Condemnation of Israeli assassination of Religious Leader
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today condemned the assassination of a wheelchair-bound Palestinian Muslim religious leader, calling it an act of "state terrorism."
Israel killed Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a 67-year-old quadriplegic and the most prominent Palestinian Islamic figure, in a missile strike outside a Gaza City mosque on Monday.
In its statement, CAIR said:
"We condemn this violation of international law as an act of state terrorism by Ariel Sharon's out-of-control government. Israel's extra-judicial killing of an Islamic religious leader can only serve to perpetuate the cycle of violence throughout the region. The international community must now take concrete steps to help protect the Palestinian people against such wanton Israeli violence.
"We call on the United States to join its allies in condemning this political assassination and to make that condemnation meaningful by cutting the flow American-taxpayer dollars to Israel. It is these tax dollars that pay for the weapons Israel uses to carry out such illegal attacks. American repudiation of Israel's brutal policies could also be demonstrated by the cancellation of Ariel Sharon's upcoming visit to Washington.
"Bland administration statements urging 'restraint by all parties' will only be viewed internationally as tacit approval of Israel's actions and will undermine our moral and legal basis for the war on terrorism.
*Last week, a senior Israeli security official was quoted as saying "hunting season has begun," in reference to assassinations of Palestinians. - Washington Times, 3/18/04 |
"Until Israel views Palestinians as human beings, and not just animals to be slaughtered at will during 'hunting season,'* there can be no viable and just resolution to the Middle East conflict. And until America adopts a truly even-handed approach to that conflict, our nation's image will continue to suffer worldwide."
World leaders have been uniform in their condemnation of Sheikh Yassin's assassination. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called the Israeli attack an "unlawful killing." Straw said: "I don't believe Israel will benefit from the fact that this morning an (elderly man) in a wheelchair has been the target of assassination."
European Union foreign ministers said in a statement: "Israel is not ... entitled to carry out extra-judicial killings." French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said: "Such acts can only feed the spiral of violence."
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has consistently condemned all terrorist acts, whether carried out by individuals, groups or states.
Topics: Ariel Sharon, Conflicts And War, Council On American-Islamic Relations, Foreign Policy, Occupation, Palestine
Views: 3658
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Bottom line is that I accept no excuses for wrong behavior from anyone. In the case of Yassin, may God have mercy on his soul.
People like Nick Cameron and Elke, and Franky, and whoever else visits this website, who try to imply some sort of negative connotation about Muslims, and try to present their viewpoint based on their "RELIABLE" sources like Elke's New York Times hah how laughable. Just becuase they are a large media conglomerate does not make them anymore truthful or trustworthy.
But anyway what i'm getting at here, these people dear brothers/sisters in Islam, have been rendered intellectually derilect, and from our own experience here, we can both see that trying to provide them with information and knowledge here is such a futile exercise because they disregard it like Nick has many many times n the past as being something that is not related to the subject at hand, meanwhile it really is. So the true gameplayer here is Nick and Elke and whoever else talks in circles here just to try to reign supreme in their abstinent nature towards anythign that doesn't fit their perfect moulds.
So let them post...just counter their arguments and treat them like the shadows that they are, who are living in a state of fear and giving excuses for not providing their real name...ultimately these people are insecure and too self-conscious.
But yeah let's continue to discuss wiht each other...it is better for us, let's stop wasting out time and efforts...it's like if a dog barks at you and you want the dog to stop barking, barking back at the dog doesn't make it stop. So let the dog bark...
The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.
-Stephen Hawking
Keep in touch Hudd Al-Hamd, and BNAK and Saleem, and Zinedine, Wassalaamu'Alaiykum Wa-Rahmatullah
:-)
You see, USA and Israel are always judgemental about others, they say:"They killed 10, we will kill 1000!" This makes you worse than the one you condemned! Why not try to put yourself the question:"Why do this people want us dead? We must do something extremely wrong, people to hate us to death?!"
Trash killed at the WTC? Nice comment,
moron. Just like the Palestinian terrorist
killed -- he too was the worst kind of trash - A
MURDERER!!!
AND A MANIPULATOR.
All this stupid anger that you spew would
serve you a lot better if you used it to help
someone other than yourself. Terrorism is
NOT a legitimate by-product of oppression
and it cannot be excused, justified or
rationalized, or "accepted." You people have
GOT to move out of this 12th century backward
way of life and move into the world as it is
today. Why can't Islamicity.com offer "articles"
on tolerance and acceptence.
Note to Islamicity editors: If you want to be
taken seriously as a news site start offering a
more balanced approach to the articles you
post. Where's the story about the 14 year old
Palestinian boy caught loaded with explosives
ready to kill himself and others? Where's the
story about the barbaric incident in Spain?
This site is laughable -- Why don't you just call
it Hateamerica.com and be done with it? YOU
DON'T HELP THE IMAGE OF THE ISLAMIC
PEOPLE WHEN YOU FUEL THEIR ANGER
AND HATRED!!!! Enough people in the world
have issues with these people and you just
make it worse by pretending to speak for an
entire group with your biased, ridiculous
choice of articles. for Al-Jazeera and The
Guardian, as if they were legitimate respected
publications.
May God Bless You All
Oh man, my gut hurt after that one. I think you have a clever sense of humor, for what it's worth. I will take this to mean that you're not so angry anymore. :)
Peace to you!
P.S.: Dick the Rabbit Brain...I'm gonna copyright that one.
First of all, I should probably dispense with the your mental image of me. My real name is not Nick Cameron. It is an alias that I use in order to protect my true identity. Let's just say I've been screwed enough times over the Internet for me to realize that this is the best policy for me. Nevertheless, the opinions that I state here are genuinely mine. But given the limited nature of this medium of communication, I can understand why you see me as a caricature. You'd probably get a better sense of who I really am under different circumstances.
Getting back to your most recent comments on this article, it seems to me that you have a lot of grievances against my government as well as Israel. Not surprising, since many in the Muslim world seem to have the same grievances. You also go on a long rant against my religious beliefs. But as I have continued to say, this is all beside the point as far as I'm concerned. Even if I were to accept everything that you have said, none of it would address my concerns.
You then conclude by saying that you don't know what I "want" from you. I think this might be why there's such a disconnect, because it seems that many of the Muslims here who engage in diatribes don't understand what my intentions are.
You see, I'm not an extraordinary individual in any sense of the word. I am but a simple man who desires little more than to live a meaningful life free from injustice. And I demand that the entire world respects my wish. I do not believe that it is arrogant for me to make such a demand, for life and justice are UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS. Moreover, I have never infringed upon these rights of others, so I believe that all human beings are morally prohibitted from infringing upon my rights. And I strongly believe that this applies regardless of any complaints that the Muslim world may have about my government.
This fundamental belief is the foundation for most of my comments on this s
TIT for Tat.
An Eye for an eye.
assassination for an assassination.
I pray to Allah that this violence stops,
before it engulfs the whole planet.
While your collection of quotes is a fascinating read, it's also beside the point as far as I'm concerned. From the very beginning, I have stated clearly that two wrongs do not make a right. In this case, no amount of alleged Israeli atrocities could ever justify a Palestinian atrocity. And this principle applies universally. If an American kills an innocent Sudanese in cold blood, for example, that American should be condemned. In fact, those who know me realize that I am much more swift in real life (as opposed to this virtual reality) in condemning the wrongdoings of my own countrymen than I am of others. A wrong is a wrong regardless of excuses, and moral people should see no shame in saying so.
I believe that this is not a difficult concept to fathom, which is why I can't understand why it seems that so many in the Muslim world can't accept this. (Perhaps so many just don't want to accept it fear of feeling humiliated, I'm not sure.) Again, this goes back to the breakdown in morality that I spoke about previously. But none of this would be America's problem if the troubles of the Muslim world stayed off our soil.
God willing, all outsiders will come to accept *without condition* that attacking innocent Americans is wrong.
Insha'Allah we will be the ones who shine bright and be representatives in the Islamic movement led by Imam Mahdi - I believe we are in the period of the end times..if we do not see it, our children or grandchildren certainly will.
It wouldn't hurt though, for me ot post some comments made by the politicians of Israel, intellectuals, and even by jewish-zionists:
"One million Arabs are not worth a Jewish fingernail."
--Rabbi Ya'acov Perin in his eulogy at the funeral of mass murderer Dr. Baruch Goldstein.
"[My] awareness of the essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish state."
-- Albert Einstein, quoted in an article by Mordecai Briemberg published in The Outlook, 04/01-0/15, 1998.
"If I knew that it was possible to save all the children of Germany by transporting them to England, and only half by transferring them to the Land of Israel, I would choose the latter, for before us lies not only the numbers of these children but the historical reckoning of the people of Israel."
-- Ben-Gurion (Quoted on pp 855-56 in Shabtai Teveth's Ben-Gurion in a slightly different translation).
"There is no doubt that many sexual atrocities were committed by the attacking Jews. Many young girls were raped and later slaughtered. Old women were also molested."
General Richard Catling, British Army Assistant Inspector after interrogating several female survivors (The Palestinian Catastrophe, Michael Palumbo, 1987)
I can assure you that I'm not a bigot, nor am I an "American power". I believe that life is a gift from God that we should treasure and not squander needlessly. I make no pretense of neutrality on this, since this is what I believe.
That being said, I believe that those who choose to sacrifice the lives of innocent people in furtherance of their own political agendas commit a great crime against all of humanity. For to kill one innocent person is harm to all the world. That's why I think the elimination of the Sheikh was understandable.
You can choose to insult me all you like, but no matter what you say it's God who will judge all of us. That's just how it is, even if you think it's "irrational".
Peace out!
I really think you need to calm down, because losing your temper will only do a disservice to your beliefs.
Anyways, let me talk about a recent conversation I had with an Israeli. I told him that I didn't like how Sharon orders attacks on Palestinian leaders like those in Hamas because it endangers the peace process. He asked if I think America should kill leaders of organizations that sponsor suicide bombings against Americans. I told him that it's a different situation. Predictably, he managed to silence me when he asked what that difference is.
Is there one? Damned if I know.
Muslims need to wake up and swallow this reality.
The US and it's leaders, both parties, will FOREVER support Isreal unconditionally.
If they don't they will loose the popular Christian vote ... and Jewish power backing and money.
There is no grand Jewish conspiricy...there is only Arab ignorance and inability to deal with the situation.
The Arab states need to come to the aid of their brothers ... find a way to make sure no more of their blood is spilled....the US will never borker this peace deal...NEVER.
In the end, the only hope of the those in the occupied terrorities is to breed the Isrealies out of existance.
Arabs need to stop thinking with their passion and use their heads
I know if I try to refute what you said, you will come up with irrational statements like:
"I stand by my words" "It's just the way things are" etc. So, I will just say three words to you:
"Shame on you"
Shame on you!
SUPPORTING THE PALESTINIANS. MALICE AND
MISREPRESENTATION ARE NO WAY TO BRING ABOUT A
VIABLE PEACE. HAMAS HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR
75 SUICIDE BOMBING IN THE YEARS 2002 AND 2003
CAUSING THE DEATH OF 356 ISRAELIS IN THOSE TWO YEARS ALONE. IF SHEIKH YASSIN WAS A SPIRITUAL LEADER DID HE NOT READ IN THE KORAN THAT KILLING ONE HUMAN BEING WAS LIKE KILLING ALL HUMANITY!!
SIMILARLY, 9/11 KILLED 3,000 HUMAN BEINGS. WHERE WAS THE PROTEST IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD. NONE AT ALL. IS THIS WHAT ISLAM HAS BEEN REDUCED TO:
WE CAN KILL YOU BUT YOU CANNOT KILL US AND IF YOU TAKE SELF-DEFENSIVE MEASURES IT HURTS OUR UMMAH'S FEELINGS AND ENRAGES US. THE PERSISTENT SUICIDE BOMBINGS BY HAMAS WAS A FLAGRANT ACT OF WAR AGAINST THE SOVEREIGN STATE OF ISRAEL. AS FAR AS ISRAEL WAS CONCERNED, SHEIKH YASSIN WAS THE MILITARY COMMANDER OF HAMAS. NO SELF-RESPECTING GOVERNMENT COULD CONTINUE TO LET THIS FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF THE RULE OF LAW GO UNPUNISHED. LET MUSLIMS SEE THINGS THROUGH THE EYES OF OTHERS.
BY NOT DOING THIS MUSLIMS ARE IN VIOLATION OF THE KORAN AND BEGINNING TO LOOK FOOLISH. HAMAS OPENLY PROCLAIMS THAT ITS GOAL IS THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL. WHEN ISRAEL TAKES SELF-DEFENSIVE MEASURES IT SHOCKS THE WORLD. HAMAS IS MAKING TERRORISTS OF ALL OF US. IS THIS ANY WAY TO
WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE?? MASHALLAH.
"Sharon granted Yassin Martyrdom, and we will grant Israelis the death in every Israeli city and street. This is the highest point of collapse and failure of any peaceful option. Today Sharon has taken a decision for the killing of hundreds of Zionists. Our self-sacrificing attacks will come soon while Yassin rests in peace," the military statement of Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades, read.
Hamas is terror to the Israelis. Statements like those above make it easier for Americans to understand why Sharon did what he did. If terrorism occurs only when innocent are targetted, then operations against Hamas don't seem like terrorism to me.