 |
|
Israelis call for Sharon to resign after Yassin's assassination
|
OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, March 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A thrill
of fear ran through Israel Tuesday, March 23, following the barbaric
assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin.
As
security has also been boosted at Israeli Embassies around the world,
for the residents of Israel it seems only a matter of time before
Palestinian resistance fighters carry out their threat to avenge the
death of wheelchair-bound Yassin.
The
66-year-old veteran resistance leader was assassinated at dawn Monday,
March 22, in an Israeli
missile attack that also killed at least eight of his
companions.
Israeli
Army chief of staff Moshe Yaalon said it could well lead to a flare-up
in violence in the region, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Israeli
Interior Minister Avraham Poraz was also quoted by the BBC as
"fearing a Palestinian retaliation" for the assassination of
Yassin, which drew worldwide
outrage.
The
Israeli army, police and domestic security service all stepped up
their level of alert in the wake of the barbaric helicopter raid.
Police
reinforcements were deployed in shopping malls across Israel and
security was raised on buses, police said, adding that the alert could
be maintained for several weeks.
The
radio said that security had also been boosted at Israeli embassies
around the world, after Hamas declared all-out
war against Israel.
Quoting
military intelligence officials, the radio said Israel feared
reprisals for the assassination might be carried out by foreign groups
like Lebanon's Hizbullah or Al-Qaeda network.
A
statement
purporting to be from a group affiliated to Al-Qaeda urged Monday
retaliation against the United States and its allies for the Israeli
crime.
The
Israeli army completely sealed off the West Bank and Gaza Strip after
Monday's raid, that also killed eight other Palestinians.
On
the financial landscape, stocks slid to new lows after the Israeli
crime has fed global security fears and prompted a broad decline.
The
security concerns sent major stock indexes down more than 1 percent to
their lowest levels since December.
Gaza
City resembled a virtual ghost town on Tuesday as Palestinians across
the occupied territories observed three days of national mourning
decreed by President Yasser Arafat.
All
shops and schools were closed while flags were being flown at
half-mast.
Buses
Deserted
One
21-year-old international relations student at Tel Aviv University
said the very idea of traveling on a bus at this time was "the
most crazy thing I've ever heard of."
On
a student's budget, she cannot afford to pay for a taxi every day and
would normally catch the bus. But not today.
"I
know it sounds dreadful but I'm just waiting for the next attack to
happen, then we can breath again. The attacks won't stop but at least
there will be less tension," she said on condition of anonymity.
Gila,
a 24-year-old student standing outside the Arlozoroff train station in
northern Tel Aviv, also said he would steer well clear of buses.
"I
don't normally take the bus but I certainly wouldn't today," he
said.
"Of
course I'm afraid, but it's not going to stop the attacks. There will
be more. That's just the way it works."
Ten
minutes earlier, the relative calm outside the station was shattered
as one of the dozens of security guards deployed around the area
discovered a suspicious object in the middle of the adjacent bus
station, bringing at least three police vans screeching to the scene,
sirens wailing.
A
Thrill Of Fear
Sitting
among a small handful of people travelling on the number 18 bus
heading into town, Nili Davidor, a 17-year-old from occupied Jerusalem
who is just about to enter the army, admitted that despite her
apparently calm exterior, she was actually very scared. "This
[assassination] won't stop them, it will do the complete opposite and
there will be more attacks," she said.
Every
day she takes the bus and every day she is afraid, scanning absolutely
every person who steps aboard.
"You
could just die, any time. I don't have a choice. If I did, I would do
something else. Killing Yassin won't help in the short term and I'm
not even sure it will help in the long term.
Sitting
further back, Gilad Brown paid less attention to those getting on the
bus, but he too did not feel any safer with Yassin winning martyrdom.
Dressed
in a black Stetson hat, faded jeans and brown cowboy boots, the
45-year-old Brown did not believe the attacks would let up, even
though he thinks the strike was justified.
Amos
Nahaisi, a 32-year-old tax adviser sitting on the number 63 bus which
is packed with elderly pensioners.
Returning
from the market with a huge box of fragrant strawberries, an upright
pensioner in his 70s scrutinized every single passenger boarding the
bus, making sure he has a forward-facing seat for just that reason.
"There
will always be attacks, with or without Ahmad Yassin," he said.
Israeli
left-wing activists demonstrated Monday in Tel Aviv in front of the
ministry of defense, calling for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon,
who oversaw the assassination of Yassin, to resign.
Israel's
tourism minister, Rehavam Zeevi, was shot
dead in October 2001 in an operation claimed by the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) for the
assassination of its secretary general Abu Ali Mostafa.
