Israel: Butcher turned Peacemaker Ariel Sharon is no more!

-DR. ABDUL RUFF COLACHAL 

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Israel has lost its only, albeit least, humanity leader Ariel Sharon who towards his end of life had taken an unprecedentedly positive, humane approach to the issue of besieged people of Palestine by undertaking a few steps that made him unpopular among the criminal sections of Israelis, especially the military haws. .

Former Israeli premier Ariel Sharon died in hospital near Tel Aviv on Saturday after eight years in a coma, prompting a flood of tributes in Israel but contempt from Palestinians. He was 85. The former war hero had been in a coma since January 4, 2006, after suffering a massive stroke. His condition took a sudden turn for the worse on New Year’s Day when he suffered serious kidney problems after surgery. Hospital chief said Sharon’s heart “had weakened” and he died at around 1200 GMT.

Sharon was declared dead by medical authorities on a Saturday, the religious week day of Jews. The head of the Sheba Medical Centre near Tel Aviv confirmed Sharon's death on Saturday afternoon, the Jewish Sabbath, more than a week after it emerged that his health was in “decline”,  making doubtful  his  continued coma state .for too long. .

Israelis are on a short period of mourning for ex-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who has died aged 85 of heart failure after eight years in a coma, an unconscious state possibly gifted by the Mossad for his efforts to settle the Palestine issue in a sincere manner. Jews do not want any Jew to support the genuine Palestine cause even in dreams. 

Hawkish or dovish?

Hailed by many Israelis as a statesman, his ruthless methods also earned him the moniker “The Bulldozer.”

Israeli and world figures have paid tribute to a man who fought in four major wars before taking to the political stage. Incumbent Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu who also tasted the Palestinian blood for years now, expressed “deep sorrow” over the news and said Israel would “forever” cherish Sharon’s memory. Zionist President Shimon Peres said Sharon would be “greatly missed.” “Ariel Sharon was first and foremost a rare military leader who shaped the Israeli army,” said Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon, a bitter opponent of the Gaza pullout.

Top leader of world president Barack Obama and First Lady of USA Michelle Obama spoke of a leader "who dedicated his life to the state of Israel". “We continue to strive for lasting peace and security for the people of Israel, including through our commitment to the goal of two states living side-by-side in peace and security,” it added.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said Israel had lost "one of the most significant figures" in its history while French President Francois Hollande said that after a long military career, Sharon had "taken the choice to turn to dialogue with the Palestinians" , , describing Sharon as “a central figure” in Israel’s history.. Ex-US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, a former secretary of state, said he "gave his life to Israel" and it was an honour to "work with him, argue with him and watch him always trying to find the right path for his beloved country".

Israel's President Shimon Peres, a long-time friend and political rival who joined a unity government as a minister under Sharon in 2001, said he was "an exceptional man and an exceptional commander who moved his people and loved them and the people loved him".

One of the last members of the generation that founded the Jewish state 1948, he leaves a complex legacy which saw him push through a policy of separation from the Palestinians, orchestrate Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 and begin building the sprawling West Bank barrier in 2002.

Sharon's decision to pull out of Gaza in 2005 had changed the political landscape and he was prepared to take creative steps towards a solution with the Palestinians. But the “coma” ended all hopes of peace, at least for  the last so many years as he was in bed while the Zionist criminal regime kept a on attacking the besieged Palestine masses.

Career Zionist

Born in British-mandate Palestine on February 26, 1928, to parents from Belarus, Sharon was just 17 when he joined the Haganah, the pre-state militia that fought in the 1948 war of independence and eventually became the Israeli army. Known throughout his military career for his boldness, Sharon also had a stubborn sense of independence which saw him surprising friends and foes alike.

Ariel Sharon, known as "The Bulldozer", was a giant of Israel's military and political scene whose term as prime minister ended abruptly when he had a major stroke that put him in a coma in January 2006. Months before his stroke, he had guided Israelis through a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, with the declared aim of easing tensions with the Palestinians. He had shaped the current state of the West Bank and Israel's relations with the Palestinians more than any other Israeli politician in recent years.

A veteran soldier, Sharon fought in all of Israel’s major wars before embarking on a turbulent political career in 1973 that ended dramatically when he suffered the stroke from which he never recovered. Long considered a pariah for his personal but “indirect” responsibility for the 1982 massacre of hundreds of Palestinians by Israel’s Lebanese Phalangist allies in Beirut’s Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, Sharon was elected premier in 2001. The burly white-haired politician was one of Israel’s most skilled but controversial political and military leaders.

Sharon fought in Israel's war of independence in 1948, took part in Israel's invasion of the Sinai in 1956 and commanded an armored division in the 1967 Middle East war. In 1973, he led Israel's counter-attack against Arab armies across the Suez Canal, cutting off Egypt's 3rd Army. But after Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 he was responsible for failing to prevent the massacre of Palestinians by Christian Phalangist militia in Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.

After the 1973 war, Ariel Sharon became a government defence adviser As defence minister, he supervised the invasion of Lebanon in 1982. His reputation among Palestinians was such that, in the Gaza Strip, sweets were handed out in celebration of his death. One senior official in the Fatah movement said he was a criminal whom Palestinians had wanted to see on trial.

In the months after the Gaza withdrawal, Sharon abandoned his lifelong political home in Likud to form a new centrist party, Kadima, with the aim of effecting further, but limited, pullouts from the West Bank. But just six weeks later, he was felled by a stroke at the height of his political career.

Ariel Sharon will be buried in a private ceremony at his farm in the Negev desert. His family visited the farm, the Sycamore ranch, on Saturday afternoon, where his late wife Lily was laid to rest in 2000.

Zionist Crimes without punishment

Yasser Arafat, the Palestine leader of all times, was one of Muslim leaders  whom Israeli criminals have reportedly killed.

Terrocracies  the world over  continue commit serious crimes against humanity but escape punishment because of  collective  operation by the  colonialist and imperialist forces led by USA-UK terror twins and  their allies like Israel.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, also regretted that Sharon never faced justice, particularly over his role in the Beirut camp killings. “It’s a shame that Sharon has gone to his grave without facing justice for his role in Sabra and Shatila and other abuses,” she said in a statement. “His passing is another grim reminder that years of virtual impunity for rights abuses have done nothing to bring Israeli-Palestinian peace any closer. For the thousands of victims of abuses, Sharon’s passing without facing justice magnifies their tragedy.”

Obviously, Olmert, Pares, and Netanyahu also would get free exist when their time comes without facing any punishment for their ghastly crimes’.

There was little sorrow among Palestinians who have suffered  under Zionist  brutalities see every Israeli leader and its state terrorists as enemy of Palestine, as a blood thirsty enemy that kills even Palestinian children to quench its blood thirst. . Hamas, Gaza's Islamist rulers since 2007, condemned him as a tyrant and said his death marked the "disappearance of a criminal whose hands were covered with Palestinian blood" 

The Palestinians were quick to welcome the news, with a senior official labelling Sharon a criminal and accusing him of being responsible for the mysterious death in 2004 of the veteran Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. “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,” said Jibril Rajub, a senior official of the Fatah party. Palestinian political figure Mustafa Barghouti said while no-one should gloat at his death; Sharon had taken "a path of war and aggression" and had left "no good memories with Palestinians". The Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, hailed Sharon’s death as a “historic moment” marking the “disappearance of a criminal whose hands were covered with Palestinian blood.”

One thing, had Sharon continued to rule Israel, most probably a state of Palestine would have come up by now, helping the Palestinians lead prosperous and fruitful life, without any threat from Israel.

And, the Mideast and world at large would have been safe.