Fauzi Mohammed Ayub (Arabic: فوزي محمد أيوب), (also Fawzi), (5 October, 1966 – May 2014)[1] was a Lebanese-Canadian who was a member of Hezbollah and arrested in 2002 by the Israeli Defence Forces. Two years later he was released to his wife and three children in Lebanon in a prisoner exchange that saw 436 Palestinians and Lebanese released in exchange for Elhanan Tannenbaum and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers abducted four years earlier.[2][3]

His arrest brought debate to Canada over whether to declare Hezbollah a "terrorist" organisation, and whether to continue judging its military branch separately from its political and social service branches.[4]

He was killed in May 2014 while fighting in the Syrian Civil War by a Free Syrian Army ambush in the Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016).[5]

Life

I saw dead people, women and children. It affected me. I saw that the miserable ones have to be protected.

— Fauzi Ayub, before an Israeli court[6]

Ayub joined the Amal Movement in 1975 while studying, claiming that it was necessary to protect his family.[7] In 1983, he formally joined Hezbollah, and three years later was part of a hijacking plot that targeted Iraqi Airways Flight 163 in Romania, hoping to exchange the airline hostages for Lebanese prisoners held by Iraq.[2][7] However, the man designated to hand over small firearms to Ayub's group in the airport, named Sh'alan, was arrested, and confessed to the plot - leading Romanian authorities to immediately arrest Ayub when he entered the building.[7] However, a second wave team targeted the same flight the following day and successfully hijacked it, although it crashed in the Arabian desert, killing 62 people aboard.[7]

Ayub was sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment, but was released after only ten months.[7]

Life in Canada

In 1988, his uncle sponsored him to move to Canada under the auspice of a program designed specifically for displaced Lebanese to immigrate to the country. He received his Canadian citizenship four years later.[7]

He married a woman from Detroit, and began working at a grocery store, while taking night courses at University.[7]

In 1994, his marriage fell apart due to arguments concerning his wife's desire to avoid having children; he remarried a Lebanese woman, and they had a son, Abbas, the following year.[7] In 1997, a second son, Mohamed, was also born.[7] He found work at a computer company, but moved back to Lebanon in 2000, citing his wife's unhappiness away from their home country.[7] A third child was also born to the couple.[6]

Return to Lebanon

After returning to Lebanon, Ayub and his wife opened a bakery and ran a construction supply outlet, but his businesses began to falter, and the family found themselves in increasing debt.[7] Around this time, he was contacted by old friends in Hezbollah who suggested there was still a place for him in the organisation.[7]

Several months later, Ayub flew from Lebanon to Greece, and there obtained a forged American passport under the name Frank Bushy with which he sailed to Haifa, Israel in October 2000.[8] Upon arriving in Israel, he headed for the West Bank.[9]

While in the West Bank, he launched a failed attempt to free three prominent prisoners, Mustafa Dirani, Abdel Karim Obeid and Jihad Shuman, leaving twelve people dead.[9]

In late 2002, Ayub was questioned by Israeli authorities, and explained he was in the region to help oppressed Muslims as a volunteer.[7]

He was arrested on June 25 after Israeli forces stormed the police station where he was located, and Canada was informed of his arrest eight days later.[9] He received three consular visits from Canada, and was tried in Tel Aviv district court by judge Zacharia Caspi.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Fbi — Faouzi Mohamad Ayoub". Archived from the original on 2015-01-07. Retrieved 2015-01-07.
  2. 1 2 Bell, Stewart. National Post, "Canadian authorities on lookout for terrorists Archived 2012-09-07 at archive.today", July 26, 2006
  3. ↑ United Jewish Communities, Israel-Hezbollah swap: Would-be hijacker born in Beirut may eventually return to Toronto, he says
  4. ↑ Shai, Shaul, "The Axis of Evil", p. 70
  5. ↑ "Faouzi Ayoub, Lebanese-Canadian terror suspect, reportedly killed in Syria". CBC News. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  6. 1 2 Bell, Stewart. "Cold Terror: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terrorism around the World", 2005
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Bell, Stewart. "Cold Terror", 2005
  8. ↑ Levitt, Dr. Matthew. Testimony at "Adding Hezbollah to the EU Terrorist List Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, June 20, 2007
  9. 1 2 3 4 United Jewish Communities, Canadian seen as planner of Hebron attack
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.