Deadly shortsightedness
Four days after the incident, observers around the world, especially the Islamic world, are still at a loss to explain why Israel found it wise, or necessary, to assassinate Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of militant Palestinian group Hamas, killed by an Israeli missile as he left a mosque in Gaza City on Monday.
Surely the leaders in Tel Aviv must have realized that by killing Yassin the only thing they achieved was to add more fuel to a fire that has so far already consumed a good part of the region and caused the deaths of thousands, both Palestinians and Israelis?
After all, Yassin, certainly no friend of Israel, had over the past few years shown himself to be a less uncompromising enemy than many other Hamas leaders -- including, for instance, Abdel Aziz al Rantissi, his successor. While Rantissi is known to have been consistent in his refusal to join other factions in declaring a cease-fire with Israel, Yassin was reported to have hinted that he might be willing to accept the creation of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank, and declare in indefinite cease-fire with Israel.
Monday's killing, however, has dashed all hopes of a peaceful resolution of the volatile Middle East situation -- one of the many unpredictable hazards that Monday's killing of Yassin has raised, not least for Israel, and Israelis themselves. Already, Hamas leaders have threatened to take the war beyond the borders of the current conflict area, turning Israelis -- and possibly Americans and other supporters of the Jewish state -- into targets of terror attacks.
The recent bomb attack in Spain should warn the world not to take this threat lightly, given the widespread sympathy that the Palestinian resistance fighters enjoy among Muslims throughout the world. In other words, Yassin's killing could galvanize Islamic radicalism, not only in the Middle East, but around the world, with potentially lethal consequences for all. Clearly, his assassination has raised the standing of Hamas in Muslim communities around the world.
To return to the question of why the Israeli leadership found it expedient to assassinate Yassin at this particular moment, analysts and Middle East observers seem to differ in opinion. He is known to have been among many Hamas leaders on Israel's hit list, which also includes Rantissi. One explanation seems to be that Monday's assassination -- and others that could follow in the not-too-distant future -- was part of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal for a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
According to this version, as published by the Guardian newspaper in London, the thinking in Tel Aviv is that if Israel were to pull out of Gaza -- as it would under Sharon's unilateral withdrawal plan -- it would only do so as victor in the conflict, having "seared into the Palestinian consciousness" the futility of resistance against Israel. Of course, the question is whether Tel Aviv could afford to take such an arrogant stance without the steadfast backing of the United States, in the name of fighting terrorism.
The bottom line in all of this is that Washington, too, must shoulder part of the responsibility for any of the bad consequences that Tel Aviv's irresponsible and aggressive policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians will inevitably bring. By backing Sharon's myopic policies, the Bush administration is, knowingly or unknowingly, taking the wind from the sails of the global fight against terrorism.