Amkha Yisrael

The images of Islamist terrorists dancing on, burning down or praying in defiled synagogues in what was Gush Katif and northern Samaria cause feelings of rage in the hearts of most patriotic Jews. Personally, Islamist terrorists and their supporters celebrating the defeat (even if it was self-inflicted) of the Jews is enough to make me physically ill.

Even before the latest humiliation in Gaza, though, I often wondered why Israel refrains from bombing the rallies at which Hamas and Islamic Jihad supporters gather and call for the mass-murder of Jews. A Nazi rally at which Goebbels was speaking, it seems to me, would have been a legitimate target in World War II Europe. Certainly as much as the entire cities of Dresden or Hiroshima.

Well, I don't claim to know God's mind or calculations, but I do know that there is no sin in feeling a dark smile creep across my lips upon reading the following report (excerpted) from the Associated Press:

A truck filled with masked militants and homemade weapons exploded at a Hamas rally Friday, killing at least 15 Palestinians and wounding 80... bringing a grisly and terrifying end to one of the last gatherings by armed groups celebrating Israel's Gaza pullout.

The blast sent a huge cloud of white smoke over the mass festivities, a sea of green Hamas flags and thousands of people gathered at Jebaliya, a Palestinian refugee camp that was the scene of harsh fighting between militants and Israeli soldiers during the past five years of violence.

....

Mishandled explosives apparently caused the blast, which came a day before an agreement by militants not to publicly parade weapons is to take effect.

....

Hamas said six militants were killed, including Jihad Shaleal, head of the group's military wing in Jebaliya.

Palestinian security officials said the blast was an accident but Hamas blamed Israel....

....

The explosion came in the middle of the celebration. The militants are extremely popular with young Palestinians, and teenagers surrounded the pickup before the blast, said Abu Rashad, who was just a few feet away. He said three militants with two homemade rockets were in the truck's bed, and three or four other militants rode inside.

....

An accidental explosion would be only the latest in a string of deadly mishaps for militant groups in Gaza.

A Hamas weapons warehouse exploded this month in Gaza City, killing six people. Hamas claimed it was an Israeli attack, but Palestinian security forces found the blast was an accident caused by the militants.

During an Islamic Jihad rally at the abandoned Jewish settlement of Netzarim last week, a gunman died after accidentally shooting himself in the head.

Even after the blast Friday, seven or eight gunmen stood in the back of another truck riding through Gaza, using their feet to stop a half-dozen rockets from bouncing around in the bed.

At a Friday rally in one of the abandoned Jewish towns in Gaza over a week ago, a Hamas speaker got the crowd going with a series of chanted questions and answers. One part went like this:

Speaker: What is your path?

Crowd: Jihad.

Speaker: What is your path?

Crowd: Jihad.

Speaker: What is your greatest desire?

Crowd: Death for the sake of Allah.

Speaker: What is your greatest desire?

Crowd: Death for the sake of Allah.

Speaker: What is your greatest desire?

Crowd: Death for the sake of Allah.

Speaker: What is your movement?

Crowd: Hamas.

Speaker: What is your movement?

Crowd: Hamas.

[Translation courtesy of http://www.memri.org/.]

So, is dying because terrorists from "your movement" are idiots considered "death for the sake of Allah"? I hope so. I'd like to see more of them exit the scene that way.