(1938-2004) A Palestinian political figure and Muslim cleric. Yassin was the co-founder and spiritual leader of Hamas. Due to a childhood accident, he was paralyzed and left partially blind. As a refugee in Gaza after the War of 1948, he worked as a teacher, preacher and community leader. He spent many years in Israeli prison, first for being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and later for ordering the killing of Palestinians accused of collaborating with the Israeli army. He was released in 1997 in exchange for the return of two Israeli secret service agents who had been detained in Jordan. The Israeli military attempted to assassinate him on several occasions, maintaining that he masterminded suicide attacks on Israelis. Yassin opposed the Oslo Process and made frequent public statements in support of suicide bombings. Prior to his death, he proposed a ceasefire with Israel on condition that they withdraw to 1967 borders and cease their policy of targeted assassinations. The Israeli military killed him by air strike on March 22, 2004. See Hartley, Cathy, ed. A Survey of Arab-Israeli Relations, 2nd ed. London and New York: Europa Publications, 2004; and Fischbach, Michael. “Yasin, Ahmad.” Philip Mattar, ed. Encyclopedia of the Palestinians. New York: Facts on File, 2005.  http://www.justvision.org/glossary/yassin-sheikh-ahmed