Shallah, Ramadan Abdullah (1958–)

Dr. Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, a former part-time professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, made national headlines in 1995 when he left his job in the United States to lead the militant group Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The PIJ was founded in Egypt in the late 1970s by Palestinian students but is now based in Syria.

Born in 1958 in the Gaza Strip, which was then under Egyptian administration, Shallah taught economics at the University of Gaza in the mid-1980s. He attended university in Zagazig, Egypt, and received a doctoral degree in Islamic and Middle Eastern studies from England's University of Durham in 1990, writing many articles on the economics of Middle Eastern countries. He speaks Arabic, Hebrew, English, and a little Yiddish.

Shallah arrived in Tampa, Florida, in 1991 and spent four years teaching political science at the University of South Florida. He was a well-liked professor, known for being a soft-spoken intellectual. He also worked for a think tank called World Islamic Studies Enterprise. In several controversial articles, the Tampa Tribune called the think tank a terrorist front, and its founder, Sami al Arian, was called the group's front man. The FBI arrested al Arian on racketeering charges for alleged involvement with the PIJ. After several years of detention, al Arian was indicted on multiple counts in 2003; the trial was underway when he pled guilty on one count of conspiracy.

Shallah did not publicly claim any link to the PIJ during his academic career, and his possible covert actions are unknown. The PIJ is a loosely knit, mysterious group known for its violence and its opposition to peace negotiations with Israel.

In October 1995, gunmen said to be working for Israel shot down the PIJ leader, Dr. Fathi Shaqaqi, in the Mediterranean island of Malta. The group then named Shallah its new leader. The following spring, an unknown group called War Purgers sent a bomb threat to the University of South Florida's campus newspaper. The letter demanded a public apology for Shallah's treatment and threatened to bomb a building and kill a professor. In response, the university moved up the date of final exams to enable students to be off campus by the date set in the letter. No attacks occurred, and a student pleaded guilty to making the threats in December 1996.

As Middle East violence began to escalate in 2000, the PIJ carried out many suicide bombings and other attacks against Israelis, and Shallah publicly endorsed the bombings. In December 2001, the Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat called for a stop to the attacks. Shallah told the London newspaper El Hayat that he would not follow Arafat's demand, and that he planned to direct his organization to continue carrying out the bombings. In 2002 the group took responsibility for a bus bombing in which 17 Israelis were killed.

Shallah and al Arian and were among eight people indicted in February 2003 on 53 charges of racketeering and conspiracy to murder, maim, or injure persons outside the United States. According to reports, the PIJ has grown increasingly close to Hamas, as the two groups’ methods and long-term goals have converged. In a 2009 interview, Shallah stated, “I cannot speak for Hamas. But I will never, under any conditions, accept the existence of the state of Israel. … Never. Ever. I hope that is clear enough.”

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