Influence and Legacy
Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, according to Rashid Khalidi,
'played a crucial role in winning the populace away from the elite-brokered politics of compromise with the British, and in showing them the "correct" path of popular armed struggle against the British and the Zionists.'
David Ben-Gurion compared the glory that Izz ad-Din's actions aroused in the 1930s to the fame won in Zionist discourse by Yosef Trumpeldor. Recalling this, Tom Segev has argued that "The terrorists that al-Qassam led and the intifada fighters, more recently, may also be likened to the terrorists that Menachem Begin led." Although al-Qassam's revolt was unsuccessful in his lifetime, militant organizations gained inspiration from his example. His funeral drew thousands, which turned into a mass demonstration of national unity. He became a popular hero and an inspiration to militants, who in the 1936–1939 Arab Revolt, called themselves Qassamiyun, followers of al-Qassam. His grave became a place of pilgrimage.
The military wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, bears his name. The Qassam rocket is named after the brigades who use them.
Al-Qassam is buried at the Muslim cemetery at Balad ash-Sheikh, now Nesher, a suburb of Haifa.
Read more about this topic: Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam
Famous quotes containing the words influence and/or legacy:
“Concord River is remarkable for the gentleness of its current, which is scarcely perceptible, and some have referred to its influence the proverbial moderation of the inhabitants of Concord, as exhibited in the Revolution, and on later occasions.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)