03-24-2004, 06:39 PM
Salaam Alaikum!
Firstly, there is no doubt that Yassin had his hands buried in Palestinian terrorism. However, to fire a missile into a densely populated area? Just what was the IDF thinking? The plausibility of the missile hitting someone else is extremely high. Though, I should be more cognizant. Israel is notorious for firing missiles in heavily populated areas. Secondly, his (in my conceited opinion) assassination was adamantly outrageous. Does the IDF really believe that assassinating Sheikh Yassin would erode terrorism? If so, the IDF has their head stuck in the Negev sand dunes. His death will entice terrorism and lead to an “all-out” war against Israel. It’s like launching a stone at a hornets nest and being dumb enough to believe that one won’t get stung!
On my second point—the root of this whole fiasco is nationalism. Following in Zia Sardar’s footsteps, we as Muslims need to excel beyond “national state” rage. Both Palestinians and Israeli’s prop up rhetoric (Biblical and Quranic) to gain sympathy from those on the sidelines. Whether one is Jewish or Muslim, there is a whole world beyond the “national state”. It seems narrow-minded to believe that Islam revolves around this partisan battle that has no historical grounding. Palestinians need to shed off those linked and in partnership with terrorism and try accept the given situation that Jews are going to be there. Israel needs to jettison those illegal settlements, and accept Palestine for what it is: a Palestinian state. Of course, one might take this as the “perverse” way out. But to stymie our efforts into a battle that has its navel cord rooted in nationalist galore, only hurts the petal on Islam’s rose.
(The question needs to be begged: If Israel is “expanding” into its own territories (1967 war), then wouldn’t that would make the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Israeli citizens? That would entice the same rights as the Jews in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem to Palestinians. Sadly to admit, that’s not the current sway of things in Israel (the West Bank/Gaza are not part of Israel but under contemporary military occupation; or apartheid principles if you like. And Palestinians are not treated like your “average” day Israeli citizen).)