Fathi Shaqaqi
Encyclopedia
Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine known in the West as simply Palestinian Islamic Jihad , is a small Palestinian militant organization. The group has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel...
organisation and was the initiator of suicide bombings.
He formed along with Sheik Odeh (a.k.a. Abd Al Aziz Awda
Abd Al Aziz Awda
Abd Al Aziz Awda, also known as Sheik Odeh has Palestinian citizenship and is one of the founders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, deemed by the United States federal government to be a designated international terrorist organization.Awda was listed as a "Specially Designated Terrorist" under...
) the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
during the 1970s, initially as a branch of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
Among Sunnis, Fathi Shiqaqi was the first individual to publish a booklet which legitimated suicide in jihad. He called it sacrifice. Not only the suicide was legitimated but also the operation.
Biography
Fathi Shaqaqi was born in 1951 under Egyptian rule in GazaGaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
, to a refugee family from Jaffa. When Shaqaqi was older he attended college at the West Bank University of Birzeit, located in the Palestine territories, where he studied mathematics. In the 1970s he went on to study medicine in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, and it was here, during his medical training that he became strongly influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood. He returned to Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) where he practiced medicine in Jerusalem. While in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
Shaqaqi was also strongly influenced by the Iranian Islamic Revolution that took place in January 1979, led by Ayatollah Khomeini. Before being kicked out of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
he joined the military group known as, Egyptian Islamic Jihad in the early 1980s. Although he had originally been influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood, he quickly developed negative feelings. He had expressed numerous times his disappointment for their reformist agenda. He was expelled due to his radical philosophy, and after the assassination of the Egyptian President, Anwar Saadat. Saadat was assassinated by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad on October 6, 1981. It was upon his return to Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
that he formed, along with Abd Al Aziz Awda
Abd Al Aziz Awda
Abd Al Aziz Awda, also known as Sheik Odeh has Palestinian citizenship and is one of the founders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, deemed by the United States federal government to be a designated international terrorist organization.Awda was listed as a "Specially Designated Terrorist" under...
(a.k.a Sheik Odeh), a branch of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. This branch is presently known as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Killing
He was shot on October 26, 1995, in front of the Diplomat Hotel in SliemaSliema
Tas-Sliema is a city located on the northeast coast of Malta. It is a centre for shopping, restaurants and café life. Tas-Sliema is also a major commercial and residential area and houses several of Malta's most modern hotels. Tas-Sliema, which means 'peace, comfort', was once a quiet fishing...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, by Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
. Shaqaqi, travelling under the false name
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Dr Ibrahim Ali Shawesh, had come to Malta four times since 1993. He was on his way to Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
to visit Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n leader Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
who was promising to help finance Shaqaqi’s factions.
Two Israeli killers, code-named Gil and Ran, carried out the killing. A man on a motorcycle shot Shaqaqi as he was returning to his hotel and shot him in quick succession with a gun equipped with a silencer and a container to hold the used cartridges. Shaqaqi’s killers escaped on the motorcycle. Abandoning the motorcycle, a third individual drove them to the Msida
Msida
Msida or Imsida is a harbour town in Malta with a population of 7,623 . The town is located just west of Valletta on the northeast coast of Malta. The town enjoys a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry, sunny summers and short, cool winters.The neighbouring towns of Msida are Ta' Xbiex, Gzira, San...
Marina from where they most probably boarded a fast boat which took them out at sea and eventually to a large ship from where the whole operation was directed. The Maltese police were only able to identify the corpse three days later. His funeral in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
on 1 November 1995 was attended by some 40,000.
Since Shaqaqi's death, Palestinian Islamic Jihad has been led by fellow co-founder Sheikh Abdullah Ramadan Shallah, a.k.a Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah, who then joined the earlier listing of fellow PIJ co-founder Abd Al Aziz Awda as a "Specially Designated Terrorist
Specially Designated Terrorist
A Specially Designated Terrorist is any person who is determined by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to be a specially designated terrorist under notices or regulations issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control ....
" under United States law on November 27, 1995. Both Shallah and Awda were subsequently indicted on 53 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization...
(RICO) charges, and consequently became two of the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists
FBI Most Wanted Terrorists
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Most Wanted Terrorists is a list of fugitives who have been indicted by sitting Federal grand juries in the United States district courts, for alleged crimes of terrorism. The initial list was formed in late 2001 in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks...
on February 24, 2006.
Fathi Shaqaqi's brother Khalil Shiqaqi is the director of the Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
-based Center for Palestinian Research and Studies (CPRS).
External links
- Bio of Fathi Shiqaqi from the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, Jerusalem
- "Palestinians mark 12th anniversary of Fathi Shaqaqi martyrdom" in .wmv