Asymmetrical War: Qassam Rockets vs 200 Nuclear Bombs

Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam was quite a lad. A Syrian Muslim Brotherhood member, he set out to fight the Italian invasion of Libya in 1911, but failed. He then turned, in 1921, against the French colony (sorry, Mandate) of Syria. After the French siege of Damascus, he fled to Haifa, and took his fight against the British and the Jewish Haganah in Palestine. He preached Jihad (holy war) and revolution against both the British and the Zionists, and organized and led the first Palestinian guerilla group.

• He was killed in action on 19 November 1935 in the first Palestinian guerilla action against British forces.
• His death triggered the Arab Revolt of 1936-39.

Hamas has named part of its organization after Qassam and in recent years developed the Qassam rocket.

• The Qassam rocket was first developed by Nidal Fat'hi Rabah Farahat
  On February 16, 2003, Farahat was working along with other militants around newly acquired parts of a drone when one of them, booby-trapped, exploded. The device killed Farahat and 5 other militants.
• Adnan al-Ghoul, called by the Israelis "Father of the Qassam" was a shadowy figure who lived in hiding and never spoke to the media.
• The Zionists tried to assassinate Adnan Al-Ghoul many (times). The first attempt when he was in the PA prison, the Zionists tried to poison his coffee. Another big attempt, which also failed, when he was coming back after launching the first Qassam Rocket. Belal ( his eldest son ) was martyred in this wicked attempt. A third attempt was when... Zionist bulldozers and tanks came to his house thinking that he was there ... His second son Mohammad and his nephew Emran were martyred in this failure attempt.
• On September 26, 2003 he reportedly attended a meeting with Mohammed Deif, Ismail Haniya, Hamas' (current) political leader, and the organisation's spiritual leader, Sheik Ahmed Yasin, when Israeli forces bombed the house where they gathered.
• Adnan Al-Ghoul was finally assassinated on October 22 2004, by an Israeli drone that fired 2 missiles at his car in the centre of Gaza city, woundng (as usual) a number of quite innocent passers-by.

• Qassams were first fired at Israeli civilian targets in October 2001.
• The first Qassam to land in Israeli territory was launched on February 10, 2002.
• The first time an Israeli city was hit was on March 5, 2002, when two rockets struck Sderot.
• Some rockets have hit as far as the edge of Ashkelon.
• The total number of Qassam rockets launched exceeded 1000 by June 9, 2006.

During the year 2006 alone, 1000+ rockets were launched.

The introduction of the Qassam rocket took Israeli politicians and military experts by surprise. Reactions have been mixed. The Israeli Ministry of Defense views the Qassams as "more a psychological than physical threat."

But the initial psychological effect of the rockets upon Israel has been significant. Prior to the Qassam, Palestinian militants lacked the means to conduct long range attacks.
The simple nature of the small rocket makes it exceedingly hard for Israeli officials to shut down its production. The IDF has noted that militants commonly hide a Qassam in a commercial truck, drive to a clearing near the Gaza border and launch the rocket. One Hamas website states that this takes only 15 minutes.

You can judge for yourself the potency of this piddling little weapon from List of Qassam rocket attacks - assembled solely from Israeli sources.

Qassam Rocket Specifications
	Qassam 1	Qassam 2	Qassam 3
Length (cm)	79	180	200+
Diameter (cm)	6	15	17
Weight (kg)	5.5	32	90
Explosives Payload (kg)	0.5	5-7	10
Maximum Range (km)	3	8-10	10

Sources: Wikipedia and Globalsecurity.org

Update: 31/10/07: From Honest Reporting:

GOOGLE EARTH USED TO FIRE MISSILES AT ISRAEL
In one of a series of short films for The Guardian, Clancy Chassay witnesses Palestinian terrorists launching Qassams from Gaza into Israel and finds that they are using Google Earth to prepare their attacks. Click on the image below to view this eye-opening video and take action through GIYUS by elevating this story on the Reddit website. Also send your feedback to Google Earth stating that this technology should not be allowed to assist terrorists.

Perhaps rather better satellite technology shouldn't be shared by the US with the Israelis, who also, continulayy, with total impunity, bomb their neighbours, Lebanon and Syria.