The Israeli press is quietly reporting the death of senior Islamic Jihad terrorist Mohammed Khalil in an IDF air force missile strike that took place in Philistia yesterday. "Who was Mr. Khalil?" you ask. Well now, there's a story behind this story, so to speak, and if you've been reading my articles longer than about a year, you already know all about it. Let's talk about Tali Hatuel, her five dead children and a few other things.
But first, a little background. Uh, okay, a whole lot of background.
The Very Sad Passing of Tali Hatuel
Way back a lifetime or two ago, on 2 May 2004, we noted that the words of Israeli Likud Party member Dr. Uzi Landau had proved surprisingly prophetic. While visiting a Ra'anana polling station earlier that day, Minister Landau commented about the struggles Israel was facing from Muslim aggression in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, that part of Israel the uneducated - or perhaps more fittingly described, the anti-Semitic - press calls "the Occupied Territories".
Minister Landau said that the ongoing war is not just on "Gush Katif, but also on Ra'anana. The Disengagement Plan [that calls for Israel to abandon settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza] is from the northern Shomron, neighboring Kfar Saba, Ra'anana, Netanya and Hadera, placing them under a constant terror threat."
A couple of hours later, two Muslims attacked near the Kisufim Junction, killing Gush Katif resident Tali Hautel, her unborn child and all four of her other children. According to news reports, the two Muslim terrorists attacked from the nearby Muslim town of Dir El-Balah, waiting in ambush for an Israeli car to pass by on the main road into the Gush Katif region.
In their first attack, the terrorists fired on and killed Mrs. Tali Hatuel, 34, of Moshav Katif. The Israeli press reported Mrs. Hatuel as being eight months pregnant. Also shot to death by the Muslims were her four daughters, Hila (11), Hadar (9), Roni (7) and Meirav (2).
When another car approached, the terrorists opened fire again. The next vehicle to come along the road after the two civilian vehicles was an IDF patrol. The patrol engaged the Muslims in return fire, eventually killing them both.
A press report by the respected Israeli news agency Ha'aretz claimed that Hamas, Yasser Arafat's Fatah and the Islamic Jihad claimed joint responsibility for the attack. According to Voice of Israel's Avi Yissakharov, Hamas boasted that just as they are successfully driving the Jews from Gaza, so will they drive the Jews from other regions in Israel. In what has become a common scenario following terror attacks, Muslim civilians in several locales under Philistine control celebrated in the streets the murder of the Jewish mother and her children.
Ironically, Israel Radio also reported that Mrs. Hatuel had been driving to Gaza in order to participate in a protest against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan. On the car was a bumper sticker saying, "Uprooting the settlements, victory for terror." Only a few minutes after we posted our op-ed piece on May 2, 2004, Arutz-Sheva's op-ed editor, Nissan Ratzlav-Katz, emailed me to tell me about how the memorial service for Mrs. Hatuel, held in Gush Katif, had been shot up by Muslim terrorists.
Given the environment of hostilities in Gaza, anybody traveling the roads of Gaza, especially near the Kisufim Junction, needed to have somebody riding along with them who knows how to fire a rifle with expert marksmanship. From a moving vehicle. While avoiding automatic and/or semi-automatic fire.
I'm happy to report that the IDF killed two of the attackers who intruded on the memorial service for the slain members of Mr. Hatuel's family, and that no one else was injured in the attack.
Keep in mind, won't you please, that Mrs. Hatuel and her five children aren't buried in Gush Katif anymore, because the Israeli government moved all of the graves of Jews out of that area to other parts of Israel as part of the evacuation of Gaza (which we now call "Philistia") required under President Dubya's Road Map to Peace in the Muddled East.
How is the IDF Like an Elephant?
Because they have very, very long memories. It seems that Khalil was the mastermind behind Mrs. Hatuel's death, and the deaths of her five children. And, it seems, somebody in the IDF decided to do something about that yesterday evening.
It's not like the IDF hadn't tried to assassinate Khalil before: the Israeli press is reporting that the man survived several assassination attempts before yesterday's successful missile attack, which decapitated Khalil. Given the Muslim fascination with decapitation as a method of execution, this Zionist Enemy of Islam finds that small detail from the news reports rather consoling.
But first, a little background. Uh, okay, a whole lot of background.
The Very Sad Passing of Tali Hatuel
Way back a lifetime or two ago, on 2 May 2004, we noted that the words of Israeli Likud Party member Dr. Uzi Landau had proved surprisingly prophetic. While visiting a Ra'anana polling station earlier that day, Minister Landau commented about the struggles Israel was facing from Muslim aggression in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, that part of Israel the uneducated - or perhaps more fittingly described, the anti-Semitic - press calls "the Occupied Territories".
Minister Landau said that the ongoing war is not just on "Gush Katif, but also on Ra'anana. The Disengagement Plan [that calls for Israel to abandon settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza] is from the northern Shomron, neighboring Kfar Saba, Ra'anana, Netanya and Hadera, placing them under a constant terror threat."
A couple of hours later, two Muslims attacked near the Kisufim Junction, killing Gush Katif resident Tali Hautel, her unborn child and all four of her other children. According to news reports, the two Muslim terrorists attacked from the nearby Muslim town of Dir El-Balah, waiting in ambush for an Israeli car to pass by on the main road into the Gush Katif region.
In their first attack, the terrorists fired on and killed Mrs. Tali Hatuel, 34, of Moshav Katif. The Israeli press reported Mrs. Hatuel as being eight months pregnant. Also shot to death by the Muslims were her four daughters, Hila (11), Hadar (9), Roni (7) and Meirav (2).
When another car approached, the terrorists opened fire again. The next vehicle to come along the road after the two civilian vehicles was an IDF patrol. The patrol engaged the Muslims in return fire, eventually killing them both.
A press report by the respected Israeli news agency Ha'aretz claimed that Hamas, Yasser Arafat's Fatah and the Islamic Jihad claimed joint responsibility for the attack. According to Voice of Israel's Avi Yissakharov, Hamas boasted that just as they are successfully driving the Jews from Gaza, so will they drive the Jews from other regions in Israel. In what has become a common scenario following terror attacks, Muslim civilians in several locales under Philistine control celebrated in the streets the murder of the Jewish mother and her children.
Ironically, Israel Radio also reported that Mrs. Hatuel had been driving to Gaza in order to participate in a protest against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan. On the car was a bumper sticker saying, "Uprooting the settlements, victory for terror." Only a few minutes after we posted our op-ed piece on May 2, 2004, Arutz-Sheva's op-ed editor, Nissan Ratzlav-Katz, emailed me to tell me about how the memorial service for Mrs. Hatuel, held in Gush Katif, had been shot up by Muslim terrorists.
Given the environment of hostilities in Gaza, anybody traveling the roads of Gaza, especially near the Kisufim Junction, needed to have somebody riding along with them who knows how to fire a rifle with expert marksmanship. From a moving vehicle. While avoiding automatic and/or semi-automatic fire.
I'm happy to report that the IDF killed two of the attackers who intruded on the memorial service for the slain members of Mr. Hatuel's family, and that no one else was injured in the attack.
Keep in mind, won't you please, that Mrs. Hatuel and her five children aren't buried in Gush Katif anymore, because the Israeli government moved all of the graves of Jews out of that area to other parts of Israel as part of the evacuation of Gaza (which we now call "Philistia") required under President Dubya's Road Map to Peace in the Muddled East.
How is the IDF Like an Elephant?
Because they have very, very long memories. It seems that Khalil was the mastermind behind Mrs. Hatuel's death, and the deaths of her five children. And, it seems, somebody in the IDF decided to do something about that yesterday evening.
It's not like the IDF hadn't tried to assassinate Khalil before: the Israeli press is reporting that the man survived several assassination attempts before yesterday's successful missile attack, which decapitated Khalil. Given the Muslim fascination with decapitation as a method of execution, this Zionist Enemy of Islam finds that small detail from the news reports rather consoling.