Ramadan Shalah

Ramadan Shalah (born February 1, 1958) is the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

Early life

Shalah was born as Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shalah (Arabic: رمضان عبد الله محمد شلح‎) on 1 February 1958 in Shuja'iyya, also called Gaza Sejaiya district, a neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, which at the time was under Egyptian control. In 1967, Gaza came under Israeli control following the Six Day War.

Education

Shalah earned a Ph.D. in banking and economics from the University of Durham, England.

Professor Sami Al-Arian, who later pleaded guilty to helping PIJ and was sentenced to 57 months in prison, helped bring Shalah to Al-Arian's university in Tampa where Shalah then taught as an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida, and where Al-Arian appointed Shalah the head of WISE.

Shalah left in 1995 to head PIJ. Al-Arian said he was shocked to learn Shalah was "anything other than a scholar."

Palestinian Islamic Jihad activity

Shalah became secretary-general of PIJ after the assassination of its previous leader, Fathi Shiqaqi in Malta in 1995. Shalah was listed as a "Specially Designated Terrorist" under United States law on November 27, 1995.