Azzam Tamimi (sometimes spelled Azam Tamimi; born 1955,

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after Eas ...

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

- Palestinian Jordanian academic and political activist affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. He is currently a freelance presenter at Alhiwar TV Channel. He headed the Institute of Islamic Political Thought until 2008. Tamimi has written several books on Middle Eastern and Islamic politics, including "Power-Sharing Islam", "Islam and Secularism in the Middle East", ''Rachid Ghannouchi, Democrat within Islamism'' and ''Hamas: A History from Within''.

Early life and education

Tamimi was born in 1955 and lived in

in the Jordanian West Bank until he was seven, when his family moved to

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. His father had fought against Israel. After high school, Tamimi moved to London to attend college. In 1979, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Combined Sciences from the

University of Sunderland , mottoeng = Sweetly absorbing knowledge , established = 1901 - Sunderland Technical College1969 - Sunderland Polytechnic1992 - University of Sunderland (gained university status) , staff = , chancellor = Emel ...

and a PhD in Political Theory from the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Polyte ...

in 1998.

Finsbury Park Mosque reformation

In 2005, Tamimi led a group of trustees in reforming the

Finsbury Park Mosque The Finsbury Park Mosque, also known as the North London Central Mosque, is a five-storey mosque located next to Finsbury Park station close to Arsenal Football Club's Emirates Stadium, in the London Borough of Islington. Finsbury Park Mosqu ...

, which was previously under the control of

Abu Hamza al-Masri Mustafa Kamel Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى كامل مصطفى; born 15 April 1958), also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri (; , – literally, father of Hamza, the Egyptian), or simply Abu Hamza, is an Egyptian cleric who was the imam of Finsbury Park ...

. The reformation of the mosque has widely been seen as successful.

Political positions

War on Terror

Tamimi has stated that the

War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...

launched by the United States and its allies in the wake of

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

is perceived by many in the Islamic world as a war on Islam. He accused the American President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

of attempting to stop terrorism through war, political oppression and violations of human rights, saying that this would not work and would instead have the opposite effect.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

In 2004, Tamimi stated that as a Jordanian, he would never confer legitimacy upon Israel, "a state that is created on land robbed from my father, from my grandfather and from my mother". He also classifies

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

as a racist ideology.Interview: Azzam Tamimi
''Middle East Policy'', Summer 2006. Nonetheless, Tamimi favours talks between Hamas and Israel, believing that co-existence between Palestinians and Israel may be possible. He has stated that "peace may still be achieved by talking about how to co-exist." In elaboration, he has said that "Hamas would only agree to a negotiated settlement based on the idea of a ''hudna'' (longterm ceasefire). In reality, of course, that would mean recognising Israel will exist within agreed-upon borders for a given period of time. It does not, however, mean recognising that where Israel sits is no longer Palestinian". For the long run, Tamimi advocates what he calls a post-

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

South African solution, in which Israel "is dissolved just like apartheid was, and all people within mandatory Palestine become equal citizens". Tamimi was born in the Jordanian West Bank and moved away from the area when he was 7 year old. As such, he is a Jordanian by birthright. In January 2006, Tamimi wrote that if Israel withdrew from territories occupied in 1967, Hamas would end its armed resistance. Shortly before the invasion of the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

by Israel in late 2008, Tamimi argued for continuation of a truce that had been maintained for five months between Hamas and Israel and for ending what he described as a siege placed upon Gaza by Israel.

Martyrdom

In November 2004, while being interviewed for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...