Israeli defense minister threatens to kill Islamic leaders

[Scurrilous]

http://www.nj.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0532_BC_Israel-Palestinians

<snip>

"The leaders of violent Islamic groups are targets for assassination, Israel's defense minister said Sunday, raising the possibility of a further escalation in the three years of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed.

Shaul Mofaz issued the threat in response to a declaration by the spiritual leader of Hamas, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, that the group plans an all-out effort to kidnap Israeli soldiers.

"The statements of Yassin just emphasize the need to strike the heads of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad," Mofaz told the weekly meeting of the Israeli Cabinet, according to an Israeli official who attended the meeting.

The statements by Mofaz and Yassin threaten to inflame an already violent confrontation that has led to the deaths of more than 3,500 people on both sides during three years of fighting."

[Must_B_Free]

1. Why don't those Palistinians just give up and go home?

[Kundun]

2. Where exactly

would that be?

[Herschel]

3. Well done

Yassin's statements make him a target.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. The headline is misleading

The headline could mean many things, but on face value it means that the Israeli defense minister has declared open season on Islamic clerics. Oblviously, it isn't that. If it were, we'd be hearing a lot more about it; Mofaz would be proposing one of the major crimes of our times.

A better headline would be the same one substituting militant or terrorist for Islamic. The fact is that Israel's anomosity toward Sheikh Yassin has little to with his religious faith. It has a lot to do with his directing suicide attacks.

We could debate whether that which Mofaz threatens is wise or not. But at least the Star-Ledger should provide us with the facts in a straightforward manner.