Al-Banna, Sabri (1937–)

aka Abu Nidal

Sabri al-Banna, known to the world as Abu Nidal, is a terrorist mastermind whose various organizations have been responsible for an estimated 900 deaths.

Born in the town of Jaffa in 1937, in what was then British-ruled Palestine, al-Banna's early years were spent in luxury. His father, Ibrihim al-Banna, owned a fruit-exporting business that made him one of the richest men in the country. His 18 children and several wives wanted for nothing. When al-Banna was 9, his father died; the family was left in difficult financial straits partly because of the political turmoil in the Middle East. In 1948, the al-Banna family was forced to flee Jaffa and the advancing Israeli Army. For more than a year, they were destitute refugees; this year of poverty and humiliation forever shaped the young al-Banna's worldview. In 1949, the al-Banna family resettled in ...