-Caveat Lector- On 14 Apr 2002 at 3:09, Euphorian wrote:
> From http://www.observer.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,684062,00.html > > }}}>Begin > America must see that Sharon is the problem > > The Middle East conflict cannot be resolved while the Israelis are led > by a man who sees military force as the only instrument of policy. > > Observer Worldview > > Avi Shlaim > Sunday April 14, 2002 > The Observer > > When running for Prime Minister in February of last year, Ariel > Sharon, Israel's ferocious hawk, tried to reinvent himself as a man of > peace. Against the background of the al-Aqsa intifada, which he had > helped to trigger by his provocative visit to Haram al-Sharif (Temple > Mount), he ran on a ticket of peace with security. In his first year > in power, Sharon has achieved neither peace nor security but only a > steady escalation of the violence. In the last two weeks Sharon has > revealed himself once again as a man wedded to military force as the > only instrument of policy. > > The 74 year-old Israeli leader has been at the sharp end of > confrontation with the Arabs for most of his life. The hallmarks of > his career are mendacity, the most savage brutality towards Arab > civilians, and a persistent preference for force over diplomacy to > solve political problems. These features found their clearest > expression in the invasion of Lebanon in 1982 which Sharon > masterminded as defence minister in Menachem Begin's Likud government. > > > The war that Sharon is currently waging on the West Bank, fraudulently > named 'Operation Defensive Shield', is in some ways a replay of his > war in Lebanon. It is directed against the Palestinian people; it > stems from the same stereotypes that the Palestinians are terrorists; > it is based on the same denial of Palestinian national rights; it > employs the same strategy of savage and overwhelming military force; > and it displays the same callous disregard for international opinion, > international law, the UN, and the norms of civilised behaviour. Even > the principal personalities are the same: today, as in 1982, Ariel > Sharon confronts Yasser Arafat. > > The invasion of Lebanon was not a defensive war but a war of > deception. Sharon obtained cabinet approval for a limited military > operation against the PLO forces in southern Lebanon. From the > beginning, however, he planned a much bigger operation to serve > broader geostrategic aims. The principal objective of Sharon's war was > to destroy the PLO as a military and political organisation, to break > the backbone of Palestinian nationalism, to spread despair and > despondency among the inhabitants of the West Bank, and to pave the > way to its absorption into Greater Israel. A second objective was to > give Israel's Maronite allies a leg-up to power, and then compel them > to sign a peace treaty with Israel. A third objective was to expel the > Syrian army from Lebanon and to make Israel the dominant power in the > Levant. > > Under Sharon's devious direction, an operation that was supposedly > undertaken in self-defence developed into a merciless siege of Beirut > and culminated in a horrendous massacre in the Palestinian refugee > camps of Sabra and Shatila which led to the removal of Sharon from the > ministry of defence. > > In his crude but relentless propaganda war, Sharon tries to portray > Arafat as the master terrorist who orchestrates the violence against > Israel and secretly encourages suicide bombings by Hamas, Islamic > Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. To be sure, Arafat is not > above using violence. Nor has he done as much as he could to curb the > activities of the Islamic militants. Yet Arafat is the leader who > persuaded his movement to abandon armed struggle and adopt the > political path in the struggle for independence. By signing the Oslo > Accord in 1993, and clinching it with a hesitant handshake, he and > Yitzhak Rabin undertook to resolve the outstanding differences between > their two nations by peaceful means. Until the assassination of Rabin > two years later, Arafat proved himself an effective partner on the > road to peace. The subsequent decline of the Oslo peace process was > caused more by Israeli territorial expansionism than by Palestinian > terrorism. Israeli settlements on the West Bank, which Sharon's > government continues to expand, are the root of the problem. > > Ever the opportunist, Sharon was quick to jump on the bandwagon of > America's 'war against terror' in the aftermath of 11 September. Under > this banner, Sharon has embarked on a sinister attempt to destroy the > infrastructure of a future Palestinian state. His real agenda is to > subvert what remains of the Oslo accords, to smash the Palestinians > into the ground, and to extinguish hope for independence and > statehood. To add insult to injury, he wants to remove Yasser Arafat, > the democratically elected leader and symbol of the Palestinian > revolution, and to replace him with a collaborationist regime which > would serve as a sub- contractor charged with upholding Israeli > security. > > What Sharon is unable or unwilling to comprehend is that security > cannot be achieved by purely military means. The only hope of security > for both communities lies in a return to the political track, > something that the champion of violent solutions has always avoided. > Consequently, Sharon's second war, like his first, is doomed to > failure. If the history of this conflict teaches anything, it is that > violence breeds more violence. > > Many people who do not necessarily support Sharon's brutal methods > nevertheless have sympathy for Israel's predicament. They point out > that the suicide bombs against innocent Israeli civilians pre-dated > the incursion of Israeli tanks into West Bank towns and villages. > Israel's illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, however, goes > back to 1967 and constitutes the underlying cause of Palestinian > frustration, hatred, and despair of which the suicide bombs are only > the cruelest manifestation. They say that Hamas and Islamic Jihad deny > altogether Israel's right to exist. These are, however, the extremist > fringes. The savage treatment meted out by Sharon to the Palestinians > is self-defeating precisely because it undermines moderates and > strengthens extremists. > > One of the most disturbing aspects of the current crisis is America's > complicity in the Israeli onslaught. One might have expected George > Bush Jr. to resume the even- handed policy of his father towards Arabs > and Israelis. Instead, he has reverted to a blatantly pro-Israeli > policy reminiscent of the Reagan years. Although America is a > signatory to the Oslo Accord, Bush has abandoned the Palestinian side. > > > Sharon is holding Arafat hostage in his headquarters in Ramallah, > depriving him of food, water, medicines and telephone lines. The only > concession that the American President has managed to extract from the > truculent Israeli Prime Minister is a promise not to kill the > Palestinian leader. The Israelis have destroyed much of Arafat's > police force and security services, leaving him with a mobile phone. > Under these conditions the embattled Palestinian leader does not have > the means to prevent suicide attacks even if he had the will to do so. > > > In an apparent reversal of American policy a week ago, President Bush > called on Sharon to pull out his troops from the Palestinian towns and > villages. Sharon insisted they would stay as long as necessary to > accomplish their mission of uprooting the infrastructure of terror. > Secretary of State Colin Powell was dispatched to the region to broker > a ceasefire and restore the political track. He is unlikely to get far > with Sharon unless he backs up his words with the threat to cut > economic and military aid to Israel. The death toll in 'Operation > Defensive Shield' is more than 200 Palestinians and 60 Israelis. How > many more lives will have to be sacrificed before the Americans > understand that General Sharon is part of the problem, not the > solution? > > � Avi Shlaim is a professor of International Relations at Oxford and > the author of The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World (2000) > > Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 > End<{{{ > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > Forwarded as information only; no automatic endorsement > + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + > > In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material > is distributed without charge or profit to those who have > expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information > for non-profit research and educational purposes only. > + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + > > "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. 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