7-Jun-06: Positions?

"Not too major" terrorist, probably 7 years old, holds a "not too
major" weapon during whatAFP calls "a demonstration in support of
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank city of
Ramallah" on 6th June. Click for larger version.

An Israeli newspaper says today that

"Israel is having a hard time figuring out the exact position that Hamas political leaders in Gaza have adopted regarding terror attacks. It appears that Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh wants to refrain from terror at this stage, but he and his associates are allowing members of the military wing some room to maneuver, as long as the attacks are not too major and there is no official claim of responsibility." 

An opportune moment to reflect that when decisions about the well-being of an entire population are taken - as they are in Israel - by politicians with 24 hour a day armed personal guards; by politicians who enjoy Knesset transport privileges that shelter them from sending their children on buses - they can indulge in such linguistic gymnastics.

The rest of us can only sit back and be appalled by the notion that a terror operation can ever be "not too major". Seems it's only "not too major" when it happens to other people.

And what, by the way, is an example of a terror attack that's "not too major"? Would it be a stabbing? a shooting? an explosives-filled rocket fired into town?