Ahmed Yassin

Ahmed Yassin (Arabic: الشيخُ أَحْمَدُ إِسْمَاعِيلُ)  (June 1936 – March 22, 2004) was a spiritual leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

 Life 
Ahmed Yassin was born on June 1936 in al-Jura, British Mandate of Palestine. He helped create Hamas and became its spiritual leader in 1987. To other members of Hamas he was a hero but he was blamed by the Israeli government for planning suicide bombings and other attacks against Israel. He claimed that was the only way of fighting occupation. He was confined to a wheelchair because he was paralyzed since age 12, he was also nearly blind and could barely hear. He was very powerful and influential.

Yassin's birth date is in dispute. He claimed he was born 1/1/1938, however, his passport indicated 1/1/1937. To some he was a hero, to some he was a well known member of a terrorist organization. He was also a symbolic figure for Palestinians to fight against Israel.

 Death 
Yassin was killed in an airstrike in Gaza City by the Israeli Army after he left a mosque in Gaza in the early morning hours. He was 67 years old.

References

 Other websites 
 Israel Bombing of Refugee Camp 
 Yassin killed, Ahmed Yassin biography 
 Yassin's letter and kids named after him

Category:1937 births
Category:2004 deaths
Category:Deaths by Israeli airstrikes
Category:Hamas
Category:Assassinated Palestinian people
Category:Palestinian Muslims
Category:Palestinian nationalists
Category:Palestinian militants
Category:Hamas people