17 jan 2014
A Palestinian girl plays in a destroyed neighborhood of Jenin refugee camp on April 21, 2002.
By Ramzy Baroud
Ramzy Baroud is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a media consultant and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com.
His latest book is "My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story."
The death of former Israeli leader Ariel Sharon enlivened US media's interest in the legacy of a man considered by many a war criminal, and by some a hero. In fact, the supposed heroism of Sharon was at the heart of CNN coverage of his death on January 11.
Sharon spent the last eight years prior to his death in a coma, but apparently not long enough for US corporate media to wake up from its own moral coma. CNN online's coverage presented Sharon as a man of heroic stature, who was forced to make tough choices for the sake of his own people.
"Throughout, he was called 'The Bulldozer,' a fearless leader who got things done," wrote Alan Duke.
In his article, "Ariel Sharon, former Israeli Prime Minister, dead at 85," Duke appeared to be confronting Sharon's past head on. In reality, he cleverly whitewashed the man's horrendous crimes, while finding every opportunity to recount his fictional virtue.
"Many in the Arab world called Sharon 'the Butcher of Beirut' after he oversaw Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon while serving as defense minister," Duke wrote.
Nevertheless, Sharon was not called the 'The Bulldozer' for being 'a fearless leader' nor do Arabs call him 'the Butcher of Beirut' for simply 'overseeing' the invasion of Lebanon. Duke is either ignorant or oblivious to the facts, but the blame is not his alone, since references to Sharon's heroism was a staple in CNN's coverage.
Sharon's demise however, and the flood of robust eulogies will neither change the facts of his blood-socked history, nor erase the 'facts on the ground' -- as in the many illegal colonies that Sharon has been so dedicated to erecting on occupied Palestinian land.
Following the Israeli occupation of Gaza along with the rest of Palestine in 1967, Sharon was entrusted with the bloody task of "pacifying" the headstrong Strip as he was the head of the southern command of the Israel Defense Forces.
Sharon was dubbed the "Bulldozer" for he understood that pacifying Gaza would require heavy armored vehicles, and Gaza's crowded neighborhoods and alleyways weaving through its destitute refugee camps were not suited for heavy machinery.
Therefore, he resolved to bulldoze thousands of homes, preparing the way for tanks and bulldozers to move in and topple even more homes. Modest estimates put the number of homes destroyed in August 1970 alone at 2,000. Over 16,000 Palestinians were made homeless and thousands were forced to relocate from one refugee camp into another.
The Beach Refugee Camp near Gaza City sustained most of the damage. Many fled for their lives, taking refuge in mosques and UN schools and tents. Sharon's declared objective was targeting the terrorist infrastructure. What he in fact meant was targeting the very population that resisted and aided the resistance, for they indeed were the very infrastructure he harshly pounded for many days and weeks.
Sharon's bloody sweep also resulted in the execution of 104 resistance fighters and the deportation of hundreds of others. Some were sent to Jordan, others to Lebanon, and the rest were simply left to rot in the Sinai desert.
But Sharon's violence was part of an equally disturbing logic. He believed that any strategic long term plan to secure Israel must have at its heart a violent campaign aimed at disorienting Palestinians.
He was quick to capitalize on the Allon plan, named after Yigal Allon, a former general and minister in the Israeli government, who took on the task of drawing an Israeli vision for the newly conquered Palestinian territories.
Sharon recounts standing on a dune near Gaza with cabinet ministers, explaining that along with military measures to control the Strip, he wanted 'fingers' of settlements separating its cities, chopping the region in four. Another 'finger' would thrust through the edge of Sinai, helping create a 'Jewish buffer zone between Gaza and Sinai to cut off the flow of weapons' and divide the two regions in case the rest of Sinai was ever returned to Egypt.
That legacy disfigured and isolated Gaza, even years after Sharon implemented his policy of unilateral 'disengagement' in 2005. He relocated the settlers to other illegal colonies in the West Bank and imposed a hermetic siege on the Strip, the consequences of which remain suffocating and deadly.
Sharon was keen on espousing or exploiting on the division of his enemies. He moved against Lebanon in 1982, when the country was at its weakest point, exhausted by division and civil war. And when Israeli forces finally occupied Lebanon in 1982, as PLO fighters were shipped by sea to many countries around the Middle East, a triumphant Sharon permitted his Christian Phalangist allies to enter the defenseless Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.
In the days between Sept. 16-18, 1982, as Israeli troops completely besieged the camps, the Phalangists entered the area and carried out a massacre that gruesomely defined both the Lebanese civil war and the Israeli invasion. The massacre killed thousands of Palestinian refugees, most butchered with knives while others were gunned down.
Although partly discredited after his disastrous war in Lebanon, Israeli voters brought him back repeatedly, to lead the right-wing Likud party in May 1999 and as a prime minister of Israel in February 2001.
The aim was to subdue rebelling Palestinians during the Second Intifada. In fact, it was Sharon's provocative 'visit' to one of Islam’s holiest shrines a few months earlier that sparked anger among Palestinians and, among other factors, started the uprising.
Sharon attempted to crush the uprising with the support and blessings of the US, but he failed. By the end of August 2001, 495 Palestinians and 154 Israelis were killed.
International attempts at sending UN observer forces were thwarted by a US veto on March 27, thus paving the way for the Israeli army to thrash its way into Palestinian refugee camps and other areas formerly controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
In March and April 2002, Sharon ordered Operation 'Defensive Shield,' which resulted in major military incursions into most West Bank cities, causing massive destruction and unprecedented bloodletting.
The Israeli operation led to the killing of hundreds of Palestinians, the reoccupation of major Palestinian towns, the destruction of Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah, and the subsequent besieging of the Palestinian leader in his barely standing office.
Sharon was no hero. It is time for US media to wake up from its own coma, and confront reality through commonsense and the most basic human rights values. It should not be looking through the prism of the most right-wing, if not fascist, elements of Israeli society.
The views expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect Ma'an News Agency's editorial policy.
By Ramzy Baroud
Ramzy Baroud is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a media consultant and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com.
His latest book is "My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story."
The death of former Israeli leader Ariel Sharon enlivened US media's interest in the legacy of a man considered by many a war criminal, and by some a hero. In fact, the supposed heroism of Sharon was at the heart of CNN coverage of his death on January 11.
Sharon spent the last eight years prior to his death in a coma, but apparently not long enough for US corporate media to wake up from its own moral coma. CNN online's coverage presented Sharon as a man of heroic stature, who was forced to make tough choices for the sake of his own people.
"Throughout, he was called 'The Bulldozer,' a fearless leader who got things done," wrote Alan Duke.
In his article, "Ariel Sharon, former Israeli Prime Minister, dead at 85," Duke appeared to be confronting Sharon's past head on. In reality, he cleverly whitewashed the man's horrendous crimes, while finding every opportunity to recount his fictional virtue.
"Many in the Arab world called Sharon 'the Butcher of Beirut' after he oversaw Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon while serving as defense minister," Duke wrote.
Nevertheless, Sharon was not called the 'The Bulldozer' for being 'a fearless leader' nor do Arabs call him 'the Butcher of Beirut' for simply 'overseeing' the invasion of Lebanon. Duke is either ignorant or oblivious to the facts, but the blame is not his alone, since references to Sharon's heroism was a staple in CNN's coverage.
Sharon's demise however, and the flood of robust eulogies will neither change the facts of his blood-socked history, nor erase the 'facts on the ground' -- as in the many illegal colonies that Sharon has been so dedicated to erecting on occupied Palestinian land.
Following the Israeli occupation of Gaza along with the rest of Palestine in 1967, Sharon was entrusted with the bloody task of "pacifying" the headstrong Strip as he was the head of the southern command of the Israel Defense Forces.
Sharon was dubbed the "Bulldozer" for he understood that pacifying Gaza would require heavy armored vehicles, and Gaza's crowded neighborhoods and alleyways weaving through its destitute refugee camps were not suited for heavy machinery.
Therefore, he resolved to bulldoze thousands of homes, preparing the way for tanks and bulldozers to move in and topple even more homes. Modest estimates put the number of homes destroyed in August 1970 alone at 2,000. Over 16,000 Palestinians were made homeless and thousands were forced to relocate from one refugee camp into another.
The Beach Refugee Camp near Gaza City sustained most of the damage. Many fled for their lives, taking refuge in mosques and UN schools and tents. Sharon's declared objective was targeting the terrorist infrastructure. What he in fact meant was targeting the very population that resisted and aided the resistance, for they indeed were the very infrastructure he harshly pounded for many days and weeks.
Sharon's bloody sweep also resulted in the execution of 104 resistance fighters and the deportation of hundreds of others. Some were sent to Jordan, others to Lebanon, and the rest were simply left to rot in the Sinai desert.
But Sharon's violence was part of an equally disturbing logic. He believed that any strategic long term plan to secure Israel must have at its heart a violent campaign aimed at disorienting Palestinians.
He was quick to capitalize on the Allon plan, named after Yigal Allon, a former general and minister in the Israeli government, who took on the task of drawing an Israeli vision for the newly conquered Palestinian territories.
Sharon recounts standing on a dune near Gaza with cabinet ministers, explaining that along with military measures to control the Strip, he wanted 'fingers' of settlements separating its cities, chopping the region in four. Another 'finger' would thrust through the edge of Sinai, helping create a 'Jewish buffer zone between Gaza and Sinai to cut off the flow of weapons' and divide the two regions in case the rest of Sinai was ever returned to Egypt.
That legacy disfigured and isolated Gaza, even years after Sharon implemented his policy of unilateral 'disengagement' in 2005. He relocated the settlers to other illegal colonies in the West Bank and imposed a hermetic siege on the Strip, the consequences of which remain suffocating and deadly.
Sharon was keen on espousing or exploiting on the division of his enemies. He moved against Lebanon in 1982, when the country was at its weakest point, exhausted by division and civil war. And when Israeli forces finally occupied Lebanon in 1982, as PLO fighters were shipped by sea to many countries around the Middle East, a triumphant Sharon permitted his Christian Phalangist allies to enter the defenseless Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.
In the days between Sept. 16-18, 1982, as Israeli troops completely besieged the camps, the Phalangists entered the area and carried out a massacre that gruesomely defined both the Lebanese civil war and the Israeli invasion. The massacre killed thousands of Palestinian refugees, most butchered with knives while others were gunned down.
Although partly discredited after his disastrous war in Lebanon, Israeli voters brought him back repeatedly, to lead the right-wing Likud party in May 1999 and as a prime minister of Israel in February 2001.
The aim was to subdue rebelling Palestinians during the Second Intifada. In fact, it was Sharon's provocative 'visit' to one of Islam’s holiest shrines a few months earlier that sparked anger among Palestinians and, among other factors, started the uprising.
Sharon attempted to crush the uprising with the support and blessings of the US, but he failed. By the end of August 2001, 495 Palestinians and 154 Israelis were killed.
International attempts at sending UN observer forces were thwarted by a US veto on March 27, thus paving the way for the Israeli army to thrash its way into Palestinian refugee camps and other areas formerly controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
In March and April 2002, Sharon ordered Operation 'Defensive Shield,' which resulted in major military incursions into most West Bank cities, causing massive destruction and unprecedented bloodletting.
The Israeli operation led to the killing of hundreds of Palestinians, the reoccupation of major Palestinian towns, the destruction of Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah, and the subsequent besieging of the Palestinian leader in his barely standing office.
Sharon was no hero. It is time for US media to wake up from its own coma, and confront reality through commonsense and the most basic human rights values. It should not be looking through the prism of the most right-wing, if not fascist, elements of Israeli society.
The views expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect Ma'an News Agency's editorial policy.
14 jan 2014
By Khalid Amayreh in Occupied East Jerusalem
As a firm believer in divine justice, I have no doubt that Ariel Sharon, the former Israeli Prime Minister, who perished three days ago following a long comma that lasted for eight years, will now find his way straight to hell.
Many people are likely to scoff at this language and view it with ridicule and derision. However, I believe that in the absence of divine justice in this world and especially after death, life becomes quite futile and meaningless.
Indeed, if Adolph Hitler were to have equality in death with Mother Teresa and Ariel Sharon with Jesus Christ-then life is pointless. Pure and simple.
It is unlikely that evil men, and Sharon was undoubtedly an evil man by every standard of imagination, believe in a hereafter or Day of Judgment when all men stand before their Maker for accountability and judgment.
But disbelief in the hereafter and in divine justice doesn't mean that there will be no hereafter and no divine justice.
Sharon was a Jew. But his deeds ever since he was a young man starkly contradicted the Ten Commandments and every other conceivable moral code of Prophetic Judaism.
Judaism taught "thou shall not murder," but murder was obviously Sharon's modus operandi and way of life. Judaism taught that man shouldn't oppress his fellow man, but Sharon was par excellence a criminal oppressor all his life.
Judaism commands its followers to be just and righteous and refrain from doing evil, but Sharon utterly disregarded all these virtues. He sold his soul to the devil at an early age and never repented. He basked in his evil, remorseless and undisturbed, without the slightest compunction or feeling of guilt.
There is no doubt that Sharon was a son of perdition. The wicked man had to "live" eight long years in suspension-between life and death.
Doctors call this "vegetative stage." It is defined as a clinical condition in which there is complete absence of awareness of the self and the environment. However, it is likely that the eight years were a period of perdition, punishment and damnation. This was probably a foretaste of what was awaiting him.
Sharon will now meet his Maker, overburdened with so much nefariousness and murderousness. The crimes he committed in his long life will haunt him in the depth of hell.
Cheap sycophancy
It is really sad that some world leaders, even some Nobel Prize recipients, have heaped praise on the wicked criminal. Well, this is no less that an expression of moral bankruptcy, lack of rectitude and cheapness of character.
But people such as Shimon Peres, the hero of the Qana massacre of 1996, and Tony Blair, the co-author of the war on Iraq (the other author is George W. Bush) are actually no less criminal than Sharon. Hence, it is only natural that they praised him, as if the perished criminal was a paragon of virtue, justice and truth. Their moral repugnance cries out to the seventh heaven.
Very much the same thing can be said about U.S. Vice-President Joseph Biden and his boss at the White House Barack Obama, who throw words of hypocrisy and sycophancy right and left, with little or no regard to truth and honesty.
In the final analysis, birds of feather flock together. I have no doubt that Sharon will be joined in the depth of hell at the proper moment by the equally evil criminals they are now heaping praise on him.
There they will also find Hitler, Joseph Stalin and numerous other murderers and criminals throughout human history.
God is holy and He can't be holy without being absolutely just. But a just God wouldn’t be just if he didn't consign people like Sharon to hell.
As a firm believer in divine justice, I have no doubt that Ariel Sharon, the former Israeli Prime Minister, who perished three days ago following a long comma that lasted for eight years, will now find his way straight to hell.
Many people are likely to scoff at this language and view it with ridicule and derision. However, I believe that in the absence of divine justice in this world and especially after death, life becomes quite futile and meaningless.
Indeed, if Adolph Hitler were to have equality in death with Mother Teresa and Ariel Sharon with Jesus Christ-then life is pointless. Pure and simple.
It is unlikely that evil men, and Sharon was undoubtedly an evil man by every standard of imagination, believe in a hereafter or Day of Judgment when all men stand before their Maker for accountability and judgment.
But disbelief in the hereafter and in divine justice doesn't mean that there will be no hereafter and no divine justice.
Sharon was a Jew. But his deeds ever since he was a young man starkly contradicted the Ten Commandments and every other conceivable moral code of Prophetic Judaism.
Judaism taught "thou shall not murder," but murder was obviously Sharon's modus operandi and way of life. Judaism taught that man shouldn't oppress his fellow man, but Sharon was par excellence a criminal oppressor all his life.
Judaism commands its followers to be just and righteous and refrain from doing evil, but Sharon utterly disregarded all these virtues. He sold his soul to the devil at an early age and never repented. He basked in his evil, remorseless and undisturbed, without the slightest compunction or feeling of guilt.
There is no doubt that Sharon was a son of perdition. The wicked man had to "live" eight long years in suspension-between life and death.
Doctors call this "vegetative stage." It is defined as a clinical condition in which there is complete absence of awareness of the self and the environment. However, it is likely that the eight years were a period of perdition, punishment and damnation. This was probably a foretaste of what was awaiting him.
Sharon will now meet his Maker, overburdened with so much nefariousness and murderousness. The crimes he committed in his long life will haunt him in the depth of hell.
Cheap sycophancy
It is really sad that some world leaders, even some Nobel Prize recipients, have heaped praise on the wicked criminal. Well, this is no less that an expression of moral bankruptcy, lack of rectitude and cheapness of character.
But people such as Shimon Peres, the hero of the Qana massacre of 1996, and Tony Blair, the co-author of the war on Iraq (the other author is George W. Bush) are actually no less criminal than Sharon. Hence, it is only natural that they praised him, as if the perished criminal was a paragon of virtue, justice and truth. Their moral repugnance cries out to the seventh heaven.
Very much the same thing can be said about U.S. Vice-President Joseph Biden and his boss at the White House Barack Obama, who throw words of hypocrisy and sycophancy right and left, with little or no regard to truth and honesty.
In the final analysis, birds of feather flock together. I have no doubt that Sharon will be joined in the depth of hell at the proper moment by the equally evil criminals they are now heaping praise on him.
There they will also find Hitler, Joseph Stalin and numerous other murderers and criminals throughout human history.
God is holy and He can't be holy without being absolutely just. But a just God wouldn’t be just if he didn't consign people like Sharon to hell.
12 jan 2014
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By Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank
Palestinians, nearly at all levels, have expressed deep satisfaction at the death of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the man many Palestinian consider their "ultimate tormentor." Sharon died Saturday of a crippling illness that kept him in a state of constant comma for eight years. He was 85. Palestinian intellectuals and commoners interviewed by this writer said they were quite relieved at the death of the man they said killed so many innocent Palestinians and caused suffering and misery on a large scale. Sharon is especially reviled for the Sabra and Shatila massacres in 1982, when he, as Defense Minister, enabled Christian militiamen allied with Israel to penetrate the two refugee camps on the outskirts of Beirut and butcher hundreds of refugees. Sharon denied the allegations but the monstrosity of the massacres convinced very few people, even inside Israel, of his innocence. His visit to the Aqsa Mosque esplanade in October 2000 was seen as the main event triggering the second Palestinian intifada in which thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of Israelis lost their lives. Palestinians also believe that Sharon ordered the assassination by way of poison of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. In 2004, Sharon ordered the assassination of Ahmed Yasin, the founder and spiritual leader |
of Hamas. A few weeks later, Sharon approved the assassination of Yasin's successor Abdul Aziz al-Rantisi.
The ostensibly overwhelming hatred the Palestinian public harbors for Sharon seems to have made Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas refrain from extending official condolence to the Israeli government.
The PA might also be worried that a formal call of condolence would be used by Hamas as a "propaganda capital" against Abbas and the PA.
Let him rot in hell
While the PA leadership refrained from commenting on Sharon's death, some Fatah leaders unhesitatingly voiced their deep satisfaction at Sharon's death.
"Sharon was a bona fide criminal. He is responsible for the murder of so many innocent Palestinians, including Yasser Arafat. We would have hoped to see him dragged to the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court to stand trial for his numerous crimes" said Jebril Rajoub, an outspoken Fatah leader and former head of the Preventive Security agency.
For its part, Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, couldn't hide its pleasure at Sharon's death.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesperson, said the Palestinian people were more confident in victory after the death of Sharon.
"Our people are quite happy that this criminal has perished. We are happy because his hands were smeared with the innocent blood of our children. We don't hate Sharon and other Israeli leaders because they are Jewish. We hate them because they are criminals and murderers."
Mushir al Masri, another Islamist spokesman, said it was "natural" that Palestinians are happy about Sharon's death.
"Wouldn't Jews be happy about the death of a Nazi killer who had killed numerous Jews during the holocaust?"
Ultimate tormentor
Ismael Shindi, professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Hebron, described Sharon as "our ultimate tormentor."
"I know he is looked upon as a celebrated hero by most Israelis and Jews. But for us he was a despicable murderer and criminal. He carried on his hands the blood of so many innocent people. I believe it is unethical and un-conscientious to feel sorry for the death of such a man."
Shindi added: "I know that gloating over a mortal's death is inappropriate. But the man we are talking about was not an ordinary criminal. He was our ultimate tormentor and grave-digger and I am not speaking metaphorically.
Predictably, the same feeling is echoed by almost every Palestinian this writer has spoken to.
Like other monotheistic religions, Islam, the religion of the vast majority of Palestinians, discourages people from gloating over the death of other people, even their enemies since all mortals will ultimately die.
However, in Sharon's case, there is a certain collective feeling among Palestinians in general that the man's evil transcended reality.
This is the view of Ahmed Yousef, the former political advisor of Hamas’ Prime Minister Ismael Haniya.
"Sharon's evilness went beyond the pale. It transcended reality. That is why it would be dishonest to say that Palestinians don't feel relieved by his death."
Evil incarnate
As mentioned above, the hatred directed at Sharon is by no means confined to any specific segment of the Palestinian public.
Tayseer Masalmeh is a taxi cab driver from the small town of Dura in the southern West Bank.
He says that Palestinians cannot go against nature by pretending that they are not satisfied at Sharon's death.
"I know that Sharon’s death won't change things on the ground. I know that his death won't make Israeli leaders reconsider their oppressive policies and practices against our people. But at least Sharon will meet his maker and be brought face to face with the many thousands of people he cut their lives short. I'm sure he will rot in hell. God wouldn't be just if he didn't."
State of perdition
A similar view was voiced by Walid Suleiman, editor-in-chief of Hebron Times, a tabloid newspaper published in Hebron.
"I think Sharon's prolonged comma and ultimate death is a sign of God. For us Palestinians, he was a terrifying figure, a sort of fearful golem. He was called the bulldozer for his ruthlessness and viciousness. But eventually he succumbed to death as if he had never existed on this earth. I hope all tyrants and oppressors, Arabs and Jews and others will learn a lesson from Sharon's life and death, namely that arrogance, insolence and evil don't pay off."
Suleiman, a religious Muslim, said he was sure that the eight years Sharon spent in a state of comma before his death was "a state of perdition." In Christian and also in Islamic theology, perdition is a state of eternal punishment and damnation into which a sinful and unrepentant person passes after death.
Palestinian political analyst Hani al-Masri doesn't credit Sharon for withdrawing Israeli occupation troops from the Gaza Strip in 2005.
"He didn't do it for the Palestinians' sake or for peace. He did it because he wanted to have as much Palestinian land as possible with as little population as possible.
"Besides, Israel never really terminated its domination of Gaza borders, waters and airspace."
Masri doesn't think there is any qualitative difference between Sharon and other Israeli leaders.
"Sharon would murder us while cursing but people like (Israeli President) Shimon Peres would do the same thing while saying 'we love you.' "
The ostensibly overwhelming hatred the Palestinian public harbors for Sharon seems to have made Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas refrain from extending official condolence to the Israeli government.
The PA might also be worried that a formal call of condolence would be used by Hamas as a "propaganda capital" against Abbas and the PA.
Let him rot in hell
While the PA leadership refrained from commenting on Sharon's death, some Fatah leaders unhesitatingly voiced their deep satisfaction at Sharon's death.
"Sharon was a bona fide criminal. He is responsible for the murder of so many innocent Palestinians, including Yasser Arafat. We would have hoped to see him dragged to the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court to stand trial for his numerous crimes" said Jebril Rajoub, an outspoken Fatah leader and former head of the Preventive Security agency.
For its part, Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, couldn't hide its pleasure at Sharon's death.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesperson, said the Palestinian people were more confident in victory after the death of Sharon.
"Our people are quite happy that this criminal has perished. We are happy because his hands were smeared with the innocent blood of our children. We don't hate Sharon and other Israeli leaders because they are Jewish. We hate them because they are criminals and murderers."
Mushir al Masri, another Islamist spokesman, said it was "natural" that Palestinians are happy about Sharon's death.
"Wouldn't Jews be happy about the death of a Nazi killer who had killed numerous Jews during the holocaust?"
Ultimate tormentor
Ismael Shindi, professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Hebron, described Sharon as "our ultimate tormentor."
"I know he is looked upon as a celebrated hero by most Israelis and Jews. But for us he was a despicable murderer and criminal. He carried on his hands the blood of so many innocent people. I believe it is unethical and un-conscientious to feel sorry for the death of such a man."
Shindi added: "I know that gloating over a mortal's death is inappropriate. But the man we are talking about was not an ordinary criminal. He was our ultimate tormentor and grave-digger and I am not speaking metaphorically.
Predictably, the same feeling is echoed by almost every Palestinian this writer has spoken to.
Like other monotheistic religions, Islam, the religion of the vast majority of Palestinians, discourages people from gloating over the death of other people, even their enemies since all mortals will ultimately die.
However, in Sharon's case, there is a certain collective feeling among Palestinians in general that the man's evil transcended reality.
This is the view of Ahmed Yousef, the former political advisor of Hamas’ Prime Minister Ismael Haniya.
"Sharon's evilness went beyond the pale. It transcended reality. That is why it would be dishonest to say that Palestinians don't feel relieved by his death."
Evil incarnate
As mentioned above, the hatred directed at Sharon is by no means confined to any specific segment of the Palestinian public.
Tayseer Masalmeh is a taxi cab driver from the small town of Dura in the southern West Bank.
He says that Palestinians cannot go against nature by pretending that they are not satisfied at Sharon's death.
"I know that Sharon’s death won't change things on the ground. I know that his death won't make Israeli leaders reconsider their oppressive policies and practices against our people. But at least Sharon will meet his maker and be brought face to face with the many thousands of people he cut their lives short. I'm sure he will rot in hell. God wouldn't be just if he didn't."
State of perdition
A similar view was voiced by Walid Suleiman, editor-in-chief of Hebron Times, a tabloid newspaper published in Hebron.
"I think Sharon's prolonged comma and ultimate death is a sign of God. For us Palestinians, he was a terrifying figure, a sort of fearful golem. He was called the bulldozer for his ruthlessness and viciousness. But eventually he succumbed to death as if he had never existed on this earth. I hope all tyrants and oppressors, Arabs and Jews and others will learn a lesson from Sharon's life and death, namely that arrogance, insolence and evil don't pay off."
Suleiman, a religious Muslim, said he was sure that the eight years Sharon spent in a state of comma before his death was "a state of perdition." In Christian and also in Islamic theology, perdition is a state of eternal punishment and damnation into which a sinful and unrepentant person passes after death.
Palestinian political analyst Hani al-Masri doesn't credit Sharon for withdrawing Israeli occupation troops from the Gaza Strip in 2005.
"He didn't do it for the Palestinians' sake or for peace. He did it because he wanted to have as much Palestinian land as possible with as little population as possible.
"Besides, Israel never really terminated its domination of Gaza borders, waters and airspace."
Masri doesn't think there is any qualitative difference between Sharon and other Israeli leaders.
"Sharon would murder us while cursing but people like (Israeli President) Shimon Peres would do the same thing while saying 'we love you.' "
Adel Makki rushed into the street in Beirut's Shatila Palestinian refugee camp Saturday to hand out sweets when he learned of the death of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli leader Palestinians blame for a massacre of hundreds there and in the nearby Sabra camp.
"I was relieved when I found out that Sharon was dead. I think the (eight) years he spent in a coma were punishment from God for the crimes he committed," Makki, age 19, told AFP.
Over three days, beginning on September 16, 1982, hundreds of men, women and children were massacred in Sabra and Shatila on the southern outskirts of Beirut.
Some 500 more simply vanished without a trace, among them Makki's uncle.
Israel had invaded Lebanon three months before, and the brutal killings, the work of Israel's Lebanese Phalangist allies, were carried out as Israeli troops surrounded the camps.
Sharon, who was defense minister at the time, was forced to resign after an Israeli commission of inquiry found he had been "indirectly responsible" for the massacres.
Ten-year-old Ahmad Khodr al-Gosh said Saturday: "I took a piece of candy because the assassin is dead. He killed hundreds of women and children. We are now relieved."
The narrow alleyways of the impoverished Shatila camp came to life when the news broke.
People poured out of their miserable dwellings to celebrate the passing of Sharon, who died Saturday in a hospital near Tel Aviv after spending eight years in a coma.
"You want to know how I feel? I want to sing and play music, that is how," said Umm Ali, a 65-year-old woman clad in black whose brother Mohammad died in the massacre.
"I would have liked so much to stab him to death. He would have suffered more," she said of Sharon, as she walked slowly, linking arms with a young relative.
Many residents of Sabra and Shatila said Sharon should have been prosecuted, echoing the statements of many compatriots in the Palestinian territories and rights watchdogs.
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director of Human Rights Watch, said "it’s a shame that Sharon has gone to his grave without facing justice for his role in Sabra and Shatila and other abuses."
Shopkeeper Mirvat al-Amine agreed that Sharon should have been put on trial but she is also confident that he will meet divine justice.
"Of course I am happy that he is dead. I would have liked to see him go on trial before the entire world for his crimes but there is divine justice and he cannot escape that.
"The tribunal of God is more severe than any court down here," she said.
Outside the shop Magida, aged 40, says she is still haunted by memories of the massacre.
She and her family had fled Shatila just before the killings after sensing that something was not right, she said.
They sought shelter in an adjacent park and waited.
"A neighbor joined us, her dress was covered in blood. She told us that people were being massacred in the streets," said Magida.
"At first we could not believe it but later we began hearing screams, we heard people begging their assassins to spare them."
When Adnan al-Moqdad heard the news about Sharon, he went to the cemetery in Sabra to pray for the soul of his mother and father, killed in the massacre.
The Moqdads were Lebanese but like many impoverished families had their home in the sprawling camps.
"How can anyone forget the massacre," he asked "Sharon is responsible. God is Great and he made him suffer to the end of his days and he will make his suffer after his death."
"I was relieved when I found out that Sharon was dead. I think the (eight) years he spent in a coma were punishment from God for the crimes he committed," Makki, age 19, told AFP.
Over three days, beginning on September 16, 1982, hundreds of men, women and children were massacred in Sabra and Shatila on the southern outskirts of Beirut.
Some 500 more simply vanished without a trace, among them Makki's uncle.
Israel had invaded Lebanon three months before, and the brutal killings, the work of Israel's Lebanese Phalangist allies, were carried out as Israeli troops surrounded the camps.
Sharon, who was defense minister at the time, was forced to resign after an Israeli commission of inquiry found he had been "indirectly responsible" for the massacres.
Ten-year-old Ahmad Khodr al-Gosh said Saturday: "I took a piece of candy because the assassin is dead. He killed hundreds of women and children. We are now relieved."
The narrow alleyways of the impoverished Shatila camp came to life when the news broke.
People poured out of their miserable dwellings to celebrate the passing of Sharon, who died Saturday in a hospital near Tel Aviv after spending eight years in a coma.
"You want to know how I feel? I want to sing and play music, that is how," said Umm Ali, a 65-year-old woman clad in black whose brother Mohammad died in the massacre.
"I would have liked so much to stab him to death. He would have suffered more," she said of Sharon, as she walked slowly, linking arms with a young relative.
Many residents of Sabra and Shatila said Sharon should have been prosecuted, echoing the statements of many compatriots in the Palestinian territories and rights watchdogs.
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director of Human Rights Watch, said "it’s a shame that Sharon has gone to his grave without facing justice for his role in Sabra and Shatila and other abuses."
Shopkeeper Mirvat al-Amine agreed that Sharon should have been put on trial but she is also confident that he will meet divine justice.
"Of course I am happy that he is dead. I would have liked to see him go on trial before the entire world for his crimes but there is divine justice and he cannot escape that.
"The tribunal of God is more severe than any court down here," she said.
Outside the shop Magida, aged 40, says she is still haunted by memories of the massacre.
She and her family had fled Shatila just before the killings after sensing that something was not right, she said.
They sought shelter in an adjacent park and waited.
"A neighbor joined us, her dress was covered in blood. She told us that people were being massacred in the streets," said Magida.
"At first we could not believe it but later we began hearing screams, we heard people begging their assassins to spare them."
When Adnan al-Moqdad heard the news about Sharon, he went to the cemetery in Sabra to pray for the soul of his mother and father, killed in the massacre.
The Moqdads were Lebanese but like many impoverished families had their home in the sprawling camps.
"How can anyone forget the massacre," he asked "Sharon is responsible. God is Great and he made him suffer to the end of his days and he will make his suffer after his death."
11 jan 2014
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It is a shame that former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dies without facing justice for his role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre, says the director of Human Rights Watch (HRW)'s Middle East and North Africa division.
Sharon led Israel into a war with Lebanon in 1982 and was responsible for the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps outside the Lebanese capital of Beirut after his forces allowed allied Lebanese militias into the camps. "It's a shame that Sharon has gone to his grave without facing justice for his role in Sabra and Shatila and other abuses," said Sarah Leah Whitson in a statement on Saturday. |
As the Israeli minister of military affairs, Sharon earned the title “Butcher of Beirut” over the massacre.
The HRW director also slammed Sharon’s role in the “assassination” of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat back in 2004.
"Sharon was a criminal, responsible for the assassination of Arafat, and we would have hoped to see him appear before the International Criminal Court as a war criminal," she said.
Meanwhile, many Palestinians celebrated the death of the former Israeli premier in different locations in Lebanon and Palestine.
Palestinian officials Jibril Rajoub of the Fatah party and Salah el-Bardaweel, a spokesman for Hamas, also called Sharon a criminal.
Early on Saturday, the former premier died at the age of 85 at the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv.
On January 4, 2006, Sharon suffered a stroke and went into a coma, from which he never recovered.
The HRW director also slammed Sharon’s role in the “assassination” of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat back in 2004.
"Sharon was a criminal, responsible for the assassination of Arafat, and we would have hoped to see him appear before the International Criminal Court as a war criminal," she said.
Meanwhile, many Palestinians celebrated the death of the former Israeli premier in different locations in Lebanon and Palestine.
Palestinian officials Jibril Rajoub of the Fatah party and Salah el-Bardaweel, a spokesman for Hamas, also called Sharon a criminal.
Early on Saturday, the former premier died at the age of 85 at the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv.
On January 4, 2006, Sharon suffered a stroke and went into a coma, from which he never recovered.
4 jan 2014
By Miko Peled
I never understood how people could rejoice at the news of a person’s death. I happened to be in the UK when Margaret Thatcher died so I witnessed the celebrations. The expressions of joy as the news of the Iron Lady’s death spread around the country shocked me at first, as people were actually throwing parties to celebrate her death. As I visited different parts of the country, particularly Wales and Ireland, it occurred to me that when Ariel Sharon dies we may see similar outbursts of joy taking place.
Sharon has been in a coma since January 2006 when he suffered several brain hemorrhages that left him in a vegetative state. But now there is news that his kidneys are failing and concerns are expressed in Israel that there is a chance he will die soon.
One can imagine the long eulogies we will have to endure once he is laid to rest: “A hero,” “a great leader,” “a military genius,” all of this will be said and more. The press will recount every military achievement, ever battle he won, every enemy, both military and political that he defeated. His resolve as Israel’s leader will be heralded, and, we will be told, he will be remembered for giving his all to his country.
In my book, The General’s Son, Journey of an Israeli in Palestine, I mention Sharon several times, in his capacity as a military man who was cruel, brilliant and reckless, then as defense minister and finally as prime minister. But it is important to set the record straight about this man before the nauseating outpour of condolences, replete with hypocrisy and lies, that are sure to follow his death.
Ariel Sharon was an ambitious man. He was brutal, greedy, uncompromising and dishonest. He possessed an insatiable appetite for power, glory and fortune. His tendencies as a cold-blooded, merciless killer were evident from early on in his career when he commanded the Israeli army’s Unit 101 in the 1950’s. Unit 101 was an infamous commando brigade with special license to kill and terrorize Palestinians. It operated mostly in Gaza, but also in other parts of the country and beyond. Unit 101 was so brutal in its practices, and claimed so many innocent lives, that even by Israeli standards it was thought to have gone too far and the unit was eventually disbanded.
Sharon went on to be promoted to other commands in the Israeli army earning a name for himself as a promising commander and all were expecting that he would one day be the Israeli army’s top commander, or Chief of Staff. But this was one job he never got, he did better. Sharon entered politics and was nominated to be Defense Minister under Prime Minister Menachem Begin. In that capacity he lead Israel’s catastrophic invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
This invasion left countless Lebanese and Palestinians dead, wounded and displaced. Sharon was also behind the massacres that took place in September of that year in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps near Beirut, and here once again, even by Israeli standards Sharon had gone too far and was removed from office.
Though Sharon was reprimanded for his role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre, and was prevented from serving as defense minister, his political career continued nevertheless and his sphere of influence grew. As minster of Housing and Development he contributed more than any other to the racist, anti Palestinian policies and the corruption within the ministry. It is claimed that during his tenure the ministry’s budget was without limits, exceeding Israel’s entire defense budget. He used his full weight to achieve the colonization and displacement Palestinians from what used to be the West Bank.
Surely the most absurd thing ever said about Sharon, is that he was a man of peace. That he “left” Gaza and that he “gave” Gaza back to the Palestinians. That he did it for peace and in return all Israel received were rockets fired from Gaza. The Israeli disengagement from Gaza was a cynical, unilateral move. It allowed Sharon to get the Israeli settlers in Gaza out of his way, close Gaza like a prison and score a few political points with the US administration. It was a cruel move that allowed him to further suffocate the people of Gaza, people that he was determined to destroy from early on in his violent career. But the proud Palestinians would not surrender and served as a constant reminder of the blood with which his hands are stained.
One could go on and on about Sharon and his crimes. As he lay dying, perhaps within days or minutes of his final breath, we must all remember his victims, the countless dead, wounded and displaced and remind the world that this man was not a hero but a criminal.
As I write these words Ariel Sharon is still alive, if one can call it that, and in many ways the state in which he lives now could be the hell he so richly deserves.
Miko Peled is an Israeli writer and peace activist living in the US. Author of The General's Son, The Journey of an Israeli in Palestine.
I never understood how people could rejoice at the news of a person’s death. I happened to be in the UK when Margaret Thatcher died so I witnessed the celebrations. The expressions of joy as the news of the Iron Lady’s death spread around the country shocked me at first, as people were actually throwing parties to celebrate her death. As I visited different parts of the country, particularly Wales and Ireland, it occurred to me that when Ariel Sharon dies we may see similar outbursts of joy taking place.
Sharon has been in a coma since January 2006 when he suffered several brain hemorrhages that left him in a vegetative state. But now there is news that his kidneys are failing and concerns are expressed in Israel that there is a chance he will die soon.
One can imagine the long eulogies we will have to endure once he is laid to rest: “A hero,” “a great leader,” “a military genius,” all of this will be said and more. The press will recount every military achievement, ever battle he won, every enemy, both military and political that he defeated. His resolve as Israel’s leader will be heralded, and, we will be told, he will be remembered for giving his all to his country.
In my book, The General’s Son, Journey of an Israeli in Palestine, I mention Sharon several times, in his capacity as a military man who was cruel, brilliant and reckless, then as defense minister and finally as prime minister. But it is important to set the record straight about this man before the nauseating outpour of condolences, replete with hypocrisy and lies, that are sure to follow his death.
Ariel Sharon was an ambitious man. He was brutal, greedy, uncompromising and dishonest. He possessed an insatiable appetite for power, glory and fortune. His tendencies as a cold-blooded, merciless killer were evident from early on in his career when he commanded the Israeli army’s Unit 101 in the 1950’s. Unit 101 was an infamous commando brigade with special license to kill and terrorize Palestinians. It operated mostly in Gaza, but also in other parts of the country and beyond. Unit 101 was so brutal in its practices, and claimed so many innocent lives, that even by Israeli standards it was thought to have gone too far and the unit was eventually disbanded.
Sharon went on to be promoted to other commands in the Israeli army earning a name for himself as a promising commander and all were expecting that he would one day be the Israeli army’s top commander, or Chief of Staff. But this was one job he never got, he did better. Sharon entered politics and was nominated to be Defense Minister under Prime Minister Menachem Begin. In that capacity he lead Israel’s catastrophic invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
This invasion left countless Lebanese and Palestinians dead, wounded and displaced. Sharon was also behind the massacres that took place in September of that year in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps near Beirut, and here once again, even by Israeli standards Sharon had gone too far and was removed from office.
Though Sharon was reprimanded for his role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre, and was prevented from serving as defense minister, his political career continued nevertheless and his sphere of influence grew. As minster of Housing and Development he contributed more than any other to the racist, anti Palestinian policies and the corruption within the ministry. It is claimed that during his tenure the ministry’s budget was without limits, exceeding Israel’s entire defense budget. He used his full weight to achieve the colonization and displacement Palestinians from what used to be the West Bank.
Surely the most absurd thing ever said about Sharon, is that he was a man of peace. That he “left” Gaza and that he “gave” Gaza back to the Palestinians. That he did it for peace and in return all Israel received were rockets fired from Gaza. The Israeli disengagement from Gaza was a cynical, unilateral move. It allowed Sharon to get the Israeli settlers in Gaza out of his way, close Gaza like a prison and score a few political points with the US administration. It was a cruel move that allowed him to further suffocate the people of Gaza, people that he was determined to destroy from early on in his violent career. But the proud Palestinians would not surrender and served as a constant reminder of the blood with which his hands are stained.
One could go on and on about Sharon and his crimes. As he lay dying, perhaps within days or minutes of his final breath, we must all remember his victims, the countless dead, wounded and displaced and remind the world that this man was not a hero but a criminal.
As I write these words Ariel Sharon is still alive, if one can call it that, and in many ways the state in which he lives now could be the hell he so richly deserves.
Miko Peled is an Israeli writer and peace activist living in the US. Author of The General's Son, The Journey of an Israeli in Palestine.
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Palestinians being evicted from their cave homes in the village of Susia
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Israel to stop the forced eviction of Palestinians from their homes in the occupied lands, calling the move discriminatory, illegal and a war crime. The rights body said that the Israeli military is illegally forcing 23 Palestinians, including 15 children, from three families to leave their homes near a West Bank settlement. “No Israeli authority, including the High Court of Justice, has justified this displacement as being a temporary measure for the protection of the residents themselves or for imperative military reasons. Under these circumstances, displacing the families would not only be discriminatory, |
but also a grave breach of Israel’s obligations as the occupying power, and a war crime,” HRW said in a statement on Friday.
Israel’s High Court of Justice on December 3, 2013, rejected a petition against the evictions and held that the military could evict the families on or after January 3, 2014. It did not refer to any of Israel’s duties under international human rights law or the law of occupation
“Israel’s military is ushering in 2014 by forcing more Palestinian families out of their homes,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
In 2013, Israel forcibly displaced more than 1,100 Palestinians from the West Bank and demolished their homes.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbids construction on occupied lands.
Israel’s High Court of Justice on December 3, 2013, rejected a petition against the evictions and held that the military could evict the families on or after January 3, 2014. It did not refer to any of Israel’s duties under international human rights law or the law of occupation
“Israel’s military is ushering in 2014 by forcing more Palestinian families out of their homes,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
In 2013, Israel forcibly displaced more than 1,100 Palestinians from the West Bank and demolished their homes.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbids construction on occupied lands.
By Miko Peled
I never understood how people could rejoice at the news of a person’s death. I happened to be in the UK when Margaret Thatcher died so I witnessed the celebrations. The expressions of joy as the news of the Iron Lady’s death spread around the country shocked me at first, as people were actually throwing parties to celebrate her death. As I visited different parts of the country, particularly Wales and Ireland, it occurred to me that when Ariel Sharon dies we may see similar outbursts of joy taking place.
Sharon has been in a coma since January 2006 when he suffered several brain hemorrhages that left him in a vegetative state. But now there is news that his kidneys are failing and concerns are expressed in Israel that there is a chance he will die soon.
One can imagine the long eulogies we will have to endure once he is laid to rest: “A hero,” “a great leader,” “a military genius,” all of this will be said and more. The press will recount every military achievement, ever battle he won, every enemy, both military and political that he defeated. His resolve as Israel’s leader will be heralded, and, we will be told, he will be remembered for giving his all to his country.
In my book, The General’s Son, Journey of an Israeli in Palestine, I mention Sharon several times, in his capacity as a military man who was cruel, brilliant and reckless, then as defense minister and finally as prime minister. But it is important to set the record straight about this man before the nauseating outpour of condolences, replete with hypocrisy and lies, that are sure to follow his death.
Ariel Sharon was an ambitious man. He was brutal, greedy, uncompromising and dishonest. He possessed an insatiable appetite for power, glory and fortune. His tendencies as a cold-blooded, merciless killer were evident from early on in his career when he commanded the Israeli army’s Unit 101 in the 1950’s. Unit 101 was an infamous commando brigade with special license to kill and terrorize Palestinians. It operated mostly in Gaza, but also in other parts of the country and beyond. Unit 101 was so brutal in its practices, and claimed so many innocent lives, that even by Israeli standards it was thought to have gone too far and the unit was eventually disbanded.
Sharon went on to be promoted to other commands in the Israeli army earning a name for himself as a promising commander and all were expecting that he would one day be the Israeli army’s top commander, or Chief of Staff. But this was one job he never got, he did better. Sharon entered politics and was nominated to be Defense Minister under Prime Minister Menachem Begin. In that capacity he lead Israel’s catastrophic invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
This invasion left countless Lebanese and Palestinians dead, wounded and displaced. Sharon was also behind the massacres that took place in September of that year in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps near Beirut, and here once again, even by Israeli standards Sharon had gone too far and was removed from office.
Though Sharon was reprimanded for his role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre, and was prevented from serving as defense minister, his political career continued nevertheless and his sphere of influence grew. As minster of Housing and Development he contributed more than any other to the racist, anti Palestinian policies and the corruption within the ministry. It is claimed that during his tenure the ministry’s budget was without limits, exceeding Israel’s entire defense budget. He used his full weight to achieve the colonization and displacement Palestinians from what used to be the West Bank.
Surely the most absurd thing ever said about Sharon, is that he was a man of peace. That he “left” Gaza and that he “gave” Gaza back to the Palestinians. That he did it for peace and in return all Israel received were rockets fired from Gaza. The Israeli disengagement from Gaza was a cynical, unilateral move. It allowed Sharon to get the Israeli settlers in Gaza out of his way, close Gaza like a prison and score a few political points with the US administration. It was a cruel move that allowed him to further suffocate the people of Gaza, people that he was determined to destroy from early on in his violent career. But the proud Palestinians would not surrender and served as a constant reminder of the blood with which his hands are stained.
One could go on and on about Sharon and his crimes. As he lay dying, perhaps within days or minutes of his final breath, we must all remember his victims, the countless dead, wounded and displaced and remind the world that this man was not a hero but a criminal.
As I write these words Ariel Sharon is still alive, if one can call it that, and in many ways the state in which he lives now could be the hell he so richly deserves.
Miko Peled is an Israeli writer and peace activist living in the US. Author of The General's Son, The Journey of an Israeli in Palestine.
I never understood how people could rejoice at the news of a person’s death. I happened to be in the UK when Margaret Thatcher died so I witnessed the celebrations. The expressions of joy as the news of the Iron Lady’s death spread around the country shocked me at first, as people were actually throwing parties to celebrate her death. As I visited different parts of the country, particularly Wales and Ireland, it occurred to me that when Ariel Sharon dies we may see similar outbursts of joy taking place.
Sharon has been in a coma since January 2006 when he suffered several brain hemorrhages that left him in a vegetative state. But now there is news that his kidneys are failing and concerns are expressed in Israel that there is a chance he will die soon.
One can imagine the long eulogies we will have to endure once he is laid to rest: “A hero,” “a great leader,” “a military genius,” all of this will be said and more. The press will recount every military achievement, ever battle he won, every enemy, both military and political that he defeated. His resolve as Israel’s leader will be heralded, and, we will be told, he will be remembered for giving his all to his country.
In my book, The General’s Son, Journey of an Israeli in Palestine, I mention Sharon several times, in his capacity as a military man who was cruel, brilliant and reckless, then as defense minister and finally as prime minister. But it is important to set the record straight about this man before the nauseating outpour of condolences, replete with hypocrisy and lies, that are sure to follow his death.
Ariel Sharon was an ambitious man. He was brutal, greedy, uncompromising and dishonest. He possessed an insatiable appetite for power, glory and fortune. His tendencies as a cold-blooded, merciless killer were evident from early on in his career when he commanded the Israeli army’s Unit 101 in the 1950’s. Unit 101 was an infamous commando brigade with special license to kill and terrorize Palestinians. It operated mostly in Gaza, but also in other parts of the country and beyond. Unit 101 was so brutal in its practices, and claimed so many innocent lives, that even by Israeli standards it was thought to have gone too far and the unit was eventually disbanded.
Sharon went on to be promoted to other commands in the Israeli army earning a name for himself as a promising commander and all were expecting that he would one day be the Israeli army’s top commander, or Chief of Staff. But this was one job he never got, he did better. Sharon entered politics and was nominated to be Defense Minister under Prime Minister Menachem Begin. In that capacity he lead Israel’s catastrophic invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
This invasion left countless Lebanese and Palestinians dead, wounded and displaced. Sharon was also behind the massacres that took place in September of that year in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps near Beirut, and here once again, even by Israeli standards Sharon had gone too far and was removed from office.
Though Sharon was reprimanded for his role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre, and was prevented from serving as defense minister, his political career continued nevertheless and his sphere of influence grew. As minster of Housing and Development he contributed more than any other to the racist, anti Palestinian policies and the corruption within the ministry. It is claimed that during his tenure the ministry’s budget was without limits, exceeding Israel’s entire defense budget. He used his full weight to achieve the colonization and displacement Palestinians from what used to be the West Bank.
Surely the most absurd thing ever said about Sharon, is that he was a man of peace. That he “left” Gaza and that he “gave” Gaza back to the Palestinians. That he did it for peace and in return all Israel received were rockets fired from Gaza. The Israeli disengagement from Gaza was a cynical, unilateral move. It allowed Sharon to get the Israeli settlers in Gaza out of his way, close Gaza like a prison and score a few political points with the US administration. It was a cruel move that allowed him to further suffocate the people of Gaza, people that he was determined to destroy from early on in his violent career. But the proud Palestinians would not surrender and served as a constant reminder of the blood with which his hands are stained.
One could go on and on about Sharon and his crimes. As he lay dying, perhaps within days or minutes of his final breath, we must all remember his victims, the countless dead, wounded and displaced and remind the world that this man was not a hero but a criminal.
As I write these words Ariel Sharon is still alive, if one can call it that, and in many ways the state in which he lives now could be the hell he so richly deserves.
Miko Peled is an Israeli writer and peace activist living in the US. Author of The General's Son, The Journey of an Israeli in Palestine.
3 jan 2014
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Two decades after deadly terror attacks in Argentina's capital, former Israeli ambassador says 'large majority of those responsible are no longer of this world, we did it ourselves'
Israel has killed most of those behind the deadly attacks on its embassy and a Jewish charities building in Argentina in the 1990s, a former Israeli envoy said Thursday. The July 1994 bombing of the Argentine Jewish Charities Federation (AMIA) building in Buenos Aires killed 85 people. Hundreds were hurt in a bombing Argentina says was masterminded by Iran. |
Two years earlier, in March 1992, a car bombing in front of the Israeli embassy in the capital killed 29 and wounded 200 others.
"The large majority of those responsible are no longer of this world, and we did it ourselves," Itzhak Aviran, who was Israel's ambassador to Argentina from 1993 to 2000, told the Buenos Aires-based AJN Jewish news agency. Two decades after the blasts, those who instigated them have not been brought to justice.
Neither Carlos Menem, who was Argentina's president from 1989 to 1999, nor his successor Fernando de la Rua and those who followed "did anything to get to the bottom of this tragedy," Aviran said. "We still need an answer (from the Argentine government) on what happened," he added. "We know who the perpetrators of the embassy bombing were and they did it a second time." Argentine courts have charged eight Iranians over the AMIA bombing and authorities are demanding their extradition.
They include former defense minister Ahmad Vahidi and ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Argentine authorities also suspect Iran of being behind the 1992 bombing. Iran has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks. Argentina's 300,000-strong Jewish community is the largest in Latin America.
"The large majority of those responsible are no longer of this world, and we did it ourselves," Itzhak Aviran, who was Israel's ambassador to Argentina from 1993 to 2000, told the Buenos Aires-based AJN Jewish news agency. Two decades after the blasts, those who instigated them have not been brought to justice.
Neither Carlos Menem, who was Argentina's president from 1989 to 1999, nor his successor Fernando de la Rua and those who followed "did anything to get to the bottom of this tragedy," Aviran said. "We still need an answer (from the Argentine government) on what happened," he added. "We know who the perpetrators of the embassy bombing were and they did it a second time." Argentine courts have charged eight Iranians over the AMIA bombing and authorities are demanding their extradition.
They include former defense minister Ahmad Vahidi and ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Argentine authorities also suspect Iran of being behind the 1992 bombing. Iran has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks. Argentina's 300,000-strong Jewish community is the largest in Latin America.
2 jan 2014
Mustafa Dirani undergoing interrogation. One of the figures facing away from the camera is "Captain George."
A new victim is born: Doron Zahavi, better known as Captain George.
An earlier Zahavi, Yaron, one of the heroes of the “Hasamba” series of adventure books for juvenile readers, died long ago. In 1966, Yigal Mossinson, author of the series, appointed him to serve as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces as a member of SOC, short for Special Operations Command.
Today’s Zahavi, Doron, served in a similar military unit, with the hush-hush number 504; the unit is today known by the euphemistic name Human Military Intelligence Formation. Nearly 20 years ago, in an interrogation facility with another hush-hush number, 1391, Doron Zahavi interrogated Lebanese militia operative Mustafa Dirani in an effort to learn the fate of missing Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad. Whether or not he actually inserted a baton into Dirani’s rectum, Zahavi-George is suing the State of Israel for damages on the grounds that the state tarnished his reputation. This week, Captain George’s true identity was revealed – at his own request.
In a coincidence that could be called poetic justice, two lawsuits against the state are now being deliberated in the courtroom: George’s and Dirani’s. In an installment of Channel 2’s investigative journalism program, “Uvda,” which was broadcast in late 2011, video clips of Dirani’s interrogation were screened: Captain George, who says the state besmirched his “good name,” can be seen in those video tapes in an arrogant Israeli pose, his feet on the desk, sitting opposite Dirani, who is in his underpants, hunched over, looking humiliated and frightened.
The commander, Col. S., threatens to sodomize Dirani; the soldier who will commit the act of sodomy is on his way. “What a lovely skirt you are wearing, you mother-fucker … just open your legs wide” is the utterance made in the name of the State of Israel when Dirani is forced to stand on a chair, naked, before the watchful eyes of his investigators. At Base 1391, Israel’s version of Guantanamo, this was – and perhaps still is – just a routine questioning session.
According to testimonies that have become public over the years, a chilling picture of Base 1391 emerges: a canister of shaving foam emptied into the interrogated person’s mouth, water mixed with ash that Dirani and other people being investigated were forced to drink from an ashtray, along with the usual repertoire of sleep and food deprivation, beatings, abuse and other acts intended to humiliate the subject. This is how the work was carried out. There are still some people around who defend it. This week, Israel’s singer-philosopher, Idan Raichel, called on Instagram for the IDF to award Zahavi a medal of honor.
The bottom line today is that despite all of the sophisticated and disgusting “acts” performed by the interrogators, their actions made no contribution whatsoever to the efforts to find out what happened to Arad. However, one cannot remain indifferent in the face of the campaign to clear Zahavi’s name; the big interview on “Uvda” is already in the works.
Today Zahavi is an adviser on Arab affairs with the Jerusalem District of the Israel Police. His lawyer has stated that his client is a “talented individual” and that the “Israel Police has benefited, and will continue to benefit, from his fine skills and from his understanding of the population with which the police must deal.” Whether or not the Israel Police really benefits from Zahavi’s services, this expert on Arab affairs has already referred to the “well-developed Arab imagination” that gave rise to Dirani’s accusations about the baton allegedly inserted into his rectum. “If there are so many complaints,” Captain George once boasted, “that’s a sign that I was doing my job diligently.”
Zahavi the victim says that he received full authorization and permission to do what he did. The video tapes prove that Col. S. also wallowed in that garbage. Even Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad personally visited the interrogation rooms. We are left with only one unequivocal fact: The abuser has become the victim and the victim has become a senior officer with the Israel Police.
No one is denying that Captain George committed contemptible acts and no one seems appalled by them. Chief Superintendent Zahavi is today an expert on Arab affairs, advising the commander of the Jerusalem District police how to “deal with” Arabs. Need anything more be added to this depiction of the mood that prevails today in Israel, this Georgetown, this district of filth and decay?
A new victim is born: Doron Zahavi, better known as Captain George.
An earlier Zahavi, Yaron, one of the heroes of the “Hasamba” series of adventure books for juvenile readers, died long ago. In 1966, Yigal Mossinson, author of the series, appointed him to serve as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces as a member of SOC, short for Special Operations Command.
Today’s Zahavi, Doron, served in a similar military unit, with the hush-hush number 504; the unit is today known by the euphemistic name Human Military Intelligence Formation. Nearly 20 years ago, in an interrogation facility with another hush-hush number, 1391, Doron Zahavi interrogated Lebanese militia operative Mustafa Dirani in an effort to learn the fate of missing Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad. Whether or not he actually inserted a baton into Dirani’s rectum, Zahavi-George is suing the State of Israel for damages on the grounds that the state tarnished his reputation. This week, Captain George’s true identity was revealed – at his own request.
In a coincidence that could be called poetic justice, two lawsuits against the state are now being deliberated in the courtroom: George’s and Dirani’s. In an installment of Channel 2’s investigative journalism program, “Uvda,” which was broadcast in late 2011, video clips of Dirani’s interrogation were screened: Captain George, who says the state besmirched his “good name,” can be seen in those video tapes in an arrogant Israeli pose, his feet on the desk, sitting opposite Dirani, who is in his underpants, hunched over, looking humiliated and frightened.
The commander, Col. S., threatens to sodomize Dirani; the soldier who will commit the act of sodomy is on his way. “What a lovely skirt you are wearing, you mother-fucker … just open your legs wide” is the utterance made in the name of the State of Israel when Dirani is forced to stand on a chair, naked, before the watchful eyes of his investigators. At Base 1391, Israel’s version of Guantanamo, this was – and perhaps still is – just a routine questioning session.
According to testimonies that have become public over the years, a chilling picture of Base 1391 emerges: a canister of shaving foam emptied into the interrogated person’s mouth, water mixed with ash that Dirani and other people being investigated were forced to drink from an ashtray, along with the usual repertoire of sleep and food deprivation, beatings, abuse and other acts intended to humiliate the subject. This is how the work was carried out. There are still some people around who defend it. This week, Israel’s singer-philosopher, Idan Raichel, called on Instagram for the IDF to award Zahavi a medal of honor.
The bottom line today is that despite all of the sophisticated and disgusting “acts” performed by the interrogators, their actions made no contribution whatsoever to the efforts to find out what happened to Arad. However, one cannot remain indifferent in the face of the campaign to clear Zahavi’s name; the big interview on “Uvda” is already in the works.
Today Zahavi is an adviser on Arab affairs with the Jerusalem District of the Israel Police. His lawyer has stated that his client is a “talented individual” and that the “Israel Police has benefited, and will continue to benefit, from his fine skills and from his understanding of the population with which the police must deal.” Whether or not the Israel Police really benefits from Zahavi’s services, this expert on Arab affairs has already referred to the “well-developed Arab imagination” that gave rise to Dirani’s accusations about the baton allegedly inserted into his rectum. “If there are so many complaints,” Captain George once boasted, “that’s a sign that I was doing my job diligently.”
Zahavi the victim says that he received full authorization and permission to do what he did. The video tapes prove that Col. S. also wallowed in that garbage. Even Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad personally visited the interrogation rooms. We are left with only one unequivocal fact: The abuser has become the victim and the victim has become a senior officer with the Israel Police.
No one is denying that Captain George committed contemptible acts and no one seems appalled by them. Chief Superintendent Zahavi is today an expert on Arab affairs, advising the commander of the Jerusalem District police how to “deal with” Arabs. Need anything more be added to this depiction of the mood that prevails today in Israel, this Georgetown, this district of filth and decay?
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