April 17, Washington, DC - The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) strongly condemned today's assassination of Abdel Aziz Rantisi, leader of the Hamas movement, by the Israeli government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Rantisi, his 27 year old son Mohammed, and a number of others were killed by an Israeli missile strike on their car as it was traveling through Gaza City Saturday evening. ADC has a long-standing policy of opposing any attacks directed against civilians, no matter who the victims or the perpetrators might be.

ADC has been strongly critical of the policy of assassinating Palestinian political leaders by the Sharon government, most recently the March 22 murder of Hamas' founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. ADC notes that today's murders constitute yet another escalation in the conflict by Sharon and a provocation that is almost certain to intensify the cycle of violence and complicate efforts to resume peace negotiations. ADC reiterated its conviction that the only way to stop the conflict is to bring about a complete end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.