Was Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, as reported by most news agencies, really a poor, old and paralyzed victim killed by Israelis? Well, Yassin might have been old and paralyzed, but this does not mean he was innocent, because his brain was functioning just fine. From his wheelchair, he was a terrorist mastermind, actively planning and giving orders for suicide bombers to attack.
What about the innocent Israeli women and children who die almost daily on buses, in pizza parlors, restaurants and markets, blown up by suicide bombers sent by this "old and paralyzed man"? So, is it okay for terrorists to openly kill innocents everywhere, but not to kill the killers? For instance, is it okay for Bin Laden to order the killing of innocent victims, but not kill him as the leader of the terrorist group, Al-Qaeda?
Yassin's being in a wheelchair since age 12 due to a sporting accident did not impede him from founding the terrorist group Hamas in 1987. This group openly pursues the destruction of Israel and the killing of all Jews. Was Israel supposed to stay still and waited for its final extermination? Whose idea was it to promise the genocide bombers 72 virgins? Moreover, whose evil idea was it to load those bombs with nails and rat poison? Yassin's? Curiously, Yassin never sent his sons to commit genocide bombings; just as many other terrorist leaders never send their own kids.
Hamas has continually stated, including in its own charter, that their goal is the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic state in all of what is known as Palestine. Hamas struggles "for the liberation of all of Palestine" as a personal religious duty incumbent upon every Muslim. Yet, historically, there has never been a Palestinian state, neither a Palestinian culture, nor a Palestinian language. Palestine was a political Roman invention from the 2nd Century, designed to eradicate Jewish identity. Nevertheless, Romans continued to refer to Jews as Palestinians, as the term alluded to Philistines, Israel's enemy.
Certainly, Arab-Palestinians decry Yassin's death. The reason, mainly, is that although Yassin supported homicide bombings to exterminate Israel, he also provided Arab-Palestinians with basic assistance to ease their suffering, a duty supposedly, to be done with the billions of dollars received by the Palestinian Authority. Now, Yassin is seen as a shahid, a martyr, as he declared many times, including on July 26, 1998, in Al-Quds, "The day in which I will die as a shahid will be the happiest day of my life." Therefore, it is likely that terrorist attacks may increase temporarily. However, Yassin's death also might eventually weaken Hamas' leadership and their genocide bombings policy.
Hence, is it not time for the international community to stop cheering the shameful killing by genocide bombers of innocent Israelis, and unite to stop this open genocide by effectively fighting against terrorism and its leaders? The problem with the international community, mainly Europe, and the inconsistency of U.S. policy, stems from the fact that, although the U.S. considers Hamas a terrorist group, the EU simply divided Hamas in two groups, the military and political wings.
The EU, just as Syria, purposely calls them just "militants", and recognizes only the military wing as a terrorist group, not the political wing. Israel and the U.S. consider them responsible for many terrorist attacks in Israel, as they proudly claim responsibility for them. Therefore, some of the EU citizens might consider Yassin a poor, old and paralyzed victim. The question is what they consider the hundreds killed and thousands injured by Yassin's orders?
One can argue whether the international community takes pleasure in seeing the brutal, vicious and continuing cycle of terrorism against Israelis, just as the Romans in ancient times watched many innocents viciously killed at the Coliseum for their own pleasure. How can the international community protest when Israel, or any other democratic country, counterattacks terrorism? This silent attitude has only strengthened terrorists, validating their philosophy that "genocide bombings" are their most effective policy, since the world, including the UN does not even dare to call homicide bombings criminal acts and punish them as such.
On the contrary, instead of taking a united decision against these despicable acts, it condemns Israel for defending its citizens. It is not enough just to verbally condemn these attacks, or to hold vain diplomatic conferences, but to take effective actions. Will France, the UK, Germany or any other European country tolerate genocide bombings in their countries without retaliating? The truth is that freedom and terrorism can never coexist. It has to either be one or the other.
The point is that diplomacy in the Arab world is not interpreted in the same way as in the West. For instance, it is not enough to have the signatures of Israelis and Arab-Palestinian leaders on a paper to think they are actually working towards peace. Do you remember last year's infamous "Truce Trio", when Hamas and Islamic Jihad agreed to a three-month temporary cease fire after a long list of demands, while Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an off-shoot of Al-Fatah, agreed separately to a longer truce? Did this work? No. Just as I wrote in previous articles, it was only a period to rearm and plan new strategies. Violence and genocide bombings continued.
Point blank: Israel now learned its lesson. Last year's "temporary peace period" by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade was not a benevolent proposal, but a suicidal pact. Hamas demanded Israel stop all targeted killings of Hamas members and the release of all terrorists from jail. But Hamas never stopped genocide bombings. It was a major blow for the effort to eradicate terrorism and a sign of weakness of Israel's security.
Israel fell into the terrorist trap, and under that false peace period, it allowed Hamas time to organize more attacks. Terrorism does not accept peace negotiations. Many peace plans might come, and as they come, they will disappear, just as the Oslo Accords and the defunct Roadmap. Now, Israel is limited to constructing the "security fence" against terrorism coming from Judea and Samaria.
Hamas not only openly calls for genocide bombings, but also takes public responsibility. Incredibly, some still consider Yassin, Hamas' leader and founder, to be a poor, old and innocent paralyzed man. Something is wrong. Are not Hamas leaders considered terrorists for their open declaration to destroy Israel by any means?
In the past, Mihail Wehbe, Syrian ambassador to the UN, was influential in passing some Security Council resolutions that have condemned Israeli actions as "war crimes, massacres or atrocities." Nevertheless, genocide bombings, the leading cause of Israeli reactions, are not labeled as "war crimes, massacres or atrocities." Why did the UN not refer to Yassin's death as Israel's retaliation against the terrorist leader who was commanding genocide bombings? If Hamas did not send genocide bombers, Israel would not retaliate.
The Western world, including Israel, needs to understand how most Arabs see and perceive the final settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The fact is that policies requiring Israel to make more concessions should be avoided until real actions are taken by Arab-Palestinians to stop promoting terrorism and teaching hatred towards Israel. This will include the immediate dismantling of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and all terrorist infrastructures in the disputed lands of Gaza, Judea and Samaria. Moreover, it is no secret that most Arab-Palestinians envision only one state, with no Israel, as seen in their geography schoolbooks and on Hamas and PA official websites.
The question is whether the International Community and the Arab-Palestinians expect Israel to stand still and wait to be completely exterminated. Actions speak louder than words. Diplomacy is not always the right tool to obtain peace with the Arab-Palestinians, as it is not in their historical traditions.
On March 22, the UN gave a terse and strong condemnation of Israel for the attack on the Hamas leader. That is fine. However, we cannot find a single instance when the UN or the EU has ever sent this kind of strong condemnation of any Hamas or Hizbollah brutal terrorist suicide attack; only bluff diplomatic talk for the sake of public opinion.
The fact is that the growing violence and the unleashing of homicide bombings indicate that terrorism is gaining momentum and legitimacy, while the U.S. and the West are losing momentum as effective peace negotiators.
Yassin, as he has proven through his actions, cannot be considered a poor man only because he was paralyzed. He was the mastermind leader of a terrorist group, who, far from being a spiritual leader calling for peace, called for genocide bombings as a Muslim religious duty. Now, it is your turn to answer: Is it okay for the killers to openly kill innocents everywhere, but not okay to kill the killers? Do the killers become the "untouchables"? What do you think?
What about the innocent Israeli women and children who die almost daily on buses, in pizza parlors, restaurants and markets, blown up by suicide bombers sent by this "old and paralyzed man"? So, is it okay for terrorists to openly kill innocents everywhere, but not to kill the killers? For instance, is it okay for Bin Laden to order the killing of innocent victims, but not kill him as the leader of the terrorist group, Al-Qaeda?
Yassin's being in a wheelchair since age 12 due to a sporting accident did not impede him from founding the terrorist group Hamas in 1987. This group openly pursues the destruction of Israel and the killing of all Jews. Was Israel supposed to stay still and waited for its final extermination? Whose idea was it to promise the genocide bombers 72 virgins? Moreover, whose evil idea was it to load those bombs with nails and rat poison? Yassin's? Curiously, Yassin never sent his sons to commit genocide bombings; just as many other terrorist leaders never send their own kids.
Hamas has continually stated, including in its own charter, that their goal is the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic state in all of what is known as Palestine. Hamas struggles "for the liberation of all of Palestine" as a personal religious duty incumbent upon every Muslim. Yet, historically, there has never been a Palestinian state, neither a Palestinian culture, nor a Palestinian language. Palestine was a political Roman invention from the 2nd Century, designed to eradicate Jewish identity. Nevertheless, Romans continued to refer to Jews as Palestinians, as the term alluded to Philistines, Israel's enemy.
Certainly, Arab-Palestinians decry Yassin's death. The reason, mainly, is that although Yassin supported homicide bombings to exterminate Israel, he also provided Arab-Palestinians with basic assistance to ease their suffering, a duty supposedly, to be done with the billions of dollars received by the Palestinian Authority. Now, Yassin is seen as a shahid, a martyr, as he declared many times, including on July 26, 1998, in Al-Quds, "The day in which I will die as a shahid will be the happiest day of my life." Therefore, it is likely that terrorist attacks may increase temporarily. However, Yassin's death also might eventually weaken Hamas' leadership and their genocide bombings policy.
Hence, is it not time for the international community to stop cheering the shameful killing by genocide bombers of innocent Israelis, and unite to stop this open genocide by effectively fighting against terrorism and its leaders? The problem with the international community, mainly Europe, and the inconsistency of U.S. policy, stems from the fact that, although the U.S. considers Hamas a terrorist group, the EU simply divided Hamas in two groups, the military and political wings.
The EU, just as Syria, purposely calls them just "militants", and recognizes only the military wing as a terrorist group, not the political wing. Israel and the U.S. consider them responsible for many terrorist attacks in Israel, as they proudly claim responsibility for them. Therefore, some of the EU citizens might consider Yassin a poor, old and paralyzed victim. The question is what they consider the hundreds killed and thousands injured by Yassin's orders?
One can argue whether the international community takes pleasure in seeing the brutal, vicious and continuing cycle of terrorism against Israelis, just as the Romans in ancient times watched many innocents viciously killed at the Coliseum for their own pleasure. How can the international community protest when Israel, or any other democratic country, counterattacks terrorism? This silent attitude has only strengthened terrorists, validating their philosophy that "genocide bombings" are their most effective policy, since the world, including the UN does not even dare to call homicide bombings criminal acts and punish them as such.
On the contrary, instead of taking a united decision against these despicable acts, it condemns Israel for defending its citizens. It is not enough just to verbally condemn these attacks, or to hold vain diplomatic conferences, but to take effective actions. Will France, the UK, Germany or any other European country tolerate genocide bombings in their countries without retaliating? The truth is that freedom and terrorism can never coexist. It has to either be one or the other.
The point is that diplomacy in the Arab world is not interpreted in the same way as in the West. For instance, it is not enough to have the signatures of Israelis and Arab-Palestinian leaders on a paper to think they are actually working towards peace. Do you remember last year's infamous "Truce Trio", when Hamas and Islamic Jihad agreed to a three-month temporary cease fire after a long list of demands, while Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an off-shoot of Al-Fatah, agreed separately to a longer truce? Did this work? No. Just as I wrote in previous articles, it was only a period to rearm and plan new strategies. Violence and genocide bombings continued.
Point blank: Israel now learned its lesson. Last year's "temporary peace period" by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade was not a benevolent proposal, but a suicidal pact. Hamas demanded Israel stop all targeted killings of Hamas members and the release of all terrorists from jail. But Hamas never stopped genocide bombings. It was a major blow for the effort to eradicate terrorism and a sign of weakness of Israel's security.
Israel fell into the terrorist trap, and under that false peace period, it allowed Hamas time to organize more attacks. Terrorism does not accept peace negotiations. Many peace plans might come, and as they come, they will disappear, just as the Oslo Accords and the defunct Roadmap. Now, Israel is limited to constructing the "security fence" against terrorism coming from Judea and Samaria.
Hamas not only openly calls for genocide bombings, but also takes public responsibility. Incredibly, some still consider Yassin, Hamas' leader and founder, to be a poor, old and innocent paralyzed man. Something is wrong. Are not Hamas leaders considered terrorists for their open declaration to destroy Israel by any means?
In the past, Mihail Wehbe, Syrian ambassador to the UN, was influential in passing some Security Council resolutions that have condemned Israeli actions as "war crimes, massacres or atrocities." Nevertheless, genocide bombings, the leading cause of Israeli reactions, are not labeled as "war crimes, massacres or atrocities." Why did the UN not refer to Yassin's death as Israel's retaliation against the terrorist leader who was commanding genocide bombings? If Hamas did not send genocide bombers, Israel would not retaliate.
The Western world, including Israel, needs to understand how most Arabs see and perceive the final settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The fact is that policies requiring Israel to make more concessions should be avoided until real actions are taken by Arab-Palestinians to stop promoting terrorism and teaching hatred towards Israel. This will include the immediate dismantling of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and all terrorist infrastructures in the disputed lands of Gaza, Judea and Samaria. Moreover, it is no secret that most Arab-Palestinians envision only one state, with no Israel, as seen in their geography schoolbooks and on Hamas and PA official websites.
The question is whether the International Community and the Arab-Palestinians expect Israel to stand still and wait to be completely exterminated. Actions speak louder than words. Diplomacy is not always the right tool to obtain peace with the Arab-Palestinians, as it is not in their historical traditions.
On March 22, the UN gave a terse and strong condemnation of Israel for the attack on the Hamas leader. That is fine. However, we cannot find a single instance when the UN or the EU has ever sent this kind of strong condemnation of any Hamas or Hizbollah brutal terrorist suicide attack; only bluff diplomatic talk for the sake of public opinion.
The fact is that the growing violence and the unleashing of homicide bombings indicate that terrorism is gaining momentum and legitimacy, while the U.S. and the West are losing momentum as effective peace negotiators.
Yassin, as he has proven through his actions, cannot be considered a poor man only because he was paralyzed. He was the mastermind leader of a terrorist group, who, far from being a spiritual leader calling for peace, called for genocide bombings as a Muslim religious duty. Now, it is your turn to answer: Is it okay for the killers to openly kill innocents everywhere, but not okay to kill the killers? Do the killers become the "untouchables"? What do you think?