Your "temporarilies" sounds very optimistic to me, C-watch. Whistling in the wind. There is no reason on earth to think that the killing of an old blind paraplegic in a wheelchair could in any way weaken an organisation like Hamas. His importance was as a symbol, and his power as a symbol has been magnified now.

Absolutely the last thing you wish to do, if you want to kill a movement is to kill some charismatic leader in a way that makes him appear a martyr. You'd really think after all these years the penny would have dropped.

Hamas is a movement that depends on supporters, and all the indications are that this killing will lead to a surge of support among people who have previously been disengaged or suspicious - and not just in Palestine. I have a horrible feeling that it is also going to make it much much easier for Al Qaeda to recruit.

"the day in which I will die as a shahid [martyr] will be the happiest day of my life." (Al-Quds, July 26, 1998) I suppose Israel has made him happy. No joke, C-watch, that's probably true. He made a point of travelling then same route to and from the mosque, and he knew that Israel had targetted him before. He knew that his death would strengthen Hamas. If he saw the missile coming he undoubtedly did die happy.

From the point of view of Sharon it may well be a success, assuming, as seems reasonable, that he is not concerned to get rid of terrorism, but to use it as a way of furthering his aims. But for ordinary Israelis, and potentially for all of the rest of us, this was a disastrous act. "It was worse than a crime, it was a mistake" as the saying goes.