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Posted on 04/18/2004 5:11:04 AM PDT by Happy2BMe
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of mourners cried out Sunday to avenge the assassination of Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi by Israel ahead of its planned U.S.-backed pullout from Gaza.
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The Hamas military wing pledged "100 retaliations" for Rantissi, a 56-year-old firebrand who was the second Hamas leader Israel killed in Gaza in less than a month. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin died in a missile attack on March 22.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) praised the army for Saturday's helicopter strike on Rantissi, the Palestinian Muslim group's political leader in Gaza, and pledged the Jewish state would continue to "fight terror."
Sharon told his cabinet the assassination was part of a dual strategy to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza -- home to 1.3 million Palestinians and occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war -- while striking at militants.
Rantissi's body was carried aloft on a stretcher draped in a green Hamas flag, his face left uncovered to reveal the red lacerations of shrapnel. Weeping mourners reached out their hands to try to touch his body.
"The blood of Yassin and Rantissi will not be wasted. Their blood will force the eruption of new volcanoes," rose the call of one militant. Thousands took up the refrain of revenge.
Hamas has so far failed to carry out the kind of massive attack it had promised to avenge Yassin's death.
Rantissi, an Egyptian-trained pediatrician, was outspoken in his support of violence. Israel branded him "a mastermind of terrorism." He died when two missiles slammed into his car hours after a suicide bomber killed an Israeli soldier at northern Gaza's Erez crossing.
Hamas's armed wing vowed "100 retaliations" that will shake "the criminal entity."
Faced with an Israeli threat to wipe out all Hamas leaders, the movement said it had named Rantissi's successor but would keep his identity secret. Palestinian sources speculated the new leader was either Mahmoud al-Zahar or Ismail Haniyah.
Rantissi's assassination stoked Palestinian anger already high over President Bush (news - web sites)'s statement this week that Israel could retain land Palestinians want for a state in any peace deal.
"A CRIME"
"It is no doubt a crime," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie told reporters. "Unfortunately the Israelis feel they are supported by the United States administration."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) criticized Rantissi's killing, saying it could lead to more violence in the Middle East. The European Union (news - web sites) and Britain also condemned it.
The United States denied giving Israel the green light to go after Rantissi but refrained from condemning the assassination.
In his first public comments on the killing, Sharon said: "The policy is an effort on the one hand to progress on the diplomatic process and on the other to harm the terror organizations and those who lead them."
Rantissi was viewed as particularly hard-line in a militant Islamic group that has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and is sworn to Israel's destruction.
In Gaza, troops killed a Palestinian gunman near a Jewish settlement, thwarting an attempted attack, the army said.
The Al-Aqsa Brigades, part of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s Fatah (news - web sites) faction, said it had sent the dead militant as a first response to Rantissi's assassination.
"We promise to God that we will continue fighting until the occupation leaves our land," the group said in a statement.
Israel killed Rantissi three days after Sharon won Bush's backing at the White House for his plan to withdraw from Gaza and four Jewish settlements in the West Bank by the end of 2005.
Bush coupled the endorsement with a sharp departure from U.S. policy. He said Israel could not be expected to give up all land captured in the 1967 Middle East war and rejected any right of return of Palestinian refugees to Israel.
Sharon presented his "disengagement plan" to his cabinet on Sunday. But a vote will be delayed until after a referendum on the pullout is held on May 2 among the 200,000 members of the prime minister's right-wing Likud party.
Palestinian leaders say the go-it-alone Israeli steps mask an intention to annex major Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Some 7,500 settlers live in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites). About 200,000 settlers and two million Palestinians reside in the West Bank.
Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi listens to his bodyguard Akram Nassar (L) in this file photo taken March 24, 2004. Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on April 18, 2004 drawing a threat of 100 revenge attacks from the militant Palestinian group rocked by another major blow before a planned U.S.-backed pullout from Gaza.
Palestinians carry the body of the late Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi, bottom left, through the streets during his funeral in Gaza City, early Sunday, April 18, 2004. Rantisi and two bodyguards were killed in an Israeli missle attack on the car they were driving in Saturday in Gaza City. Iraqi flag is seen at center amidst a sea of green Hamas flags.
Palestinian militants from Hamas chant slogans against the U.S. and Israel during a demonstration at the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in south Lebanon April 18, 2004. Thousands of Palestinian in refugees camp in Lebanon protest on Sunday over the killing of Rantissi by Israel.
Students from al-Azhar university in Cairo hold their hands out to symbolize the swords of Islam during a demonstration to protest the assassination of Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi April 18, 2004. Rantissi was killed less than a month after Israel assassinated Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin.
Egyptian students of Al- Azhar university, the highest Islamic Sunni institution, burn American, British and Israeli flags as they flash the Quran demonstrating against Israel's assassination of Abdel Aziz Rantisi, the Hamas leader, Sunday, April 18, 2004 in Cairo. Rantisi and two bodyguards were killed in an Israeli missile attack on the car they were driving in Saturday in Gaza City. Arabic slogans on the black lables reads as 'steadfastness'.
An elderly Palestinian supporter of the Islamic militant group Hamas holds a pistol and a copy of the Quran, the Islamic holy book, during a march against the killing by Israel of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi in the West Bank City of Nablus Sunday April 18, 2004. Israel assassinated Rantisi in a missile strike on his car on Saturday, part of its declared campaign to wipe out the Islamic militant group's leadership ahead of a planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Women Hamas supporters hold pictures of assassinated Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi as they attend a demonstration supporting Hamas in the West Bank city of Nablus April 18, 2004.
Tens of thousands of mourners packed the streets of Gaza City during the funeral of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi April 18, 2004.The Hamas military wing pledged '100 retaliations' for Rantissi, a 56-year-old firebrand who was the second Hamas leader Israel killed in Gaza in less than a month. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin died in a missile attack on March 22.
The body of the late Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi is carried from his house before being taken through the streets during his funeral in Gaza City, early Sunday, April 18, 2004. Rantisi and two bodyguards were killed in an Israeli missile attack on the car they were driving in Saturday in Gaza City.
People watch as the body of the late Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi is carried through the streets during his funeral in Gaza City, early Sunday, April 18, 2004. Rantisi and two bodyguards were killed in an Israeli missile attack on the car they were driving in Saturday in Gaza City.
Palestinians reach to touch the body of the late Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi as he is carried through the streets during his funeral in Gaza City, early Sunday, April 18, 2004. Rantisi and two bodyguards were killed in an Israeli missile attack on the car they were driving in Saturday in Gaza City.
A Palestinian kisses the face of Abdelaziz Rantissi in the morgue of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
Palestinian relatives of Hamas leader Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi gather around his body in the morgue at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, early Sunday, April 18, 2004. Rantisi and two bodyguards were killed in an Israeli missile attack on the car they were driving in Saturday in Gaza City.
They are fire ants.
Stir them up and they mass in the streets.
Some day Israel will do a riverdance on their heads.
Soon to be revised into past tense.
And - they kill innocent Israelis and join the mujahadeem in Iraq killing US military.
Too bad every time a fuel up my cars I am contributing to the financial well being of the terrorist organization in Palestine via the Saudis oil money.
Kill them both to be sure.
How would you like to take your child to this doctor? And why didn't he go to a "Palestinian" medical school?
The bennies are better than being a lice-infected goat humper in a dirt floored shack.
Where's the MOAB when you need it?
Two reasons --- one is their greed, they will claim to believe in the Koran --- which instructs them not to live among the infidels and to prefer an Islamic state --- but they prefer money so come here --- the other is the other rule in the Koran which says they can only live among the infidels for the purpose of taking them over -- conquering them.
Vevy good question - they have a "Plan" . .
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
A refugee from the Muslim Middle East thinks he has discovered Islam's 20-point plan for conquering the United States by 2020 – a plan revealed in the latest issue of Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
Anis Shorrosh, author of ''Islam Revealed'' and ''The True Furqan,'' is a Christian Arab-American who emigrated from Arab-controlled Jerusalem in January 1967.
''The following is my analysis of Islamic invasion of America, the agenda of Islamists and visible methods to take over America by the year 2020,'' Shorrosh says. ''Will Americans continue to sleep through this invasion as they did when we were attacked on 9/11?''
1. Terminate America's freedom of speech by replacing it with statewide and nationwide hate-crime bills.
2. Wage a war of words using black leaders like Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Jesse Jackson and other visible religious personalities who promote Islam as the religion of African-Americans while insisting Christianity is for whites only. What they fail to tell African-Americans is that it was Arab Muslims who captured them and sold them as slaves. In fact, the Arabic word for black and slave is the same, ''Abed.''
3. Engage the American public in dialogues, discussions, debates in colleges, universities, public libraries, radio, TV, churches and mosques on the virtues of Islam. Proclaim how it is historically another religion like Judaism and Christianity with the same monotheistic faith.
4. Nominate Muslim sympathizers to political office to bring about favorable legislation toward Islam and support potential sympathizers by block voting.
5. Take control of as much of Hollywood, the press, TV, radio and the Internet as possible by buying the related corporations or a controlling stock.
6. Yield to the fear of the imminent shut-off of the lifeblood of America – black gold. America’s economy depends on oil and 41 percent of it comes from the Middle East.
7. Yell ''foul, out-of-context, personal interpretation, hate crime, Zionist, un- American, inaccurate interpretation of the Quran'' anytime Islam is criticized or the Quran is analyzed in the public arena.
8. Encourage Muslims to penetrate the White House, specifically with Islamists who can articulate a marvelous and peaceful picture of Islam. Acquire government positions and get membership in local school boards. Train Muslims as medical doctors to dominate the medical field, research and pharmaceutical companies. (Ever notice how numerous Muslim doctors in America are, when their countries need them more desperately than America?) Take over the computer industry. Establish Middle Eastern restaurants throughout the U.S. to connect planners of Islamization in a discreet way.
9. Accelerate Islamic demographic growth via:
10. Reading, writing, arithmetic and research through the American educational system, mosques and student centers (now 1,500) should be sprinkled with dislike of Jews, evangelical Christians and democracy. There are currently 300 exclusively Muslim schools in the U.S. which teach loyalty to the Quran, not the U.S. Constitution. In January of 2002, Saudi Arabia’s Embassy in Washington mailed 4,500 packets of the Quran and videos promoting Islam to America's high schools – free of charge. Saudi Arabia would not allow the U.S. to reciprocate.
11. Provide very sizeable monetary Muslim grants to colleges and universities in America to establish ''Centers for Islamic studies'' with Muslim directors to promote Islam in higher-education institutions.
12. Let the entire world know through propaganda, speeches, seminars, local and national media that terrorists have hijacked Islam, when in truth, Islam hijacked the terrorists.
13. Appeal to the historically compassionate and sensitive Americans for sympathy and tolerance towards Muslims in America who are portrayed as mainly immigrants from oppressed countries.
14. Nullify America's sense of security by manipulating the intelligence community with misinformation. Periodically terrorize Americans with reports of impending attacks on bridges, tunnels, water supplies, airports, apartment buildings and malls.
15. Form riots and demonstrations in the prison system demanding Islamic Sharia as the way of life, not America's justice system.
16. Open numerous charities throughout the U.S., but use the funds to support Islamic terrorism with American dollars.
17. Raise interest in Islam on America's campuses by insisting freshman take at least one course on Islam.
18. Unify the numerous Muslim lobbies in Washington, mosques, Islamic student centers, educational organizations, magazines and papers by Internet and an annual convention to coordinate plans, propagate the faith and engender news in the media.
19. Send intimidating messages and messengers to the outspoken individuals who are critical of Islam and seek to eliminate them by hook or crook.
20. Applaud Muslims as loyal citizens of the U.S. by spotlighting their voting record as the highest percentage of all minority and ethic groups in America.
Shorrosh is a member of the Oxford Society of Scholars, has traveled in 76 countries, and is a lecturer and producer of TV documentaries. ''Islam Revealed'' is a bestseller now in its eighth printing. His forthcoming 10th book, from which the 20-point plan is abridged, is titled ''Islam: A Threat or a Challenge.''
''The True Furqan'' is also available for viewing on Islam-Exposed.org. Shorrosh's new website is Focusing-on-Islam.com.
The Truth About Islam
Observations by Dr. David R. Reagan
Ever since the Attack on America on September 11, 2001, we have heard a never-ending chorus of voices from government, academia, and the media assuring us that the Islamic terrorists who attacked the Trade Towers and the Pentagon are not representative of “true Islam.” We have been likewise assured by spiritual leaders — even some Christian spokesmen — that Islam is a religion of peace, and that Muslims worship the same God as Christians and Jews.
“Our war is not against Islam,” we have been told repeatedly. “Our war is against terrorism.”
Central Questions
Well, what about it?
The Intolerant and Militant Nature of Islam
One of the most controversial issues regarding Islam concerns whether or not it is a militant religion. Muslims in the West argue it is peace-loving. Westerners who have experienced it in the Muslim world argue it is inherently intolerant and militant.
The Koran itself preaches intolerance toward other religions. Sura 5 contains the following command: “Take not Jews and Christians for friends . . . He among you who takes them for friends is one of them . . . Choose not for friends such of those who received the Scripture before you [Jews and Christians] . . But keep your duty to Allah” (verses 51, 55, 57). Extreme intolerance is commanded in Sura 5:33 — “[For those who do not submit to Allah] their punishment is . . . execution or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet, from the opposite sides, or exile from the land.”
The Koran also expresses an intolerant attitude toward any person who decides to reject the Islamic faith or convert to another religion. Such persons are to be executed (Sura 9:12). In the Hadith (the oral tradition of Muhammad’s sayings) it says “Whoever changes his religion, kill him” (Hadith 9:57). These commands are practiced in all Islamic Fundamentalist countries today.
With regard to militancy, the Koran not only condones it, it commands it:
Fighting is prescribed for you, and [some of] you dislike it. But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows, and you know not (Sura 2:16).
Fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war (Sura 9:5).
Fight in the way of Allah . . . and slay them [the unbelievers] wherever you find them and drive them out . . . and fight them until . . . religion is for Allah (Sura 2:190-193).
Muhammad is quoted in the Hadith as saying, “The sword is the key of heaven and hell. A drop of blood in the cause of Allah — a night spent in arms [war] — is of more avail than two months of fasting and prayer. Whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven, and at the day of judgment, his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim.”12
The Imperialistic Nature of Islam
From its inception, Islam has been committed to what it calls jihad — a word meaning holy war. The duty of Muslims is to subjugate or destroy “infidels” — the term the Koran uses for all non-believers.
In the Muslim viewpoint, the world is divided into two regions — those areas controlled by Islam, called Dar al-Islam (meaning the House of Islam) and those called Dar al-Harb (the House of War). The Koran commands Muslims to fight non-Muslims until they exterminate all other religions, leaving Islam as the one and only religion in the world (Suras 2:193 and 8:39). Muhammad is quoted in the Hadith as saying, “I have been ordered to fight with the people until they say, none has the right to be worshiped but Allah” (Hadith 4:196).
Regarding terror, Allah orders Muslims to terrorize non-Muslims on his behalf: “Strike terror (into the hearts of ) the enemies of Allah and your enemies” (Sura 8:60). Allah then assures his followers that he will assist them: “I will instill terror into the hearts of unbelievers. Smite them above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them. It is not you who slay them, it is Allah” (Sura 8:12, 17).
Concerning jihad,14 the Koran guarantees Paradise to those who fight for Allah (Sura 4:74). It promises instant Paradise for those who die in battle (Suras 9:111 and 47:5-6). Dying for Allah is presented as better than living: “And if you are killed or die in the Way of Allah, forgiveness and mercy from Allah are far better than all that others may amass [of worldly wealth]” (Sura 3:157).
Martyrs are promised a sensual and luxurious life in Paradise (Sura 52:17-22). According to Al-Ghazzali, one of Islam’s greatest teachers, when a martyr reaches Paradise, he “will marry 500 companions, 4,000 virgins, and 8,000 divorced women.”15 Commenting on this statement, Randall Price, biblical teacher and Middle East expert, observed that the Islamic Paradise is “just the kind of place that adolescent, unmarried men, isolated through their lives from the opposite sex by rigid cultural standards, would die for.”16
Fundamentalist Goals
The Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran was the modern day Islamic spokesman who revived Muhammad’s vision of world conquest. He taught that the re-establishment of Israel was a Satanic miracle allowed by Allah because of the lukewarmness of the Muslim masses. He called for a renewal of true Islam to accomplish three purposes:19
Notice the first priority was the transformation of secular Islamic countries into religious states ruled by the Koran. Then would come Israel and the world.
In a proclamation made by Osama bin Laden in 1998, he listed the same goals and prioritized them in the same order.20 He then identified the United States as the prime obstacle to the achievement of these goals. Accordingly, he called on Muslims everywhere “to comply with Allah’s order to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it.”
It is important to note that the eradication of Israel is not the top priority. Nor is Israel viewed as the major obstacle to world conquest. I emphasize this because many Americans are saying that the key to winning the war against terrorism is to dump Israel. More and more, on radio talk shows, I hear people saying, “Let’s cut Israel loose. Let the Arabs have it. Then they will leave us alone.”
That is utter nonsense. Israel is not the cause of Islamic terrorism toward the West. If Israel were to disappear tomorrow, Fundamentalist Islam would still be determined to destroy America as part of its plan to take the world for Allah. And if we were to abandon Israel, the Muslim world would interpret it as an act of cowardice, proving our word is meaningless and that we truly are, as they say, “a depraved society devoid of values.” Our abandonment of Israel would only whet their appetite. Islamic Fundamentalism cannot be appeased. It must be defeated.
Stay safe !
I was glad to get the news that Rantissi was sent to his 72 Virginians. I am wondering who will move UP in Hamas ranks now to take his place ? We need to make up some 'Dead Man Walking' signs and BIG RED BULLSEYES for him to wear on his back !Yassin, Rantissi .... NEXT ???
Faced with an Israeli threat to wipe out all Hamas leaders, the movement said it had named Rantissi's successor but would keep his identity secret. Palestinian sources speculated the new leader was either Mahmoud al-Zahar or Ismail Haniyah.Well, just take them BOTH out and then you're sure to get the right cockroach !
Precisely what is going through the little (murdering) weasel's $hi!-for-brains mind about now.
It's prophetic.
I would not be surprised by the end of this year if they were not "rolling" with us directly.
Stay tuned.
Although pincushion might be more accurate, according to the coroner's report. Firebrand, pincushion, who cares, so long as they're properly dispatched to hell. Bravo Zulu, IDF. Keep up the good work!
Um, to learn about flying planes?
Kill them both, just to be sure.
Repeat after me, folks: "It's not a religious war. Islam is peace." That's good. /sarcasm
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