikh Ahmed Yasin – remembering a martyr
Sheikh Ahmed Yasin, a name that reverberates the streets of Gaza and Palestine, a name that thrills the mind of Palestinians and every mind that wishes for the freedom of Palestine, the spiritual force behind all the resistance movements had his long awaited wish of martyrdom fulfilled on the break of this day (March 22 2004) while being wheeled out after the early morning prayer from a mosque near his house in Al Sabra neighbourhood, South West of Gaza city.
Sheikh Ahmed Yasin, the founder of Hamas was the symbolic leader of a wide political spectrum of the Palestinian society. Hamas represents the courage and steadfastness of thousands of Palestinians who do not want to give up their right to self-determination and to return to their homeland. Hamas had taken over from where PLO, Fateh have emerged defeated in acquiring there rights. The growth of Hamas should be seen in the context of the deceit experienced by the Palestinians when PLO signed the Oslo agreement. It was on the basis of this agreement that the justification of the settlements was made and the Palestinian Authority formed to silence the protesters.
Sheikh Ahmed Yasin has no connection with the so called Arab terrorists of Afghan or with Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civilizations’. Even though some of the Hamas activists might have indulged in such activities Yasin was seen as a moderate inside Hamas. He was the one who declared that they were ready for ceasefire in return of the withdrawal of Israel to the 1967 borders. All the movements including Hamas will not be satisfied with no more less than the pre – 1948 Palestine. The refugees of those days infact joined Hamas and the Nationalist movements of Palestine.
The Palestine issue has displaced around five million Palestinians from their houses. The vigorousness and instinct of these people is the fuel of Hamas and other movements. These human rights violation and the critical army interference is the encouragement for suicide bombers. The suicide bombing tactic, even though Hamas is famous for it, Hamas was not the first movement to use such tactics in the fight against Israel.
Sheikh Ahmed Yasin had clarified the facts in an interview that the aim and goal of the present Intifada is to drive out the invasion after 1967. He also emphasized the point that Palestinians are willing for a peaceful nation along with the Jews and Christians. But Jews are in favour of a racial supremacy. Hamas doesn’t want to dominate over others. All human rights must be safeguarded.
The assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yasin was to hide the shame caused to Israel by the Gaza withdrawal of Israeli troops in 2000. Sharon had boasted that the Palestinian resistance will be curbed and broken down to pieces within hundred days. But the second Intifada had unleashed a strong and powerful resistance from all the groups including Fateh and Hamas which forced the Israeli army to withdraw from Gaza.
Sharon knew very well how the killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yasin will effect the resistance movement. One of the former Israeli army colonel opined that the Israeli Security Cabinet would have been very sad if Sheikh Yasin had died of a heart attack and he had slipped from their hands. He also added that Israel was searching for a mega attack to strengthen the fight against terror and balance of power. This wish has been totally fulfilled.
Israel’s planned assassination killed many of the Palestinian activists including Rantissi and Yasin. The assassinations were carried out by use of explosive devices set in mobile phones, by the side of roads under cars or triggered from the safety of helicopters or F-16 military aircraft. But even then Hamas leaders including Yasin refused to take even the most basic security measures.
A glimpse of his life
How do you expect someone who has been paralyzed since childhood and fighting various diseases to lead a movement against the biggest tyrant in the world backed by America? Well that was Sheikh Ahmed Yasin, paralyzed below the head and leading his people to fight the illegal occupation of Israel. He was an embodiment of intellectual Jihad in which many of the Islamic movements lag behind.
He led a simple life. On several occasions he turned down the request of Yasir Arafath to build a new home. He said “by working hard on earth I will be rewarded with a nice home in heaven”.
He always listened to the needs of the Palestinians with patience and tried to fulfill their needs. This made him more powerful and acceptable among the masses.
His had a prophecy that Israel would disappear off the map of West Asia within three decades. He held this prophecy on the basis of the verse 20 and 24 of Surah no. 5 of the Holy Quran. Zaki Chehab quotes his words in his book ‘Inside Hamas’ “in 1948, the Palestinian people were defeated and lost large tracts of their country, forcing them into refugee camps abroad. Almost forty years later, in1987, a new phase began with the Intifada. I believe that this generation will take the battle to liberation. Twelve years have passed since then and so, from today, Israel has only twenty eight years left. I may be bad at sums, but I’m good at interpreting the meaning of Qur’anic verses.”(Inside Hamas, Chehab Zaki, pg. 105)
His moderate stand on the Palestine issue can be made out from his words about Taliban. Zaki Chehab quotes him, “How dare they ban woman from contributing in our lives by preventing them from working and teaching? Their ways can only harm the Islamic religion.” (Inside Hamas, Chehab Zaki, pg. 108)
Yassin in his own words
On different occasions in interviews with Al Jazeera, the Palestinian leader highlighted his movement's position on the Arab-Zionist conflict, the peace process and resistance. This is a selection of some of these quotations:
"The Oslo accord, as we see it, is an unjust and a bad agreement that will not fulfill our people's aspirations and goals. In my view, [the Oslo Accords] sowed the seeds of disunity among the Palestinian people and aimed at halting the Intifada against the Zionist army. The agreement has fulfilled no goals. What was implemented of it was too little to meet our aspirations, which made this agreement null and void. No Palestinian was convinced that this path will lead to peace, secure Palestinian territories or establish a Palestinian state.
What I believe is that the Palestinian Authority has no option but to go back to the path of resistance, unify the ranks of the Palestinian people in the face of the Zionist occupation. Up to the moment, the position of Hamas is that jihad is a strategic option that we will not deviate from, unless Israel agrees to a truce.
As I see it, Israel was founded on oppression and the confiscation of land. Any entity which is based on oppression and land grabs is doomed for disintegration. If I am killed there will arise a thousand like me. They [the Zionists] should know that the battle will continue and that our people will hold them to account and make them pay the price of their crimes.
His last moments
When he woke up, as usual, one hour before the dawn prayers, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin had no idea this was the day he long dreamed of and yearned for. Sheikh Yassin performed his ablution, read some verses from the Holy Qur'an and supplicated for God to liberate Palestine from the Zionist occupation. The wheelchair-bound spiritual leader of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas was then helped by two associates to Mujamah Al-Islami mosque, only 200 meters from his home. There he waited until the dawn Adhan [call for prayer] was raised (around 03:00 GMT).After prayers, worshippers flock to greet him and inquire after his health, as if they were giving him a farewell. The Criminal hand came down to destroy the silence of the dawn prayer. The aircrafts fired three rockets at the paralyzed man. They wanted to put an end to his beliefs. Instead, they rose over the clouds and showered down on those thirsty for water. Despite the thunder or treachery, the good people received the water gladly. Wailing their sirens, ambulances raced to the scene while dumbfounded Palestinians gathered the remains of the nine victims, including the dashed out brains of Sheikh Yassin. Two of the aging leader’s sons, Abdul Hadi and Abdul Hamid, survived the Israeli strike with serious wounds
Sheikh Ahmed Yasin was a fearless brigadier of God’s army. Even when he was alerted that Israeli forces had closed in on him to finish him once and for all he feared only God. Zaki Chehab describes the moments just before his assassination: “Around three hours before, Yassin’s son, Mohammad, had remarked to his father that a reconnaissance drone had been spotted in the sky. ‘We seek martyrdom to Him. We belong to Him and to Him we return,’ was the Sheikh’s reply to his son. As Sheikh Yassin was leaving the mosque after dawn prayers, another of his sons, Abdul Ghani, warned him: ‘Father, there is an assassination plane in the sky.’His philosophical response was: ‘My son, I’m waiting for it’. (Inside Hamas, Chehab Zaki, pg. 121)
For Palestinians, the 66-year-old veteran resistance leader is symbol who left his indelible marks on the history of the Palestinian cause against the Israeli occupation.
The Companion, April 2012,Vol:6, Issue:11
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