NOVANEWS
Fifteen years have passed since the martyrdom of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin , recognized as the ” spiritual father of the Palestinian Resistance “.
Sheikh Yassin was killed in a brutal attack by the Israeli regime’s military forces on March 22, 2004, as he was escorted out after a morning prayer at the mosque in the Sabra neighborhoodof Gaza . The attack was conducted by an Apache AH-64 combat helicopter , which fired Hellfire missiles and killed Sheikh Yassin and both bodyguards.
Sheikh Ahmad Yassin was born in the village of Jourat Ashkelon, in June 1936, a year that marked the first Palestinian armed revolt against the growing Zionist interference in the Palestinian territories. When he was 16, the sheikh suffered a severe spinal injury while playing with his friends. Spinal cord damage made him quadriplegic for the rest of his life, binding him in a wheelchair.
Yassin is still remembered today as the founder and leader of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas,established in 1987. The sheikh and his companions founded Hamas to fight the Israeli occupation forces. He also founded al-Mujamma ‘al-Islami , the Islamic Center that managed many religious organizations including the Islamic University in Gaza. From his students, the sheikh was called “the Master”.
The then prime minister of the Israeli regime, Ariel Sharon (the butcher of Sabra and Chatila) had promised to eliminate the entire Palestinian leadership including Yasser Arafat and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
In his speeches, the sheikh defined the Israeli regime, by its very existence, as an insult to Islam . It was the duty of Muslims to undertake Jihad to liberate Palestine in its entirety , and there was a need to establish a suitable environment to prepare society for the enormous tasks that awaited it. He therefore believed that the struggle had to be cultural, moral and educational; it was about eliminating secularism and establishing a Palestinian society based on Islamic principles to prepare for the liberation of Palestine through Jihad.
In an interview with Crescent International, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin was asked for his opinion about the so-called peace process. He responded by stating that: “In reality, it is an oppressive settlement that was imposed on the Palestinian people by the United States and Israel . And this is not peace. All the Palestinian people want peace.Why shouldn’t we want peace? Birds and animals also want peace. But we want a peace that restores our rights, a peace that holds the hand of the oppressor, which prevents the occupant from occupying our land. But the peace that strengthens the occupation and colonization and bans the Palestinian people is not really peace “.
Meeting of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin with Ayatollah Khamenei
On May 2, 1998, the sheikh met the leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran . “Muslims should always keep the Palestinian cause alive,” the Iranian leader said. He notes that the victory of young Palestinians over Zionist occupation is the definitive and irrevocable promise of God. During this meeting, Ayatollah Khamenei said that Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and all Palestinian fighters are at the forefront of the war between justice and evil, and those who try to strike the Palestinians have no right to speak in the name and for the glory of Palestine. ”
While mentioning the struggle of the Islamic Republic of Iran against the Israeli regime, the leader noted that: “The Iranian nation is determined to maintain its correct and accurate position on the Palestinian issue, and the problems caused by this position are considered a grace and the blessing from Almighty God. We will always help the Palestinian warriors, and political pressure and propaganda will not prevent the Iranian nation from supporting the Palestinian resistance. ”
Sheikh Yassin stressed that: “The Palestinian Islamic Resistance will not give up an inch of Palestinian land. ThePalestine belongs to all Muslims and will reach the Resistance martyred in this path to liberate Al-Aqsa “. He also expressed his gratitude for the decisive support that the Islamic Republic of Iran gives to the Palestinian people, and for its fight against the Zionist regime.
Even today, 15 years after his vile assassination, the Hamas movement follows in the footsteps of its founder, with the knowledge that only through the Resistance will it be possible to free the territories occupied by the Zionist regime .
