------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sharon Edges Closer to World War By GILAD ATZMON Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was murdered at daybreak on Monday. Israel Air Force helicopters fired missiles at the car carrying the wheelchair-bound head of the Islamic group as he left a mosque near his house in Gaza City. It also appears Ariel Sharon was in direct command of the assassination operation, not entirely surprising considering his bloody history. For those who fail to realise, today's barbaric Israeli act is an open call for a world war. It is the final wake up call for every Muslim around the world. It is violent proof that Israel isn't only against the Palestinians but rather against Islam. Israel killed a prime spiritual leader on his way out of the mosque. I have no doubt that this Israeli act won't be forgiven. I also have no doubt that many Israelis will pay with their life for Sharon's act. Moreover I am sure that sooner rather than later many innocent non-Israelis around the world will die just for being near by an Israeli embassy, Israeli consulate, a synagogue or even an American bank...This is the reality Sharon favours the most. This is exactly what Israel wants: to turn the entire world into a victim of terror. This might help us to realise the main difference between the Israeli left and right. While both believe in the right of the Jews to live in Zion at the expense of the Palestinian people, the Israeli right wing rely on maintaining a bloody struggle, oppressing the Palestinian people (in particular) and humiliating Arabs (in general). While the Israeli left would attempt to come up with some unrealistic righteous suggestions to appease the Palestinian people and the world community (Oslo accord for instance), the right wing Israelis will suggest that the only method to guarantee Israeli security is to maintain the conflict with the Palestinian people and to let it escalate into an international battle. On the surface it seems bizarre considering Sharon was just recently pretending to suggest a plan of Israeli disengagement from the Gaza strip. Today he gave us a real chance to peep into his mind. The 'disengagement plan' was just another of Sharon's tricks. In fact, Sharon and the Israeli right wing need the Palestinians, they need them oppressed and humiliated, they need their terror. Israeli right wing hegemony is fed by terror. And now there is a new need emerging. Israel is facing a demographic disaster. Within five years there will be a Palestinian majority in the territories controlled by Israel (between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River). This is literally the end of the Zionist dream. Eventually Israel will have to give away its Jewish identity. While the Israeli left remains confused about this reality, the Israeli right wing is fully prepared. For years Israeli warmongers have openly discussed 'transfer': the ethnic cleansing of the Pales tinian people. Considering the current world affairs and general opposition to Israel it is hard to believe that large scale ethnic cleansing would go ahead unless some colossal catastrophe was in place. Sharon is preparing the ground for such a disaster. He needs a war, a big one, something that will allow him to go wild, to go out of control, to initiate a campaign in which Israeli soldiers will become murderous squads ready massacre against the Palestinian civilians. Sharon wants to re-launch the 1948 Nakba. Sharon fully understands that this is what the Israeli public want. He is very good at reading their innermost desires. The killing of Sheikh Yassin pushed the violence far beyond any recognisable measure. It is pushing the Palestinian masses towards martyrdom. According to the Israeli military doctrine, Israel would never be defeated by terror. But at the same time every Israeli realises that the Zionist adventure will be categorically defeated by a demographic crisis. The assassination of Sheikh Yassin is there to push the Palestinians towards acts that will allow the Israelis to impose the most murderous measures against the Palestinian civilians. Mr Sharon, a world acclaimed war criminal and serial murderer proved again that at least when blood games are concerned, he is one step ahead of the game. Gilad Atzmon was born in Israel and served in the Israeli military. He is the author of the new novel A Guide to the Perplexed . Atzmon is also one of the most accomplished jazz saxophonists in Europe. His new CD, Exile, was just named the year's best jazz CD by the BBC. He now lives in London and can be reached at: atz@onetel.net.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Zionism And The Politics Of Assassination On Extra-judicial Executions By Mazin Qumsiyeh http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5925.htm 03/22/04: As the fourth strongest army in the world, Israel could have arrested the quadriplegic and partially blind spiritual elder of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). But history shows that such extrajudicial executions (200 so far) create instability and a cycle of revenge that is calculated to serve Zionist colonization efforts. Political Zionism started in 1845 with a British feasibility study for Jewish colonization in Palestine to further British interests in weakening the Ottoman Empire and establish connections to colonial holdings in India. The adoption of this political (as opposed to religious or cultural) Zionism by a small but very influential segment of Ashkenazi Jews in Europe was deemed crucial for success. Zionism remained marginal among Jews until it capitalized on the atrocities of WWII. Early advocates of Zionism did not shy away from using the term colonization to describe their activities or to describe the use of violence to achieve their goals because natives will always resist such efforts. This violence against native Palestinians started in 1917 when the Zionist Herbert Samuel was appointed as British high commissioner. He made it clear with violent action that the end result will be the creation of a Jewish state in a land that had less than 6% Jewish population. Most native Jews, including the Palestinian Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, were opposed to Zionism at the time. Before 1917 Palestinian Christians, Muslims, and Jews coexisted in relative harmony. Violence between 1917 and 1949 resulted in the establishment of a Jewish state and the ethnic cleansing of 530 Palestinian villages and towns. Israel rejected International law by adopting exclusionary laws that prevent refugees from returning while offering automatic citizenship to Jews (including converts) from anywhere in the world. Zionists expected resistance of Palestinian Christians and Muslims. 800,000 were made refugees by 1949 (now nearly 5 million including Yassin's family). Israeli leaders from Ben Gurion to Sharon have always used the 'Zionist response' to resistance: overwhelming violence and increased colonization. It was Zionist Jews who were first to plant bombs in market places (1930s), first bomb civilian neighborhoods using aircraft (1947), first sent mail letter bombs (1940s), and first to hijack (1954) and shoot down (1973) civilian airplanes. As our biased mainstream US media keeps emphasizing, Palestinians also engaged in expected violent resistance. Violence is a symptom and was used to further colonization efforts whether in Palestine or in America (against Native Americans). It is not a coincidence that the major waves of expulsions of Palestinians occurred between October 1947 to January 1949 and in June 1967. It is not a coincidence that in the name of 'security', Israel destroyed over 3000 Palestinian homes rendering some 15,000 civilians homeless, most in the most desirable land. The Apartheid wall (being built with the excuse of the violence) is not separating Israel from the occupied areas but is surrounding Palestinians in small cantons to starve them and force them to leave. Thus, Zionist leaders deem violence and escalation a sound strategy because, as the first Prime Minister of Israel admitted, peace would mean having to restore rights to native people. Israel's assassination of Sheikh Yassin was described as stupid (Gush Shalom), horrendous mistake (Yossi Beilin), contrary to International law (Amnesty International and the European Union), and a war crime (Israeli liberal leaders). I think such actions remove any doubt about the fact that political Zionism is incompatible with peace in the 21st century. As for us here, Israel's strong lobby in congress drained us of over $100 billion in direct aid and much more indirectly. It is responsible for the low standing of the US around the world. The price tag is much higher in lives lost: American, Israeli, Palestinian, Iraqi, and others. Just like South Africa shed apartheid, Israel must shed Zionism and become a country for people of all religions rather than a country for and by Jews. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (including the right of refugees to return) provides the most logical road map to peace. The American public can no longer afford to allow our government to keep supporting violence and war against the will of the international community. Only then will we begin to rectify historic injustices and bring peace at home and abroad. Mazin Qumsiyeh is an associate professor at Yale University and co-founder of the Palestine Right to Return Coalition. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Maariv survey: 61% support Yasin killing, 21% object Even though only 9% expect terror to decline after Hamas leader's elimination; small majority wants Arafat killed too. Maariv News Service An evening poll conducted yesterday (Monday) by Maariv and “The New Wave” indicates that 61% of the population supports the IDF's killing of Hamas leader Ahmad Yasin. 21% thought Israel should not have killed the Hamas leader. The poll also reveals that the Israeli public is more evenly divided on the question of whether Israel should also assassinate the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat. 43% believe Israel should eliminate Arafat, while 38% object to such an operation. According to the survey, respondents are already resigned to the new terror wave that is expected following the Yasin hit: 55% believe terror will increase. 36% think it would not change while only 9% claim the level of terror would decrease. The survey sample was 504 adult Israelis, including Arabs -- which appears to indicate that among Jews support for the Yasin killing is even higher. The margin of error was 4.2%. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------