Abd Al Aziz Awda

Abd Al Aziz Awda
عبد العزيز عودة
Awda in 2013
Born (1950-12-20) December 20, 1950 (age 73) (according to FBI)
1946 (age 77–78) (according to OFAC)
Jabalia, All-Palestine Protectorate
NationalityPalestinian
Alma materCairo University (bachelor's)
Zagazig University (master's)
OccupationImam
Known forCo-founder and spiritual leader of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine

Abd Al Aziz Awda,[a] also known as Sheik Awda (born 1946 or 20 December 1950),[6] is a Palestinian cleric who, along with Fathi Shaqaqi, founded the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, also known as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), an Islamist paramilitary organization based in Damascus, Syria.[7]

Awda and Shaqaqi, both natives of the Gaza Strip,[8] met as students in Egypt. They founded the PIJ between the late 1970s and early 1980s, dissatisfied with the secular and/or passive nature of most Palestinian nationalist organizations, such as the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Muslim Brotherhood. Upon his return to Gaza in 1981, Awda became an imam at a mosque, where he promoted "Islam, jihad, and Palestine", leading to his arrest for incitement in 1984 and his deportation in 1987 during the prelude to the First Intifada.[9]

Awda, based in Beirut, Lebanon after his deportation, continued to support the PIJ alongside Shaqaqi, who was deported in 1988, traveling abroad to garner potential support and to speak at conferences hosted by Sami Al-Arian, another member of the PIJ. However, Awda's relationship with Shaqaqi deteriorated in the 1990s, and after Shaqaqi's assassination in 1995, his successor, Ramadan Shalah, allegedly expelled Awda from the organization, though this series of events is denied by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which believes he is still involved with the PIJ. He was allowed to return to Gaza with the assent of the Palestinian Authority in 1999 and the consent of Israel in 2000.

Awda was listed as a Specially Designated Terrorist by the U.S. Treasury Department on 23 January 1995. A little over eight years later, on 20 February 2003, Awda and seven other high-ranking PIJ members were charged by a grand jury based in Tampa, Florida with racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder and provide material support to terrorists, and numerous Travel Act violations.[10] Awda was among the second group of fugitives to be added to the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list on 24 February 2006, along with Shalah. He has additionally been alleged to have had ties to other Islamic extremists such as the conspirators in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the subsequent New York City landmark bomb plot.

  1. ^ Abu-Amr 1994, p. 93.
  2. ^ Alexander, Yonah (2002). Palestinian Religious Terrorism: Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Transnational Publishers. p. 30. ISBN 978-15-71-05247-6.
  3. ^ US v. Rahman, et al. (indictment), S5 93 Cr. 181, p. 8 (S.D.N.Y. October 21, 1994).
  4. ^ Black, Ian; Morris, Benny (1991). Israel's Secret Wars: A History of Israel's Intelligence Services. Grove Press. p. 463. ISBN 978-0802132864.
  5. ^ Mahler, Jonathan (November 24, 1995). "Raid on Campus at Tampa Puts G-Men on Terror Trail". Forward. ProQuest 367520201.  – via ProQuest (subscription required)
  6. ^ "Abd Al Aziz Awda". Federal Bureau of Investigation. July 27, 2010. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  7. ^ Fletcher, Holly (April 10, 2008). "Palestinian Islamic Jihad". Council on Foreign Relations.
  8. ^ Abu-Amr 1994, p. 93-94.
  9. ^ Skare 2021, p. 104: "Abd al-'Aziz 'Awda, for example, had been deported to Lebanon almost one year prior, on November 17, 1987, which should be seen in the context of the erupting Intifada."
  10. ^ "Members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Arrested, Charged With Racketeering and Conspiracy to Provide Support to Terrorists". Justice.gov. February 20, 2003. Retrieved March 29, 2023.


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