Hamas' Yassin DOA
Breaking News: Israel has successfully assasinated Hamas’ spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
I say this one more time so that everyone understands. We do not hate the Jews as Jews. We do not fight the Jews as Jews.
We are fighting [people] who take our rights and our land, and our homes and our houses. We are fighting those who kill us. We want Truth. We are not the aggressors against anyone. We do not oppress anyone.
The Palestinian people want to return to their homes. For that reason, we are prepared to live with the Jews in the best possible circumstances, in brotherhood and a spirit of cooperation.
But they must not infringe our rights. If my Muslim brother, of the same mother and father, took my land I would fight him. I would fight my brother, though he was from the same mother and father.
—Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, 10/04/97
Yassin was considered a moderate, though, of course, he also spoke out of both sides of his mouth, and by “the best possible circumstances” in the quote above, he clearly means with the Jews as dhimmis, which, perhaps isn’t quite as bad as being pushed into the sea, but is still completely unacceptable, as it’s a policy of Islamic supremacism and not democratically geared in any way.
What comes next is anyone’s guess, really. A wave of suicide bombings, peraps? A power struggle between potential successors? If it creates dissention within the ranks of Hamas, it’s pretty, uh, convenient timing, considering Hamas is raring to rule Gaza. What’s the plan then? Fence ’em in and get ’em to kill each other off?
By the way, has anyone else noticed that this guy bared an uncanny resemblance to Saruman from LOTR?
[Update] Hamas announces “Sharon has opened the gates of hell and nothing will stop us from cutting off his head” and “We will send death to every house, every city, every street in Israel.”
[Update] The JTA reports, “Egypt is pulling out of celebrations of the Camp David peace accords in protest over the killing of Sheik Ahmed Yassin. ‘What peace? The world’s on fire,’ Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Monday after Israeli helicopters killed Yassin, Hamas’ founder, in Gaza. Friday marks 25 years since Egypt became the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel. Now, as then, many Egyptians favor downgrading ties with Israel until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved. Before Monday’s air strikes, Egypt had agreed to take part in celebrations at the Knesset and Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.”
This is akin to marching onto the TempleMount surrounded by armed police. It’s designed to provoke; It’s designed to elicit a greater confrontation.
Sharon himself gave the final approval for this; History will mark this hour as a turning point. Got bottled water in your saferooms? (lots of it?)
.rob adams
It’s designed to provoke; It’s designed to elicit a greater confrontation.
I have a weird impression that this is the flipside to Sharon’s Gaza withdrawal talk — almost like he’s trying to prove that physical disengagement doesn’t mean military disengagement. (The alternative and maybe complementary version: that he wants to make sure Hamas can’t take Gaza over before he signs off on the pullout.)
That said, this is not exactly the first time in recent memory that there has been as assassination attempt on Yasin. I guess those wondering whether direct confrontation between Israel and Hamas was inevitable can stop thinking about it now…
Shit! This is the country that removed Eichman from Brazil without arousing the suspicion of authorities. Why do they have to kill people like this? Where the fuck’s the subtlety? Blasting a quadripaligic out of his wheelchair as he leaves a mosque with missiles from a helicopter is not alright, no matter how big of a bastard he was.
its about time!!!!
I say this one more time so that everyone understands. We do not hate the Palestinians as Palestinians. We do not fight the Palestinians as Palestinians.
We are fighting (people) who take our rights and our land, and our homes and our houses. We are fighting those who kill us. We want Truth. We are not the aggressors against anyone. We do not oppress anyone.
The Jewish people want to return to their homes. For that reason, we are prepared to live with the Palestinians in the best possible circumstances, in brotherhood and a spirit of cooperation.
But they must not infringe our rights. If my Jewish brother, of the same mother and father, took my land I would fight him. I would fight my brother, though he was from the same mother and father.
– This could have been written by any politician.
I’m still absorbing this all.
Yassin was considered a moderate — moderate compared to even more extremist members of the racist Islamist movement he headed. But not moderate by any acceptable measure. Of all of Palestine’s war criminals he was among the most prolific. The bloody trail of dead Palestinians — and, it goes without saying, Israelis — he leaves behind speaks volumes of his contempt for his own people.
There was no way to kill Yassin subtly. Even if an Israeli James Bond had slipped into his room at night and given him a small dose of an untraceable toxin, it would be front page news.
Now, fencing them in and letting them fight it out ain’t a bad idea. It’s a crude way of saying the Palestinian society needs to have a civil war and decide who they want to lead them. Hamas/PIJ/Al Aqsa or PA/Abbas/Nuseibeh. Israel did it with the Altalena, every major and stable European country has had at least one in the last 150 years. Why should the Pals be any different?
dumb dumb dumb
I declare this to be the stupidest, most short-sighted and foolish thing Ariel Sharon has ever done
the problem, homes, is that it’s hamas that’s got the guns and the intimidation power.
Babylonian:
You obviously don’t understand politics if you believe this to be short-sighted. Sharon is a war President. The people of Israel elected him simply for this reason. They are seeking an answer to, and pardon the WWII slang, the Palistinian Question. While it is often argued that one should not stoop to the lowest level of your rival, the use of force and, for lack of a better term, regicide is what the enemies of Israel understand.
Or you could go watch the BBC and believe that this was a totally unprovoked action.
yassin is dead, i can sleep good tonight. hahaha
The only good skinhead is a dead skinhead, they say in “la Haine”. Well, the same surely applies to terrorist leaders, nu?
” Israel and Hamas may currently be locked in deadly combat, but, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials, beginning in the late 1970s, Tel Aviv gave direct and indirect financial aid to Hamas over a period of years.
Israel “aided Hamas directly — the Israelis wanted to use it as a counterbalance to the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization),” said Tony Cordesman, Middle East analyst for the Center for Strategic Studies.”
By Richard Sale, UPI Terrorism Correspondent
UPI story
Sharon is a war President. The people of Israel elected him simply for this reason.
Actually, Sharon was elected on a promise of Peace and Security
Uh, Babylonian, the two-year old Moonie coverage is nice and all, but this is not exactly secret news — Maariv has a retrospective http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=5005“>today, for instance.
Sharon is a war President – Actually, Sharon was elected on a promise of Peace and Security – grin: this sounds like exactly the kind of word game that Sharon likes to play. Mazal tov!
“We will send death to every house, every city, every street in Israel.”
And this differs from their policy from before the Shiek met the great pedophile in the sky how?
Its an interesting call to make as a President who promises security, to assainate the leader of Hamas…when you know the result of doing so, will cause your people, the ones who elected you, to be killed. Not that I am not happy that this crazy mofo is dead, its just that….I dunno….this is crazy….we should have made it seem like one of Arafats people killed him
“I think that this is very, very dangerous for us. We are talking here about opening a Pandora’s box. We are now counting backwards to, God forbid, the next terror attack against us, and the question is how many Israelis, how many Jews have to be killed for this irresponsible act.”
— Yossi Beilin
Opening pandora’s box? We killed the man who has taken resonsibility for a third of Israel’s intifada deaths. He was a leader and taught kids to strap bombs to their chests and get on buses. They’ve been killing Jews for years without discrimination. I can’t believe you’re buying into that “cycle of violence” crap. It’s not about revenge. It’s about killing Jews. Any and all Jews.
velvel wrote:
It’s about killing Jews. Any and all Jews
Really? So when was the last bus bombing of Jews Hamas committed in America where the majority of Jews live ?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36019
If Arutz Sheva said it then it must be true(!) I’m sure those plans can be found in a box right next to the Iraqi stockpiles of WMD
Um, I asked when the last time something was committed – not the last time some Kahanist right wing-nut settlers at an illegal pirate radio station made up some cocamamie story.
Yassin Killing ‘A Bad Mistake’ – Terror Analyst
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Could Assassination Of Hamas Spiritual Leader Foment Extremist Acts Outside The Region?
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Yassin: more dangerous dead than alive?
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ANALYSIS – Killing of leader seen to boost , not cripple Hamas
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Shimon Peres: Assassination unjustified
I really hate this cliche…..but in this situation it rings so annoyingly true
‘an eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind’
May the anvil of sharon crush the Hamas infrastructure.
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/2003terror.html
“On November 1, 2003, Jamal Akal, 23, originally from Nuseirat, and a Canadian citizen, was arrested by the ISA. Akal had arrived in the Gaza Strip, ostensibly on a family visit. During his time in the Gaza Strip, he was trained by Hamas to attempt the assassination of a senior Israeli VIP in the US and of US and Canadian Jewish community leaders. This was the first instance in which Hamas sought to perpetrate an attack on Jewish and Israeli targets abroad.”
so in other words, it’s never happened
Hm, so maybe it’s not about killing all and any Jews after all
if the 9-11 hijackers where caught before it they got away with it..you would probably tell me its all a crock..and i got nothing to worry about…
maybe you would be right..i mean we haven’t gotten hit since..maybe all al queda had in the u.s was a couple of those hijackers, and the cells we already found (or so i am told – guess it could just be b.s)…
but i think to dismiss jamal and the 9-11 hijackers as a couple of flukes is far fetched wishful thinking…
“The fact that this paraplegic was killed as he returned from religious observance, on a route he used daily, will give Israel’s friends pause for concern. We live in a world where image counts for a lot. His wheelchair blown apart by the best of Israeli and American technology will become an icon for the Islamic world.”
It may have been right to kill Yassin, but it was also stupid by Alan Philps, The Telegraph [UK]
Yassin’s influence on fashion, the suicide belt, will have a far longer last effect on the world then his influence in transportation, his wheelchair.
I doubt anyone’s still checking this thread, but why couldn’t Israel arrest the guy and then execute him? If he’s killed all those people, surely authorities have evidence? And I agree, image matters, and to Americans that aren’t predisposed to be sympathetic specifically to Israel, but to the situation on both sides, this looks really bad.
arresting them = kidnapping … you can’t forcefully extradite a person from another country
They surely could have arrested him.. that’s why he was in prison twice previously
But as far as I know Israel has no official death penalty (on the books anyway)
Amnesty says Israel abolished the death penalty in 1954, and the last execution was in 1962