Disabled Palestinian Leader Assassin's Target

On January 16th the Israeli government revealed to the world that they would be hunting down the founder and leader of the radical political Palestinian group called Hamas. Once this pronouncement was made, Sheik Ahmed Yassin became the target of Israeli sharpshooters.

The leader of Hamas was born in 1934, in the town of Ashkelon ,where Moslems, Christians, and Jews coexisted happily and healthily lives together respecting each other's religious views. After World War Two, The Western Powers decided to divide the world as they saw fit and to their political, social, and economic advantage. Therefore, the Western Powers created the State of Israel but failed to create an equivalent Palestinian State. This is still considered the root of the current Middle East Crisis. This crisis needs to be resolved before something catastrophic happens again. The world does not want nor does it need another World Trade Center, Nine-Eleven disaster.

In 1948, Sheik Yassin was uprooted from his home to make the current state of Israel. His parents were forced to live on the Gaza strip where he grew up. His family had to move to a place where there were no relatives and no familiar sites or sounds. This event changed the life of this young Palestinian boy.

At the age of twelve, Yassin became paralyzed; he would never to walk the streets of Palestine again. This was a very traumatic event. He had to lean a new way of life. In the late seventies Sheik Yassin became politically active and wanted to do something to free his brothers and sisters of Palestine from Israeli Rule. In 1987 He created a rival political group called Hamas. This band of men did not take the commands of Yasser Arafat or his Fatah movement. Hamas thought that Fatah was selling out the residents and children of Palestine to the governments of America and Israel.

Hamas became more radical than the two Palestinian political groups. He sent human suicide bombers into the heart of the Israeli State. A new war had started. A war where no one wore a military uniforms. This was a war where a civilians could die anytime and anywhere in the state of Israel. A blast of dynamite or C-4 would explode in a restaurant, a store, on a bus, or a train. This became a way of life in this Middle East State; or should I say, death?

In 1989, the Israelis responded by arresting thousands of Palestinians, including Sheik Ahmed Yassin. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of ever being released. He had many health problems while living in jail, causing many to worry if he could live confined in that environment. Yassin was imprisoned for eight years and released in exchanged for two Israeli Mossad (secret police) agents in Jordan. When he was released he immediately returned to his political agenda of freeing the people of Palestine.

Last month Sheik Yassin issued a religious ruling that females could now become bombers. This act has so infuriated the Israeli government that they spoke of killing Sheik Yassin. Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim said that Yassin is now a key target. His being in a wheelchair is inconsequential. Israeli bulldozers have plowed down 12 houses this week in the Gaza strip giving Sheik Yassin plenty of warnings.

The Israeli government has once again raised the bar of violence in this never-ending cycle.

Last week a Hamas female suicide bomber killed four Israeli boarder guards, wounding another four guards in the territory of Erez. Sheik Yassin now has an X on his back and everybody in the world knows it. He is now truly a target for Israeli assassination.

He was wheeled down the streets of Gaza City stating, "We do not fear the threat of death, and we will not bow to pressure, and the resistance will continue until the occupation of Palestine by Israeli forces is over."

The Bush Administration has not spoken about this new event; nether has the administration of Great Britain. It seems that these leaders of the free world should to talk to both Yassin and with the Israeli government about peace between the two parties. You see, ladies and gentleman, you have good and bad individuals whether they are able or disabled. Sheik Yassin falls in the later category because he has taken the wrong steps toward peace. We all understand the struggles and battles of the Palestinians.

Many individuals feel that you don't have to kill people to address your struggles. You would get more converts with sugar rather then with vinegar. Both sides should take heed to the wisdom of this saying.

THAT IS THE GRAYLINE