Abd Al Aziz Awda

Palestinian militant leader

Abd Al Aziz Awda, also known as Sheik Awda (born 1946 or 20 December 1950), 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. Awda and Shaqaqi, both natives of the Gaza Strip, 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. 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. 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.

The FBI states that Awda was born on 20 December 1950 in Jabalia, a village just south of the city of Beit Lahia, in the Gaza Strip. Awda's family was originally from the Beersheba district in southern Mandatory Palestine, and came to Gaza in 1948, living in the Jabalia refugee camp. Awda obtained a bachelor's degree in Arab and Islamic studies at Dar al Ulum, part of Cairo University in Egypt, and a master's degree in Sharia law at Zagazig University in Zagazig, a city north of Cairo, where he met future PIJ co founder Fathi Shaqaqi. Awda and Shaqaqi's time in Zagazig, a hotspot of radical Islamism, particularly Qutbism, The two were among a group of Palestinian student activists in Egypt who found themselves dissatisfied with the state of the Palestinian cause, finding the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) to be too nationalistic and the Muslim Brotherhood to be too passive and unconcerned with Palestine.

Awda and Shaqaqi founded the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine between the late 1970s and early 1980s. and 1983 (according to Emanuilov and Yashlavsky). Despite Awda's activity in support of the PIJ, he along with other founding members became increasingly frustrated with Shaqaqi's style of leadership in the 1990s. In 1993, Awda supported a statement from another member, Salih 'Abd al 'Al, condemning Shaqaqi's leadership abilities. In a column in al Mujahid, a PIJ produced periodical, published on 12 March 1993, Awda indirectly criticized Shaqaqi's sidelining of other founding members, referencing how Muhammad's companions were involved in his decision making, making the whole group feel like equals. The PIJ's poor finances were a major point of contention, with Awda being convinced by PIJ treasurer Taysir al Khatib not to send money to Shaqaqi when the latter requested it. However, Musa Abu Samir, the PIJ's leader in Lebanon, has alleged that the main source of the dispute between Awda and Shaqaqi was the latter's attempt to include Palestinian Christians in the organization; Awda wished the PIJ to be Muslim only, resulting in his suspension from the organization. On 26 October 1995, Shaqaqi was assassinated in Malta by Mossad agents, and was replaced as secretary general of the PIJ by Ramadan Shalah. According to Abu Samir, Awda's relationship with Shalah, a supporter of Shaqaqi, was similarly poor, and the new secretary general expelled Awda entirely from the organization almost immediately after taking office. This is denied by the FBI, which states that Awda is still involved with the PIJ. Awda and Shalah were added to the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list on 24 February 2006.