Ariel Sharon's war against the Palestinians

Catholic New Times, Nov 30, 2003 by Ted Schmidt

After the Six Day War Sharon moved into Gaza (1967-1970) with his brutal tactics, ripping up citrus groves, planning extra-judicial executions, both war crimes which made his cohorts uneasy. In 1977, as Minister of Defense Sharon became the main patron of the illegal settlers, developing the plan to create "facts on the ground," which would make it impossible to remove Jewish control over the territories--still the major sticking point in peace negotiations.

Politicide #2

Kimmerling then describes the second attempt at politicide, the brutal 1981 dismantling of PLO infrastructure in southern Lebanon. The resultant disaster should have ended Sharon's career. As Minister of Defense he was responsible for the massive bombardment which killed, according to journalist Robert Fisk, over 18,000 civilians between Marcia and July 1981. Then came Sabra and Shatila, the notorious massacre which outraged world opinion and put 400,000 Israelis in the streets demanding an inquiry.

The national uproar, de facto, ended the career of Menachem Begin and the enquiry (Kahan Commission) found that Sharon bore a major part of the responsibility. As the author states, "Sharon was considered to be political dead wood from a moral and even a legal point of view." Had the Commission gone deeper as it should have, Kimmerling maintains "a wide spectrum of the Israeli leadership would, from a moral point of view would have been found to be war criminals, guilty not only of crimes against the Palestinians and Lebanese but against the Jewish people of Israel."

Sharon was unrepentant. Speaking to noted Israeli writer Amos Oz, he said, "Even if you prove to me the war in Lebanon is a dirty war, I don't care. I am willing to volunteer to do the dirty work for Israel to kill as many Arabs as necessary, to deport, to expel and burn them, to have everyone hate us. Hang me if you want as a war criminal."

Politicide #3

The final attempt at politicide was Operation Defense Shield (April, 2002). Operating under the terrorist discourse of 9/11 and with the tacit approval of a weak U.S. president whom Sharon claimed he owned, the sheer wanton destruction in places like Jenin and Ramallah appalled many. To unbiased observers, such as UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, it was "horrifying beyond belief--forever a blot on the state of Israel. No military objective could justify such suffering by a civilian population."

It was the cynical destruction of computers in the Palestinian department of education, the razing of civilian institutions like universities, schools, clinics and infrastructure which proved the real intent of "the homicidal Sharon," Edward said.

This is a fascinating study of Ariel Sharon, the man whom a frightened populace thought could bring peace. The results speak for themselves.

Kimmerling describes Israelis as amnesiac as North Americans. "Many are young and new to Israel, the 1982 debacle is simply so much history. Many do not regard his prior history as sins. His fairly honest autobiography (2001) has never been published in Hebrew."