Supporters of Israel Believe World Should Be Celebrating Demise of Hamas Leader
by Bill Fancher and Fred Jackson
March 23, 2004
(AgapePress) - Supporters of Israel are offering little sympathy over Monday's assassination of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was killed by an Israeli rocket attack.The killing of the leader of the Palestinian terrorist group was welcome news to many in the free world who know the history of Yassin, who orchestrated the deaths of hundreds of Israeli men, women, and children. Pro-Israel activist Gary Bauer knows that history.
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Gary Bauer |
"He worshipped death. He promoted death. He was the person first at a microphone to brag when suicide bombers successfully killed civilians in Israel, so his death is a positive thing long term for the cause of peace," Bauer says.According to the staunch supporter of Israel, Yassin -- despite his age and physical condition -- was a major contributor to evil acts against the Jewish people. "The end of Yassin is a very positive thing indeed," Bauer says. "He was 80 years old and he was in a wheelchair, but even evil people grow old and have health problems -- that's not a comment on how evil they are.
"The world should be celebrating the fact that [Yassin] is not longer available to ply his murderous trade," Bauer adds.
A security analyst says Yassin's death does not mean the end of the terrorist organization he headed up. Shoshana Bryen, a spokesperson for the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, says Hamas will continue its mission to kill innocent men, women, and children despite Yassin's death.
"He wasn't a commander; he wasn't the guy who carried out terrorist acts," she explains. "He was, however, the person who planned them and gave them the imprimatur for the people who carried them out."
She contends Yassin's death is a "big blow" for those terrorists who wait for instructions before carrying out their murderous acts. "Terrorists don't operate in a vacuum -- they operate with political leadership," she says, "and that was Yassin. He was the leader; he was the guy who set up the motivation and told people that it was the right thing to do."
Hamas has called for retaliatory strikes against Israel -- and against the United States as well for its support of the Jewish state. Bryen expects retaliation against Israeli women and children. "There will be a lot of anger by a lot of people who are very happy to blow up themselves and other people," she says, adding that she is not sure Israel will be safer with Yassin out of the way.
"In the short run, it may increase terrorism, but I suspect that it wasn't done as a single act," Bryen says. "I suspect there will be other arrests and assassinations as well -- and that this had to be part of a larger, coordinated effort."
Meanwhile, the Vatican has joined France, the European Union, Britain, and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in condemning Israel for killing the Hamas leader. A Vatican spokesman calls Yassin's assassination an unjustified "act of violence." The Vatican statement went on to say that authentic and lasting peace "cannot be the fruit of a simple show of force."
However, as Associated Press notes, since Yassin founded Hamas in 1987, the group has killed hundreds of Israelis in scores of attacks -- and its goal is to destroy the Jewish state and replace it with an Islamic one. Bauer says that is an aspect of the war on terrorism that is often ignored.
"Too many countries have yet to realize that we are in a clash of civilizations in which more Americans, Israelis, Spaniards, etc., will die unless and until our enemies are destroyed," Bauer says.
