Jack's last straw

With their kith and kin being blasted to bits by suicide bombers in the streets of Israel, 26 El Al pilots have refused to serve as reservists in the Israeli Air Force because they cannot stomach the killing of Palestinians by Mr Sharon's government.

It is not the first time that exceptional people in Israel and Palestine have gone against the givens. The families of victims of terror on both sides have come together to call for an end to the slaughter. They do not get as much media attention as the spectacular slaughter.

It must be hard to meet the relatives of the murderers of one's children; to join hands with them to prevent more killing. It must be enormously difficult to face the hawks of one's own community while the blood still flows.

Sheik Yassim was blasted to bits on the steps of a mosque. The state murder, openly approved by Mr Sharon's government, is a direct assault on all who hope for peace. It is clearly an attempt to escalate the reciprocal murders in Israel and the Occupied Territories to the point where Palestinian resistance will collapse.

Israel still needs an excuse even if it has no worries about keeping up an appearance of legitimacy. With US approval, Israel has been able to take advantage of the "War on Terror" global media campaign to escalate the killings on its home ground.

It has made it its declared policy to assassinate all the leaders of the Palestinian resistance. It has attempted to kill the Palestinian leader by bombing his headquarters. It has responded to suicide bombings by firing missiles into the homes of their relatives. It blasted its own legitimacy to bits. Sharon, Saddam, Milosevic, what's the difference? Yassim and Arafat may be no sweethearts either, so what?

The absurdity of the world's remaining superpower declaring war on a network of terrorists with no fixed abode is mirrored in Israel's military response to criminal terrorist actions. Damn international law, damn due process, damn human rights; declare war and get free to do whatever you want.

Israel is killing itself. The Jews are the people of the law. Mr Sharon's government has participated fully in the explosion of the international rule of law. More than the intolerable carnage, it is this which assails the very idea of Israel. No hawk, no butcher will understand.

The attack on a Hamas icon is a deliberate attempt to take the fight to heights which Palestinians will not be able to sustain. It may be Mr Sharon's biggest mistake. If the Palestinians do not rise to the bait, Mr Sharon is the loser.

It is of major significance that Jack Straw, in responding to news of the assassination, condemned it in no uncertain terms and described it as a violation of international law. Britain's Foreign Minister may kow tow to the US but will no longer have his country's foreign policy dictated according to Mr Sharon's vision.

Britain has clung to the wake of the US as it charged headlong through the remains of international law. Mr Blair's government has proved the steadfast commitment of Britain to the transatlantic alliance by sacrificing its good relations with EU partners and much of its credibility at home.

For far too many months it has justified the unjustifiable in Afghanistan, in Iraq and in the Israel. With Yassim's murder the whole thing has become altogether too much. For the sake of preserving its symbiosis with the United States it could jettison much of its international credibility and become a priority target for international terrorism. Why should it expose its population to further risks simply because Israel has the misfortune to have a Prime Minister that should be in the dock in The Hague?

There is not much that the Bush administration can say about Israeli unilateralism; it has been the one to set the bad example. The I-do-because-I-can attitude adopted in ignoring the UN over Iraq leaves the Bush administration in no position to call Israel to heel. The US is the superpower but Israel is calling the shots.

It is done. Israel has presented its allies with a fait accompli. It has done while it can; not too close to the US elections and not taking the risk of being unable to do so afterwards if President Bush is not re-elected.

At last Britain has had enough. It will not have its foreign policy dictated by Ariel Sharon. It could well be that the present pass justifies Britain's adherence to the US. Britain, more than any other country, can make the US stop and think. Having proved its commitment it can credibly withdraw its support to idiocy.

Yassim advocated violent resistance to Israel, martyrdom soaked in the blood of the innocent. He was a declared enemy of Israel. In many ways he courted sudden death. In granting it to him Israel has created a much greater icon than the live Yassim ever was.

In the blood-soaked chequerboard of the Middle East, Hamas has made a cunning move. It has bagged the right to assassinate Mr Sharon while assuring the US that it would not be targeted in retaliation. The escalation will happen on Hamas terms. Perhaps Mr Sharon's idiotic move has already failed.

None of this brings us any closer to a lasting peace. Every killing adds to the burden of the future. It is an arsenal of political time-bombs available to everyone who foments hatred in the future. Mr Sharon may feel that he has killed a terrorist; he may have killed hope, he may have killed Israel's future.

Thank God for the El Al pilots. They are an invaluable reminder that there are decent, reasonable people everywhere. They are our candle in the darkness. Is Britain also lighting up?

Dr Vassallo is chairman of Alternattiva Demokratika - The Green Party, www.eurogreens.org