Resistance Front Mourns Passing of Ramadan Shalah
BEIRUT (Dispatches) -- The former long-time leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, Ramadan Shalah, passed away on Saturday night aged 62 after a long illness.
Shalah, who led the Islamic Jihad from 1995 until 2018, had been in a coma for more than three years after heart surgery, the resistance movement said. It didn’t say where he died, but he is believed to have been in Lebanon.
Shalah, who was born in the Gaza Strip, was appointed head of the group after the assassination of his predecessor, Fathi Shikaki in Malta, which was widely attributed to the occupying regime of Israel. He was succeeded by Ziad al-Nakhala in 2018. He studied in Egypt before earning a PhD in economics in the United Kingdom.
The United States in November 1995 named Shalah as target and offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
In April 2018, Shalah was transferred from Damascus, where he lives, to a hospital in Beirut after suffering a series of heart attacks, a source close to the group told the Palestinian Quds Press news agency. Shalah had been unconscious since undergoing surgery at the Beirut hospital, the report said.
Although the source attributed the Islamic Jihad leader’s deteriorating health to "natural causes,” the Palestinian Authority embassy in Beirut believed there’s a possibility Shalah may have been poisoned by the Zionist regime.
The man in charge of security at the embassy sent a report to the Palestinian Authority General Intelligence Service in the West Bank in which he raised the possibility that Shalah had been poisoned, the news agency said at the time.
That report, according to the news agency, said that two parties may have been behind the alleged poisoning: the Israeli Mossad or a security agency "belonging to a regional country” which it did not name.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas offered his condolences over the death of Shalah. "By losing Shalah we lost a great national man,” he said in a statement carried by the Palestinian WAFA news agency.
In Tehran, Iran’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif also offered his condolences in a message.
"With great sadness and sorrow, I learnt about the passing of Ramadan Abdullah Shalah, the late Secretary General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, after a lifetime of struggle and Jihad as well as sincere effort and sacrifice for the holy cause of Palestine and the Noble Quds,” Zarif said.
"With a long record of Jihad and struggle against the Zionist regime, he was a national figure and combatant in Palestine who spent his life in difficult and trying times and in spite of all dangers and threats, bravely and selflessly fought for the liberation of the dear Palestine and the Noble Quds from the yoke of the Zionist occupiers and remained on the path of Jihad, sacrifice and perseverance with his head held high.
"Besides, Ramazan Abdullah was a humble, intellectual, thoughtful, resourceful and approachable figure who, with his deep knowledge of the developments in the region and the world, was particularly concerned with strengthening unity among the Palestinian people and groups and the Islamic world,” Zarif said.
Shalah, the Iranian foreign minister added, was also interested in and craved for the eminence and development of the Islamic Iran as a supporter of the oppressed Palestinian people.
"I offer my condolences to the valiant Palestinian people, especially Ziad al-Nakhala, the new Secretary General of the Islamic Jihad Movement and all his comrades in the resistance groups, as well as to his family.
"I am sure that his memory will remain in the minds of all freedom-loving nations of the world, especially the Palestinian and Iranian nations, as a symbol of resistance and struggle,” Zarif added.
Shalah, who led the Islamic Jihad from 1995 until 2018, had been in a coma for more than three years after heart surgery, the resistance movement said. It didn’t say where he died, but he is believed to have been in Lebanon.
Shalah, who was born in the Gaza Strip, was appointed head of the group after the assassination of his predecessor, Fathi Shikaki in Malta, which was widely attributed to the occupying regime of Israel. He was succeeded by Ziad al-Nakhala in 2018. He studied in Egypt before earning a PhD in economics in the United Kingdom.
The United States in November 1995 named Shalah as target and offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
In April 2018, Shalah was transferred from Damascus, where he lives, to a hospital in Beirut after suffering a series of heart attacks, a source close to the group told the Palestinian Quds Press news agency. Shalah had been unconscious since undergoing surgery at the Beirut hospital, the report said.
Although the source attributed the Islamic Jihad leader’s deteriorating health to "natural causes,” the Palestinian Authority embassy in Beirut believed there’s a possibility Shalah may have been poisoned by the Zionist regime.
The man in charge of security at the embassy sent a report to the Palestinian Authority General Intelligence Service in the West Bank in which he raised the possibility that Shalah had been poisoned, the news agency said at the time.
That report, according to the news agency, said that two parties may have been behind the alleged poisoning: the Israeli Mossad or a security agency "belonging to a regional country” which it did not name.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas offered his condolences over the death of Shalah. "By losing Shalah we lost a great national man,” he said in a statement carried by the Palestinian WAFA news agency.
In Tehran, Iran’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif also offered his condolences in a message.
"With great sadness and sorrow, I learnt about the passing of Ramadan Abdullah Shalah, the late Secretary General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, after a lifetime of struggle and Jihad as well as sincere effort and sacrifice for the holy cause of Palestine and the Noble Quds,” Zarif said.
"With a long record of Jihad and struggle against the Zionist regime, he was a national figure and combatant in Palestine who spent his life in difficult and trying times and in spite of all dangers and threats, bravely and selflessly fought for the liberation of the dear Palestine and the Noble Quds from the yoke of the Zionist occupiers and remained on the path of Jihad, sacrifice and perseverance with his head held high.
"Besides, Ramazan Abdullah was a humble, intellectual, thoughtful, resourceful and approachable figure who, with his deep knowledge of the developments in the region and the world, was particularly concerned with strengthening unity among the Palestinian people and groups and the Islamic world,” Zarif said.
Shalah, the Iranian foreign minister added, was also interested in and craved for the eminence and development of the Islamic Iran as a supporter of the oppressed Palestinian people.
"I offer my condolences to the valiant Palestinian people, especially Ziad al-Nakhala, the new Secretary General of the Islamic Jihad Movement and all his comrades in the resistance groups, as well as to his family.
"I am sure that his memory will remain in the minds of all freedom-loving nations of the world, especially the Palestinian and Iranian nations, as a symbol of resistance and struggle,” Zarif added.