Arab Street Calls for Strong Action Against Israel, U.S

Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheik Ahmad Yassin was killed three weeks ago and Israel braced for retaliatory strikes. Although there were sporadic attacks mounted by Palestinian fighters, there was nothing of the gravity of this morning's suicide attack which killed one Israeli soldier and wounded three soldiers.

In July of last year, Israel tried and failed to assassinate Rantissi. There have been three failed assassination attempts in the past two years.

Opposition parties are calling on Arab populations to overthrow their governments and rally to support the resistance in Iraq and in Palestine. Many Middle East analysts have questioned the timing of Rantissi's assassination as U.S. policies in Iraq were coming under severe criticism. Human rights organizations have accused the U.S. Military of committing atrocities in Iraq and resorting to the uneven-handed approach perfected by the Israeli Defense Forces over the past 15 years. Some British Military commanders have complained that the U.S. Military is creating a blunder in Iraq.

According to The Telegraph's Sean Rayment, a British officer, "who agreed to the interview on the condition of anonymity, said that part of the problem was that American troops viewed Iraqis as untermenschen - the Nazi expression for 'sub-humans.' They are not concerned about the Iraqi loss of life in the way the British are. Their attitude towards the Iraqis is tragic, it's awful." The British officer accused the U.S. Military of targeting "terrorists" even if they are located in densely-populated civilian areas: "They may well kill the terrorists in the barrage but they will also kill and maim innocent civilians. That has been their response on a number of occasions. It is trite, but American troops do shoot first and ask questions later. They are very concerned about taking casualties and have even trained their guns on British troops, which has led to some confrontations between soldiers," The Telegraph reported.

"We are resorting to collective punishment," Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria told Chris Matthews on Hardball recently. He denied the official U.S. position that fighters in the "Sunni Triangle" are dead-enders. He also claimed uneven-handedness in Iraq was feeding the "insurgency."

The siege of Falluja (where some 873 civilians were killed and 2,203 wounded), the siege of Najaf, the holiest city for the Shia Muslims of the world, the U.S. promise to either capture or kill Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the Bush administration's unprecedented negation of the Palestinian Right of Return, the building of the Israeli separation wall, the Bush administration's branding of the Palestinian National Authority as a non-partner, the killing of Sheikh Yassin, and tonight's killing of Rantissi are causing an unprecedented wave of anti-Americanism in the Arab Middle East. Moderates who were usually outspoken in their support of the U.S. and Middle East political reform have now either changed their tune or withdrawn into obsoletion.

At press time, thousands of Egyptians demonstrated in front of Al Azhar University. Such impromptu demonstrations have been extremely rare in Egypt and are usually preceded by government approval and a heavy security presence that outnumbers the demonstrators by six to one.

"Allah Akbar, Jihad is the answer. Look we are coming, martyrs in the millions," thousands of Egyptians chanted. Egypt is considered a traditional U.S. ally. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was earlier in Crawford, Texas. He later endorsed the Israeli plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip, "but with conditions." The conditions were not disclosed to the press.

The Middle East is going through an untenable period of imbalance. Iraq, which was considered a strategic balance to Israel and Iran, is on the verge of collapse, according to Middle East analysts. During the standoff with al-Sadr, the young Shia cleric said he was the right hand of Hamas and Hezbollah. When Sheikh Yassin was killed, tens of thousands of Iraqis - Shia and Sunni - took to the streets and protested the Anglo-American-Zionist aggression against Islam.

When Falluja was pounded by F-16s and AC-130 gunships, Palestinians took to the streets to protest what they called "the murder of Iraq." Two conflicts that were once seen as mutually exclusive have now become mutually inclusive. Increasingly, Arab opposition newspapers, union leaders, and parliamentarians have linked the two conflicts and pointed to a greater war against Arabs and Islam. So angered and hateful of the U.S. and Israel are the Arabs that they have put aside thousand-year theological differences and vowed to fight as one. There has been widespread Arab Sunni support of the Shia uprising in southern Iraq.

Ironically, Rantissi was quoted as saying he was ready to be martyred if Israel succeeded in assassinating him. Al-Sadr told a Shia congregation in Najaf that he was ready to be martyred. The connection and timing of both conflicts is not lost on the Arab street.

At press time, tens of thousands of people had taken to the streets of the pristine port of Alexandria in Egypt. Many have been quoted as saying they were ready and willing to become suicide bombers.

Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Maher has called the assassination of Rantissi as inexcusable and an incredible blunder. "We are now moving to the edge of an abyss," he told reporters.

Mass demonstrations across the Arab World are expected on Sunday.

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