Said the great philosopher Averroes: “Most scholars agree that fortresses may be assailed with mangonels, no matter whether there are women and children within them or not. This is based on the fact that the Prophet used mangonels against the population of al-Ta’if.”
And according to the renowned Sufi Al-Ghazali: “One must go on jihad at least once a year…one may use a catapult against them [non-Muslims] when they are in a fortress, even if among them are women and children. One may set fire to them and/or drown them…”
And Ibn Taymiyya, Osama’s favorite classical Muslim theologian: “As for those who cannot offer resistance or cannot fight, such as women, children, monks, old people, the blind, handicapped and their likes, they shall not be killed unless they actually fight with words [eg. by propaganda] and acts [by spying or otherwise assisting in the warfare]. Some jurists are of the opinion that all of them may be killed, on the mere ground that they are unbelievers, but they make an exception for women and children since they constitute property for Muslims.”
(thanks to Looney Tunes for those quotes.) From AP:
BEERSHEBA, Israel – Suicide bombers blew up two buses almost simultaneously in southern Israel on Tuesday, killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 80 others in the first Palestinian attack inside Israeli in nearly six months.
The twin blasts, claimed by the militant group Hamas, were likely to provoke a harsh Israeli response. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon planned to meet with top security officials later Tuesday, his office said.
The buses burst into flames about 100 yards apart near a bustling intersection in Beersheba, the largest city in southern Israel, just 10 miles from the West Bank. Hamas issued a leaflet in Hebron “” the closest Palestinian city to Beersheba “” saying the attack was avenging Israel’s assassinations of two of its leaders earlier this year.
Yassin and Rantisi, the Hamas leaders who were killed, were terrorist masterminds who inspired scores of suicide bombers. How are they equivalent to a group of civilians on a bus?
The explosions came just hours after Sharon presented to his Likud party the most detailed timetable yet for Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and warned party rebels the plan “will be implemented, period.”
After the attacks, Sharon said “the fight against terror will continue full strength.” Aides said he would push forward with the pullout.
Rescue workers scoured the scene, cleaning up body parts and scattered pieces of the wreckage as dozens of onlookers gathered nearby. A hand with a ring lay on the ground, and spattered blood covered the walls of the mangled buses.
“People were screaming and yelling. Everybody was running,” said witness Tzvika Schreter, a 50-year-old college lecturer.
Police said the messy scene was complicating the recovery of bodies and warned the death toll could rise. They did not know whether the suicide bombers were among the 15 recovered bodies.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said 30 of the wounded were in serious or moderate condition.
In the Gaza Strip, Muslim leaders praised the “heroic operation” “” a phrase referring to suicide bombings “” over mosque loudspeakers. “There will be no security for Israel as long as the occupation stands,” said one of the leaders.