Glowing Obit in The Guardian for a terrorist

In the Guardian's estimation, Nizar Rayan was not a murderous terrorist leader who propelled others, including his own children, to violence against Israeli civilians in the name of Islam. He was a "man of the street."

He was not an idiot thug who called Israel an offense to God, but "on the streets of Gaza, where economic and social misery has boosted Hamas's reputation during the past five years, he was something of a hero. He was famed for fighting alongside his men and being seen with them publicly."

"And, he was not merely a fighter," coos the writer before moving onto Rayan's other alleged accomplishments.

To the Guardian, he was not a dangerous radical who used his knowledge of Islamic texts in the service of encouraging suicide bombers, but was "highly regarded as an Islamic academic."

He was not a racist militant who declared the day before he died: "Our only language with the Jew is through the gun."

Instead, he was a "political leader, born 6 March 1959; died 1 January 2009."

It appears the only thing they left out was that Rayan was a "freedom fighter."

A man's obituary should glide over the less than savory aspects of his life and speak glowingly of how his children loved him, his wife adored him, his dog was faithful, and that he was kind to strangers and orphans.

That is, unless he was a leader of a terrorist group who routinely murdered innocents and fought a genocidal war against the Jews. Perhaps that kind of distinction is lost on the editors at the Guardian, and more the shame that should fall upon them for thinking so.

The fact is, Rayan could have been the sweetest guy in Gaza, a real prince of a man who gave out candy to children and helped old ladies across the street every day and it still wouldn't alter the basic fact of his existence; that he was a murderous thug who gloried in bloody attacks against civilians.