Khaled Meshaal
Khaled Meshaal
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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Khaled Meshaal's full name is Khaled Ismail Hamed Meshaal. He is also known as Abu Abdullah.
Birth and Death Dates
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Born: 1956, Gaza Strip (exact date not publicly available)
Passed away: March 2021, Doha, Qatar
Nationality and Profession(s)
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Nationality: Palestinian
Profession: Politician, Hamas leader
Early Life and Background
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Khaled Meshaal was born in the Gaza Strip, a small region on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. His family moved to Kuwait when he was young, where he received an education and became involved in Islamist movements. In 1967, after Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip during the Six-Day War, Meshaal returned to his homeland. He joined the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamic organization that aimed to establish an Islamic state.
Major Accomplishments
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Meshaal rose through the ranks of Hamas (an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya or the Islamic Resistance Movement), a Palestinian Islamist organization founded in 1987. He became one of its top leaders, known for his strategic thinking and ability to maintain alliances with other militant groups.
Notable Works or Actions
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In the early 1990s, Meshaal was involved in planning attacks against Israeli targets. His involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing led to a United States-led effort to capture him. However, he escaped and went into hiding.
Meshaal's leadership was instrumental in shaping Hamas' stance on Israel and its policies towards Gaza. In 2006, after Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections, Meshaal became one of the group's top leaders, alongside Khaled Mashaal (a different individual).
Impact and Legacy
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Khaled Meshaal played a significant role in shaping Hamas' strategy and policies. His leadership was marked by controversy, including allegations of involvement in militant activities. However, he also worked to establish alliances with other Palestinian factions and Arab states.
Meshaal's legacy is complex. Some view him as a champion of Palestinian rights and resistance against Israeli occupation. Others criticize his involvement in militant activities and his stance on issues like Israel's right to exist.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
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Khaled Meshaal is widely quoted for his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Hamas' role in it, and its policies towards Gaza. His leadership has been a topic of interest for scholars, policymakers, and journalists worldwide.
Quotes by Khaled Meshaal
The international community has the moral responsibility of aiding a people under occupation; however, we will not beg for their money.
Israeli mainstream political parties are rejecting the Palestinian right of return and withdrawal from (East) Jerusalem to the 1967 borders and are refusing to dismantle Jewish settlements. The dilemma of the US policy is that it puts Israeli interests ahead of its own. That's what creates a crises for it in the region ... It is in the interest of the United States to change its biased foreign policy.
Cooperation with the international community is important for us and we regard our visit to Moscow, the capital of a great power, as the beginning of this type of contact.
We do not promise our people to turn Gaza into Hong Kong or Taiwan but we promise them a dignified and proud life behind the resistance in defense of their honor, their land and their pride.
This of course is a big sum, and it is bigger than what Arab summits in Amman and Beirut had approved.
We will not enter a new truce while our people are surrounded and are preparing for a new round of conflict.
The government has the right to form units to protect the homeland. We do not accept your decision.
