Alwaght-Palestinians are marking the 13th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, recognized as the “the spiritual father of the Palestinian resistance.”
Sheikh Yassin was killed in a brutal attack by Israeli regime forces on 22 March 2004 while he was being wheeled out after attending early morning prayers at the Islamic Compound Mosque, in Sabra neighborhood, in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Israeli regime used US-supplied AH-64 Apache helicopter gunship to fire Hellfire missiles that killed Sheikh Yassin and both of his bodyguards.
Sheikh Yassin was born in Jourat Ashkelon village in June 1936, a year marking the first Palestinian armed revolt against the growing Zionist interference and in the Palestinian territories.
When he was 16, Sheikh Yassin sustained a severe spinal injury while playing with his friends. His neck was kept in plaster for 45 days. The damage to his spinal cord rendered him a quadriplegic for the rest of his life. He had used a wheelchair since the accident.
Sheikh Yassin established Hamas to confront Israeli occupation
Sheikh Yassin has been remembered as a founder and leader of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, that he helped to be established in 1987. Sheikh Yassin and his colleagues established Hamas to fight back the Israeli occupation forces as a resistance wing. Yassin has also been called "the Teacher", by the hundreds of students he taught. He established al-Mujamma' al-Islami, the Islamic Centre, which managed many religious organizations - including the Islamic University - in Gaza. The then Israeli Regime’s Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon had vowed to eliminate the entire Palestinian leadership including Yasser Arafat & Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
In his Islamic discourses, he believed that the Israeli regime, by its very existence, was an insult to Islam. However, he emphasized that while it was the duty of Muslims to wage a Jihad to liberate Palestine in its entirety, there was a need to establish suitable environment and prepare the society for the enormous tasks ahead. He therefore believed, the struggle was cultural, moral and educational; it was about eliminating secularism and establishing a Palestinian society based on Islamic principles to prepare grounds for the eventual liberation of Palestine through Jihad.
Sheikh Yassin rejected ‘peace’ with Israeli regime
In an interview with Crescent International, Sheikh Yassin was asked his opinion about the so-called peace process. He replied by stating that, “First of all I regret that you should call everything that has taken place since Oslo a peace process. In reality, it is an oppressive settlement that has been imposed upon the Palestinian people by the US and Israel. It is not peace. All the Palestinian people want peace. Why should we not want peace? Even the birds and animals desire peace. But we want a peace that restores our rights, a peace that restrains the hand of the oppressor, that prevents the occupier from occupying our land. But the peace that reinforces occupation and settlement and the exiling of the Palestinian people, that is not really peace.”
Sheikh Yassin’s Meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei
On May 2, 1998, Leader of the Islamic Ayatollah Khamenei spoke on US and Israeli colonial style policy, a policy meant to sink Palestinian distress into oblivion, while in a meeting with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Tehran. “Muslims should always keep the Palestinian cause alive.” the Leader said, while addressing Sheikh Ahmad Yassin. He noted that the victory of Palestinian youth over Zionist occupation is God's definite and irrevocable promise. During this meeting, Ayatollah Khamenei referred to Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and comrades as the proper representatives for Muslims of Palestine and jihadists who are at the forefront of a war between righteousness and evil, he said, “Those who attempt to smite the Palestinians have no right to speak in the name and glory of Palestine."
While mentioning the struggle of the Islamic Republic of Iran against Israeli regime, the Leader noted that, “The Iranian nation is determined to uphold its accurate and correct stance over the Palestinian matter and any trouble caused by this stance is considered a grace and blessing from the Almighty God. We will help the Palestinian Muslim warriors, no political pressure and propaganda will prevent the Iranian nation from supporting the Muslim warriors in Palestine.”
Sheikh Yassin, pointed out that, "The Palestinian Islamic resistance will not relinquish an inch of the Palestinian land. Palestine is not a place that a particular group or government can reach a compromise over with the occupiers of the Al Aqsa. Palestine belongs to all Muslims and with resistance we will reach martyrdom in this path or will eventually liberate Al Aqsa.”
He also expressed his gratefulness for the openhanded support that the Islamic Republic of Iran has contributed towards the Palestinian people, who struggle against the Zionist regime.
13 years after Israeli regime assassinated Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the Hamas Resistance Movement still follows the footsteps of its founder, towards liberating the occupied territories from the shackles of Zionist usurpers.
