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Nizar Rayan

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Nizar Rayan
Nizar Rayyan at a press conference 23 September 2005 in Gaza. (AFP)
Born(1959-03-06)March 6, 1959
Jabalia
DiedJanuary 1, 2009(2009-01-01) (aged 49)
Gaza City
Cause of deathAir force attack
CitizenshipPalestinian
Known forHamas leadership

Sheikh Nizar Rayan (Template:Lang-ar, also transliterated Rayyan) (March 6, 1959 – January 1, 2009) was a top Hamas leader who served as a liaison between the Palestinian organization's political leadership and its military wing. Also a professor of Islamic law, he came to be considered a top clerical authority within Hamas after the death of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 2004. Rayan was a strong advocate between 1994 and 2004 or 2005 of suicide attacks on Israel, and his son died on one such mission. Rayan and most of his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike during the 2008–2009 Israel-Gaza conflict.

Personal life and background

Rayan was born in Jabalia, Gaza Strip on March 6, 1959. In 1982, he received a BA in Religious Principles from the Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. While there he was influenced by Wahhabism. He then attended the Jordanian University in Amman and in 1990 received a masters degree with honors. In 1994, Rayan completed his PhD in Islamic studies at the Omdurman Islamic University in Omdurman, Sudan. His dissertation topic was Future of Islam: Objective Analysis.

After his studies, Rayan returned to Gaza and was employed as a preacher at several local mosques, Jabalia's Imad Aqil Mosque (also known as the "Mosque of martyrs") among them. He later became a professor of Islamic law at the Islamic University of Gaza. Rayan was a leading authority on Hadith (sayings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad), and he amassed a 5,000-book library in his home. He was a strong opponent of Shia Islam, and opposed allowing the Shia branch of Islam to establish a foothold in Palestinian territories.

Eventually, according to the Jerusalem Post, Rayan became an important leader in Hamas, in particular a spiritual leader of Hamas's military wing, and he regularly went on patrol with Hamas militia after delivering lectures at the Islamic University. He arguably became Hamas's leading clerical authority after an Israeli airstrike killed Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 2004.

Rayan and Hamas began to strongly advocate suicide bombing attacks against Israel in 1994, later explaining, according to interviewer Chris Hedges, that Hamas "began to target Israeli civilians in 1994 only after Palestinian worshipers were gunned down in a Hebron mosque by a Jewish settler, Baruch Goldstein." In 2001, with Rayan's backing his 22-year-old son went on a suicide bombing mission in which he died and killed two Israelis at the former Israeli settlement Elei Sinai in the Gaza Strip. Rayan is alleged to have directed the 2004 Ashdod Port attack which killed ten people. Hamas ceased its suicide attacks against Israel in 2005, but Rayan advocated for their renewal after the 2008-2009 Gaza conflict began.

Rayan was one of the principal architects of the 2007 Battle of Gaza, in which Fatah security forces were routed and between 116 and 400 Fatah and Hamas fighters and civilians lost their lives. Both Hamas and Fatah were accused of atrocities, including torture, during that conflict. According to a Hamas spokesperson, it's possible the Fatah-dominated Palestinian National Authority asked Israel to kill Rayan due to his role in the Hamas-Fatah clashes. He added that Rayan was one of the main reasons why many of Mahmoud Abbas's men "did not sleep well at night."

Rayan was fundamentally opposed to the state of Israel. According to writer Jeffrey Goldberg, he at one time stated, "True Islam would never allow a Jewish state to survive in the Muslim Middle East. Israel is an impossibility. It is an offense against God." Goldberg also reported that Rayan said he believed Jews are a "cursed people" some of whom were transformed into pigs and apes by Allah, and that Jews must pay for murdering the prophets of Islam and "closing ears to the Messenger of Allah."

Rayan married four women with whom he had twelve children.

Israeli attack

Rayan was killed in an Israeli Air Force strike on 1 January 2009 during the 2008–2009 Israel-Gaza conflict. The day before the attack, Rayan had advocated renewal of suicide attacks on Israel, declaring, "Our only language with the Jew is through the gun". A 2,000-pound bomb was dropped on his house, also killing his 4 wives (Hiam 'Abdul Rahman Rayan, 46; Iman Khalil Rayan, 46; Nawal Isma'il Rayan, 40; and Sherine Sa'id Rayan, 25) and 11 of their children (As'ad, 2; Usama Ibn Zaid, 3; 'Aisha, 3; Reem, 4; Miriam, 5; Halima, 5; 'Abdul Rahman, 6; Abdul Qader, 12; Aaya, 12; Zainab, 15; and Ghassan, 16).

Unlike other Hamas leaders at risk of being targeted by Israel, Rayan did not go underground after the armed conflict with Israel began in late December. According to a Hamas spokesperson and Rayyan's son, the IDF warned Rayan, by contacting his cell phone, that an attack on his house was imminent. An Israeli military spokesperson interviewed by The International Herald Tribune "could not give details or specify whether Rayyan's family had been warned."

Israeli security sources stated that Rayan's house, at the time of the attack, was an arms warehouse and government communications center, and contained a tunnel opening. The sources also stated that a weapons stockpile in the house triggered many secondary explosions immediately after the missile attack. The New York Daily News commented that Rayan had "sacrificed his children - in a vain attempt to protect a weapons cache beneath his home." Israeli security forces legal officials regard striking homes used for weapons storage, when sufficient warning is given to the residents, as falling within the boundaries of international law and a legitimate act of war. However, according to B'Tselem (The Israeli Center for Human Rights Information in the Occupied Territories), even if the Israeli charge that Rayan's house was a munitions warehouse were true, the large number of civilian lives taken rendered the attack "a grave breach of international humanitarian law." The Israeli NGO added that, given the Israeli military "knew or should have known" that civilians had not left Rayan's house, warning Rayan of the impending attack did not exempt Israeli forces from responsibility for the civilian deaths.

Rayan was the most senior Hamas member killed since Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi was killed in Israeli airstrikes in 2004. Hamas said that Israel would pay a "heavy price" for his death.

References

  1. الغارات الإسرائيلية على قطاع غزة تودي بحياة قيادي بارز في حماس (alarabiya)
  2. According to The Independent, Rayan was born in 1956.
  3. ^ Fighel, Jonathan (2009-02-01). "The Mujaheed Sheikh - Dr. Nizar Rayyan The Spiritual Mentor of Iz A-Din Al Qassam Brigades". International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  4. ^ "Profile of a professor who was prepared for martyrdom". The Independent. 2009-01-02. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  5. ^ No tears for Hamas leader in Ramallah, Jerusalem Post, 01-01-2009.
  6. Nizar Rayan UK Guardian January 3, 2009
  7. "Top Hamas figure killed in Israeli airstrike; Israel demands monitors as part of a Gaza truce". MSNBC. 2009-01-01. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  8. ^ "Israel fells key Hamas strongman, escalating conflict; says it's ready for ground invasion" New York Daily News January 1, 2009 Cite error: The named reference "nydn" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Israel kills senior Hamas figure". AlJazeera.Net. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  10. ^ "IAF kills one of Hamas' top five leaders in Gaza". Haaretz. 2009-01-01. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  11. Hedges, Chris (2009-01-02). "Lost in the Rubble". truthdig. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  12. Nizar Rayan UK Guardian January 3, 2009
  13. Lost in the Rubble Truthdig January 2, 2009
  14. ^ "Israeli strike kills senior Hamas leader". Reuters. 2009-01-01. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  15. ^ "Obituary: Nizar Rayyan" BBC January 1, 2009
  16. ^ "Israeli strike kills a top Hamas leader in Gaza". Los Angeles Times. 2009-01-01. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  17. ^ "Strike Kills Hamas Leader as Israel Demands Global Monitors for Truce". FOX News. 2009-01-01. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  18. ^ "Israel Kills Top Hamas Figure". New York Post. 2009-01-01. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  19. ^ "Hamas leader, 20 Palestinians killed in IAF strikes". Ynet. 2009-01-01. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  20. "Profile: Nizar Rayyan". Al-Jazeera. 2009-01-04. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  21. "Hamas Senior Official Rayyan Killed in Israeli Strike". Bloomberg. 2009-01-01. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  22. Hardline Hamas leader killed in air strike on Gaza home UK Telegraph January 1, 2009
  23. Exposing the bitter truth of Gaza carnage The Age (Australia) June 23, 2007
  24. "Gaza-Westbank – ICRC Bulletin No. 22/2007" Reuters June 15, 2007
  25. ^ Goldberg, Jeffrey (2009-01-02). "Nizar Rayyan of Hamas on God's Hatred of Jews". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  26. "Israel destroys Hamas homes, flattens Gaza mosque". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  27. Israel raids kill Hamas leader, take Gaza death toll past 400 AFP, 1 January 2009
  28. Haaretz Correspondents and Agencies, Amos Harel and Yoav Stern (2 January 2009). "IDF targets senior Hamas figures". Retrieved 2009-01-02. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  29. ^ The Associated Press (January 1, 2009). "Child casualties mount in beseiged Gaza". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  30. IOF Offensive on the Gaza Strip Continues for the 7th Consecutive Day Palestinian Centre for Human Rights January 15, 2009
  31. Abdulrahman, Mohammed (2009-01-01). "Hamas has gone underground". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  32. "Hardline Hamas leader killed in air strike on Gaza home". The Telegraph. January 1, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
  33. Kershner, Isabel (2009-01-02). "As bombing continues, Israel allows some foreigners to leave Gaza". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2009-01-04. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  34. "Hamas leader, 20 Palestinians killed in IAF strikes". Ynet. 2009-01-01. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  35. "The Mujaheed Sheikh - Dr. Nizar Rayyan - The Spiritual Mentor of Iz A-Din Al Qassam Brigades". ICT. 2009-01-02.
  36. The killing of Nizar Rayan and 15 members of his family B'Tselem January 4, 2009

External links

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