The man had a routine, well-known to Israeli forces. They knew where he'd be and when, because he was always there at that time. He went to the nearby mosque regularly. So they used planes to cover up the sound of helicopters armed with rockets, so they could surprise the wheelchair-bound man and obliterate him.
I won't say he was a good man. I will say, however, that this isn't justice or peace or nobility, any more than the terrorist acts they accuse him of promoting. (Note that, as he had been wheel-chair bound for most of his life, Yassin only promoted things. He spoke, people listened, and things happened.) Sure, he may have been the reason people strap themselves to bombs and detonate themselves in crowded streets. Sure, he may have been constantly asking for the demise of the state of Israel.
Rockets?
He's been in prison before. He was released in a prisoner exchange, to get back several Mossad (spy agency) agents that Israel lost in an assassination attempt.
Rockets.
Apparently, it's now acceptable to simply blow people up rather than capturing them. It's not like it would have been any trouble -- if they knew where he was, they could have sent police (or military) forces to pick him up. They have the power to do so. If he were truly guilty of a crime for which he should pay, justice, via courts, could be done. It's not like he was going to run away on them.
Any state that prefers to blow someone up (and bystanders -- he wasn't the only one killed) rather than arrest them and bring them before justice has lost the ability to see justice clearly. It no longer understands what sort of peace we yearn for; it no longer represents order to which we may aspire.
I will cry for Israel when Hamas retaliates. I will cry for those who die. But this murder was just as intolerable as the murders they wished to prevent by killing Yassin. And it will only get worse, to boot. And while we might say that terrorist acts do not represent the will of a nation, can we say the same of actions endorsed by a nation's government? For the people of Israel, I hope we can. Perhaps others will return the favor.
Rockets. I just don't get it.
