Akerman: Death of Hamas leader gives Palestinians chance to forge a future of prosperity instead of hate

The world stands ready to rebuild a terrorist-free Palestinian state but the Palestinians must decide if they’re ready for one, writes Piers Akerman.

The overdue but inevitable death of the insanely murderous Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar offers Palestinians an opportunity to seek the peace the world wants but which they have constantly rejected.

With this serial liar and equal opportunity butcher out of the way, those in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon and the wider Palestinian diaspora will have to ask themselves whether they wish to follow the edicts of Tehran and subject themselves to the leadership of more Islamist fanatics or live peacefully and prosperously alongside their neighbour, Israel.

This would not be a difficult choice for most reasonable people but Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank have been radicalised for generations from early childhood by vilely offensive anti-Semitic propaganda paid for by Western nations, including Australia, through the offices of the United Nation’s notorious UNRWA.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese may claim relief that this monster is dead but he would not have been killed had the Israelis obeyed their calls for a withdrawal from Rafah and a ceasefire.

Deradicalising nations can be done – look at Germany and Japan in the post-WWII years – but it requires populations to confront their crimes and the foul ideology they follow, and it would require the closure of UNRWA, which the Albanese government funded.

A protester holds a sign during an October 17 demonstration calling for an hostages deal in Tel Aviv, Israel. Picture: Amir Levy/Getty Images

Though Sinwar was not executed in the manner of other recent Hamas leaders, Haasan Nasrallah and Ismail Haniyeh, the Israelis had him on their list of targets and there is only one way to get off that list – death.

Ever since Israeli prime minister Golda Meir and defence minister Moshe Dayan authorised Operation Wrath of God after 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Israeli policy has been to ensure that those who target their citizens do not go unpunished.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Picture: Mohammed Abed/AFP

A hit squad codenamed Bayonet tracked and killed all those suspected of planning or participating in the massacre, first taking out Wael Zwaiter, a PLO organiser and cousin of Yasser Arafat, who was shot in the lobby of his Rome apartment building in October, 1972.

Next was Mahmoud Hamshari, the PLO representative in Paris, killed in December, 1972, when a bomb planted in his home telephone was detonated after he identified himself in a prearranged call with a Wrath of God member posing as an Italian journalist. Surely there is a lesson to be learnt by anti-Israel terrorists about the use of telephones, pagers and walkie-talkies.

The next four on the list were Basil al-Kubaisi, Hussein Abad al-Chir, Zaid Muchassi, and Mohammed Boudia, each killed in the following months.

As the terrorists sought shelter in friendly nations, new plots were devised and in April, 1973, future Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak developed a daring exercise, Operation Spring of Youth, which called for the insertion of a commando team into Beirut to target leaders of the PFLP.

As diversions were created around the city, the commandos hit the terrorist headquarters and Muhammad Youssef Al-Najjar, Kamal Adwan and Kamal Nasser were taken off the list.

Maybe the Greens and some students at Sydney University will mourn Sinwar’s death at the hands of raw recruits but as the man who started a war which has left Gaza in ruins and more Palestinians dead than Israelis (Sinwar was not averse to murdering Palestinians if they did not support Hamas), celebrations have been muted.

The world stands ready to rebuild a terrorist-free Palestinian state but the Palestinians must decide if they’re ready for one.

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