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Shed No Tears Over the Killing of the Sheikh of Hate

(London Times) Michael Gove - On May 27, 1942, the British government pulled off one of its most daring wartime coups in the heart of Nazi-occupied Europe. A team of four agents trained by MI6 succeeded in assassinating Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi governor of Bohemia and Moravia whose brutal rule had earned him the title, "the Butcher of Prague." Like Heydrich, Sheikh Yassin was the intellectual organizer of a mass murder campaign directed against Jewish civilians. Hamas, the organization he set up in 1988, has been responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths. BBC correspondent Zubeida Malik described Sheikh Yassin as "polite, charming and witty, a deeply religious man." Some people in the BBC may consider it witty to call for the elimination of the Jewish people from their homeland. Others might consider it the charming hallmark of a deeply religious man to recruit, incite, and inspire young men to kill civilians. I may risk putting myself out on a limb in the media community saying this, but I'm afraid I find the ambition to wipe Israel off the map repellent, the worship of death indefensible, and efforts made to halt Hamas's uncompromising campaign of terror completely understandable. I can no more mourn Sheikh Yassin's death, in all conscience, than a Briton could have shed an honest tear for Reinhard Heydrich. What would have been more likely to hearten Heydrich's comrades in arms at his funeral in June 1942? International condemnation of reckless British action and a global demand that Winston Churchill resume talks to tackle Germany's longstanding grievances? Or an implacable commitment to fight democracy's enemies until those bent on genocide laid down their arms?
2004-03-24 00:00:00
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