Rantisi Assassination, 17 April 2004

(Paraphrased from The Daily Star) On Saturday, 17 April 2004, at 8:30 PM Israeli helicopters fired a missile at Hamas chief Abdel Aziz Rantisi, killing him and his two bodyguards just outside his home in Gaza city. The attack on the Hamas chief will come across in the Middle East as though it was carried out with prior U.S. knowledge and approval because it follows Bush's approval of Sharon's plans for Gaza and the West Bank, and will contribute towards accusations of America's pro-Israeli bias.

My own reaction was that this event, building on the previous assassinations of officials on both sides, was symbolic of the slide toward chaos and violence that has substituted for diplomacy. This is primitive behavior driven by the deepest and oldest impulses and it is a terrible sign of our fragilility as humans growing toward a human future.

The formal event was set for four hours, beginning half an hour before the attack. Chisquare is 14376.9 on 14400 df, and p = 0.553.

Rantisi Assassination


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