This evening Israel assassinated Hamas' Gaza chief Abd al-Aziz Rantisi, less than a month after the assassination of his predecessor Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Rantisi, a pediatrician by training, was culpable in numerous attacks on Israel and had the blood of dozens if not hundreds on his hands. Nonetheless, someone, somewhere, will soon call him a moderate. This is one of the unintended consequences of being assassinated by Israel - in death the target is accorded a reputation for moderation and pragmatism.

I first developed this theory in August 2001, after Israel assassinated PFLP chief Abu Ali Mustafa and Danny Rubinstein writing in Ha'aretz called him a moderate. Mustafa was of course assassinated for his role in plotting terror attacks against Israel. I had written that Mustafa had actually been very explicit in his calls terrorism against Israel.

Yassin's assassination was another example of a posthumous moderation and no doubt Rantisi will achieve the same. These claims are frequently based on supposed internal conflicts between moderates and hardliners within terrorist groups. Unfortunately, what makes terrorists "moderate" is an interest in ceasefires in order to rebuild their organizations. That is the basis of Yassin's supposed moderation - in 1999 when the PA and Israel were actually cooperating to crackdown on Hamas Yassin was willing to explore a ceasefire to rebuild Hamas. He was still clearly opposed to Israel's existence and endorsed mass murder as the means. The same logic will be applied to Rantisi, except that he was never willing to countenance a ceasefire. Nonetheless, some creative thinker will come up with some definition of moderate to apply to him.

Under this definition the latest bin Laden statement calling for a truce with Europe if they pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan may qualify bin Laden as a moderate. No doubt, someone will warn that eliminating bin Laden will allow al-Qaeda to fall into the hands of the hardliners (I guess they not only want to destroy Western civilization but would actually attempt to hurl the earth into the sun.)

Regardless, the genius remains Arafat who somehow acquired a reputation for moderation without being killed or being, in any way shape or form, moderate.