"The Long Death of Ariel Sharon"
January 13, 2014.
Former controversial Israeli Military General, Israeli Defense Minister, and Israeli Prime Minister: Ariel Sharon was born on February 26, 1928 and died on January 11th, 2014. The last 8 years of his life, he lived in a coma of such a long duration and incapacitation that justice may have caught up with him ? The humiliation, degradation, and suffering he was responsible for as an Israeli leader and so called war hero by some, may have met with a universal equilibrium of universal justice that tends to be a natural part of life's existence, more so than not. What goes around comes around; even if one may not be cognizant of the facts or reality of the fluid natural law of justice, at the time.
Concerning war: Sharon was a strategic, sophisticated, heroic, and ruthless leader. One who accomplished what governments and the people want in their military leaders. Sharon was there from the inception of Israel with the so called 1948 War of Independence, depending on whose side, one was on. In war, the rebel on the offensive is considered a freedom fighter if he wins and a terrorist if he is unsuccessful. From that aspect, Sharon rose victorious militarily and politically to his people in Israel and in the United States. Israel has always been defined falsely as a democracy when in fact it has always been a state theocracy from the very beginning, for Jews from all over the world.
Not only does the victor write history but characteristics and traits deemed evil by a neutral society can become awe inspiring by the government and the people of the victorious society. Of course when one loses, the leader naturally becomes Attila the Hun; to the outside world, even if the facts bear no evidence to the realities of the situation and the conflict of the war at the time. Propaganda talks on and on and the reality of truthful facts get buried in the dust bins of history. All wars have their atrocities on both sides. Bearing all this in mind: no one can doubt the love, patriotism, courage, and leadership skills of Sharon to the state of Israeli and their people.
On the other hand, going beyond self defense to extreme cruelty is man's ingrained animal instinct. With violence all around, man becomes part of his environment. One begins to lose a sense of compassion for his fellow man as a human being and total annihilation of the so called enemy becomes the mindset. This can be seen with Sharon's 1982 actions as Israeli Defense Minister concerning the Sabra and Shatila massacres, where Sharon was held indirectly responsible but also negligent and derelict of his duties by the Israeli Kahan Commission; for the brutality that took place during the September 16th thru September 18th,1982 massacres in Lebanon. Sharon was forced to resign by enormous political pressure as well as by the recommendation of the Kahan Commission which stated the following: We have found ... that the Minister of Defense (Ariel Sharon) bears personal responsibility (1).
The massacres involved the death of some 700 to 800 civilian Palestinians and Lebanese Shiites by the Lebanese Christian Phalangist militias according to the conservative leaning estimates by the Israeli military intelligence (2). The Israeli military at the time occupied the camps and allowed their allies the Phalangist militias not only into the camps but according to the 1983 United Nations Commission chaired by former UN Secretary General Sean McBride concluded: Israel as the occupiers of the camps bore full responsibility for the genocidal violence that occurred during the massacres (3).
There is no doubt that Sharon was a major historic player on the stage of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. The numerous decades of conflict concerning both people is a long drawn out and complicated process of one side claiming to be returning to their homeland a couple of thousand years later and one considering the other a long gone intruder to a people who have been their for untold generations. Life is not a simple black and white plot of right and wrong but an endless search for the truth and diplomacy. In the end Sharon may have caused more harm than good but that is up to history to decide. At the present time the Palestinian voices are small, heroic, and struggling for justice. While the voices of Israel are well heard thru the walls of Congress in the United States due to the remarkable and well financed American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Since 1949 thru the fiscal year 2014 the Israeli government will have received military and economic grants totaling more than 100 billion; according to the April 11th, 2013 Congressional Service Report. (4)
In the end the truth always comes out but sometimes the truth can take centuries. The Palestinian people don't have centuries to wait, they need peace, security, and the opportunity for prosperity now. Will the ghost of the now deceased Sharon allow this ? Or will his past actions have given the Israeli people to much pride and arrogance to even allow a real path to peace with the Palestinians. The road to Sharon is now open for public debate !
Sources:
1) Malone, Linda. "The Kahan Report, Ariel Sharon and the Sabra- Shatilla Massacres in Lebanon: Responsibility Under International Law for Massacres of Civilian Populations." College of William & MaryLawSchool William & MaryLawSchool Scholarship Repository. William and MaryLawSchool, 1985. Web. 13 Jan 2014
2) "Israel: Ariel Sharon’s Troubling Legacy ." Human Rights Watch. N.p., 01/11/14. Web. 13 Jan 2014.
3) Jump up to: a b MacBride, Seán; A. K. Asmal, B. Bercusson, R. A. Falk, G. de la Pradelle, S. Wild (1983). Israel in Lebanon: The Report of International Commission to enquire into reported violations of International Law by Israel during its invasion of the Lebanon. London: Ithaca Press. pp. 191–2. ISBN 0-903729-96-2.
4) Sharp, J. Congressional Research Service, (2013). U.s. foreign aid to israel (RL33222)April 11th 2013 Report.
5) Fruend, Michael. "Fundamentally Freund: Ariel Sharon and the inhumanity of Human Rights Watch ." Jerusalem Post. N.p., 01/13/2014. Web. 13 Jan 2014.
