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April 2, 2004/Nisan 11 5764, Vol. 56, No. 28
The expanding true 'axis of evil'CommentaryARIEL NATAN PASKOAdmittedly, Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi - the new head of Hamas - has a gripe. Israel has tried twice to kill him, and just after the recent "targeted killing" of his boss, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Israeli officials announced that Rantisi was still on their hit list. Of course, when you think about what Rantisi has said in the past - "We will continue with our holy war and resistance until every last criminal Zionist is evicted from this land. By God, we will not leave one Jew alive in Palestine" - you can understand why Israel would want to eliminate the terrorist leader.Immediately after the Israeli missile strike that killed Yassin, Rantisi and other Hamas leaders threatened to retaliate against America, blaming it for supporting Israel. But a few days later, Rantisi backed down from the threat, saying Hamas would only be active in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Israel. Now he's decided to enlarge the war. It's not good enough to wipe out Israel; he's after America too. In a recent speech at the Islamic University in Gaza City, Rantisi said he was not surprised that the United States had vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel's assassination of Yassin. "Bush is an enemy of God, an enemy of Islam, an enemy of Muslims," Rantisi explained. "America has announced a war against Allah, Sharon has announced a war against Allah. Allah announces a war against America, Bush and Sharon," he told the crowd of more than 5,000. Rantisi seems to be following the line developed by Yassin, who in the weeks and months before Israel's assassination of him, had increas-ingly begun speaking publicly about the "global jihad" in bin Laden and Al-Qaida-type terms. Rantisi has also suggested the Arab world is letting down the Palestinians. "I want to tell the Arab leaders, you will be asked by God ... about the blood of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin," he said. Rantisi told the Arab states, "The blood of Sheikh Yassin calls on you to close the (Israeli) embassies, the consulates, commercial offices. Boycott them, commercially, diplomatically and culturally and in security (contacts), and stop meeting killers like Sharon," he said. Rantisi said they only looked weak following the weekend postponement of an Arab League summit in a dispute over democratic reform proposals. The crowds, mostly dressed in the green colors of Hamas, cheered Rantisi's every word and pledged their support for him. Rantisi first came to public attention in December 1992, when then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin "exiled" 400 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists to southern Lebanon. The international media at the time portrayed their daily struggles, trying to drum up sympathy for their plight when in fact, they had gotten hold of cell phones and made contact with Hezbollah operatives. For almost a year they got continuous jihadist indoctrination, bomb-making lessons and practice in guerrilla warfare techniques, thanks to Hezbollah. Rantisi, then-political head of Hamas, gained international prominence at that time, as the group's spokesman. Hezbollah, sponsored by Iran and Syria, has been involved in attacks worldwide against Jewish and Israeli targets. But don't forget about the Palestinian Authority. The Palestine Satellite TV Channel - an official television station of the Palestinian Authority - carries a weekly live sermon from Sheikh Zaid Bin-Sultan Al Nuhayyan Mosque in Gaza. The imam tells his audience, "The world will never enjoy security unless our children enjoy it here in Palestine. We hear statements by the little U.S. president. We hear unfair and tyrannical statements in which he says Israel has the right to defend itself. These statements carry destruction for the United States itself. From here, we warn the American people that this president is dragging them to the abyss." And if you thought it was only Hamas who promotes anti-American Jihadist rhetoric, think again. The Palestinian Authority's official media persistently incites hatred and violence against America and the West, besides Israel. They tell the Palestinian public, that several of the conflicts around the world that involve Muslims and Arabs are part of a war between civilizations, that the western world led by the United States is fighting against the Arab world and Islam. The official PA newspaper al-Hayyat al-Jadida, echoing bin Laden terminology, insists there exists an "American-European-Russian alliance," pursuing Muslim/Arab subjugation. The Palestinians are at the forefront of the war that will, "shake the earth under the feet of the blood and oil sucking neo-imperialists, the thieves of natural resources, murderers of nations." President Bush, in this "global jihad," is depicted as a leader of the "enemy United States" and the enemy of all civilization. He's called a greater danger than Hitler, leading the world to destruction. "The new fuhrer (Bush) will return the world to the Stone Age," while Hitler only left "tens of millions of dead." So there you have it, the true "axis of evil," Iran, Syria, Palestine, bin Laden and Al-Qaida, Hezbollah, Arafat, Rantisi and Hamas. With the Palestinian Authority housing several terror gangs, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Arafat's own Fatah sponsored al-Aksa Brigades and Tanzim and others, Palestine has become another Afghanistan. Imagine what full Palestinian independence would mean for the world? Ariel Natan Pasko is a free-lance writer living in Israel. |
