Word: rantissi
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Watching the TV coverage of Israel's ground offensive on Gaza over the weekend, I could have sworn that I heard the ghost of Abdel Aziz Rantissi laughing. (See pictures of Israel's sweep into Gaza...
...Rantissi was Hamas' political leader in Gaza when we met in a dark safehouse in April 2002. The second Palestinian intifadeh was at its height. The previous week, Israeli troops had bulldozed into the refugee camp in Jenin, in the West Bank, smashing the infrastructure of another militant group, Islamic Jihad, but also killing civilians. Israeli forces were easily beating Hamas forces in Gaza too; in Ramallah, Yasser Arafat was practically under house arrest as Israeli snipers took up position around the seat of the Palestinian government...
...measures, bring enormous attention to the Palestinian cause. "You have heard the U.N.--after these operations began--speaking about a Palestinian state, Israeli withdrawal and the right of repatriation for refugees," says Marzouk. The value of suicide bombings is reinforced by the seeming futility of every other option. Samir Rantissi, a coordinator of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Coalition, condemns attacks on civilians but believes they result from escalating frustration. "For 35 years, Palestinians have tried every, every, every means to deal with this intolerable occupation," he says. "We tried to coexist with it. It didn't work. We tried demonstrating...