Word: evi
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Tuesday’s assassination of Rehavam “Gandhi” Ze’evi, the minister of tourism in the Israeli parliament, by Palestinian gunmen might prompt an ambivalent response from those who care deeply about the violence in the Middle East. Over the past year, Israel has operated a policy of locating Palestinian leaders whom they have linked with terrorist activity within Israel and killing them with surgical missile strikes on their homes and cars. Dozens of Palestinian leaders, as well as some bystanders, have been killed in such strikes...
...terrorism” to Israeli military activity in the West Bank and Gaza strip. If it is legitimate to target the sources of terrorism, and Israeli leaders are deemed “terrorists,” then it could be argued that the Palestinian attack on Ze’evi was at least as justified as Israeli killings of Palestinians...
...Ze’evi was not a friend to Palestinians. He represented the far-right of the Israeli Knesset; he unabashedly suggested “voluntary transfer” of Palestinians out of the West bank and Gaza strip and of Yassir Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, to Tunisia. He criticized Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for being too soft on Palestinians after Sharon loosened control over two West Bank villages. In fact, in light of these grievances, Ze’evi resigned from the Israeli Parliament on Monday, a move that was scheduled to take effect Tuesday...
...despite his extremist political views, Ze’evi was not a terrorist. In a democratic parliamentary system like Israel’s, no individual, not even a cabinet minister, can act single-handedly. Although there exist right-wing parties in Israel that are quite skeptical of the Palestinian Authority as a potential partner in peace, there are also left-wingers who advocate the immediate creation of a Palestinian state. The debates between these two sides have been fierce, but they have been conducted within an organized, democratic body...
...Palestinian sentiments and one who masterminds a suicide bombing that takes the lives of Israeli children waiting at a bus stop or eating in a pizzeria. This is not to say that the extreme right in Israel is justified in its views or that figures like Ze’evi are benign. Some of his statements are, in fact, deeply horrific. However, the clash of diverse, even extreme opinions is vital in a democratic state. Although one can question the validity or effectiveness of Israel’s assassination tactics in general (and I often do) it is dangerous...