Assalamu aleikum. Please note that the Reuters article begins after the following 7 photos.
--- A Palestinian boy distributes sweets to a Palestinian woman during a celebration in Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza Strip, after the sudden collapse of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's health, January 5, 2006. Sharon clung to life on Thursday after a massive stroke that is likely to create a huge vacuum in Israeli politics and the Middle East peace process. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060105/ids_photos_wl/r1096358328.jpg A Palestinian boy distributes flowers and sweets to a Palestinian girl during a celebration in Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza Strip, after the sudden collapse of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's health, January 5, 2006. Sharon clung to life on Thursday after a massive stroke that is likely to create a huge vacuum in Israeli politics and the Middle East peace process. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060105/ids_photos_wl/r3133775545.jpg A Palestinian boy distributes flowers and sweets to a Palestinian policeman during celebrations after the sudden collapse of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's health, in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip January 5, 2006. Sharon clung to life on Thursday after a massive stroke that is likely to create a huge vacuum in Israeli politics and the Middle East peace process. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060105/ids_photos_wl/r2617909233.jpg A Palestinian boy takes part in a celebration after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's sudden collapse, in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip January 5, 2006. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters) http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060105/photos_ts/2006_01_05t081410_450x291_us_mideast Palestinian boy members of the Fatah party's Palestinian Mini Parliament hand sweets and flowers to a security officer after hearing news of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's deteriorating health condition, in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip Thursday, Jan. 5, 2006. Palestinians followed reports of Ariel Sharon's deteriorating health with a mix of apprehension and glee Thursday, and some officials saying they feared the prime minister's massive stroke could disrupt Palestinian parliament elections Jan. 25.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060105/481/jrl12401051327 A Palestinian boy, a member of the Fatah party's Palestinian Mini Parliament hands sweets to passers by after hearing news of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's deteriorating health condition, in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip Thursday, Jan. 5, 2006. Palestinians followed reports of Ariel Sharon's deteriorating health with a mix of apprehension and glee Thursday, and some officials saying they feared the prime minister's massive stroke could disrupt Palestinian parliament elections Jan. 25.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060105/481/jrl12801051323 A Palestinian boy, a member of the Fatah party's Palestinian Mini Parliament hands sweets to passengers in a passing car after hearing news of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's deteriorating health condition, in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip Thursday, Jan. 5, 2006. Palestinians followed reports of Ariel Sharon's deteriorating health with a mix of apprehension and glee Thursday, and some officials saying they feared the prime minister's massive stroke could disrupt Palestinian parliament elections Jan. 25.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060105/481/jrl12101051324 --- Sharon's stroke stuns Israelis but enemies smile By Tali Caspi Reuters 05 Jan 2006 http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L05317079.htm JERUSALEM, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Stunned Israelis were glued to radio and television sets on Thursday, desperate for news of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as he fought for his life after undergoing surgery for a massive cerebral haemorrhage. At Judaism's Western Wall, worshippers prayed for the 77-year-old former general. But news the bulky leader was in critical condition was greeted with celebrations among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and ultranationalist Israelis, groups with nothing in common but their loathing for the man nicknamed "The Bulldozer". On buses and in shops, radio stations played melancholy music between updates on Sharon's condition and interviews with medical experts, most of whom suggested that Sharon could be severely incapacitated even if he pulled through. "It's a shame that he has gone," said salesman David Dayan as he rushed to work in Jerusalem. "It's fate". Doctors said they stemmed the bleeding in Sharon's brain in a seven-hour operation and that he was critical but stable. They did not say how much brain damage he may have suffered. Israeli television stations carried little but updates from Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital and analysis of the potential fallout from Sharon's condition. "The Israeli public is suffering from confusion and stress, anxiety and a feeling of unreality. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will not return to the political arena," wrote Maya Bangal on the Maariv newspapers NRG website. ULTRANATIONALISTS, PALESTINIANS CELEBRATE Elsewhere, Sharon's foes celebrated. Ultranationalists who fought bitterly against Israel's withdrawal from Gaza last year raised glasses of wine in a toast when they heard that Sharon was in critical condition. "The angels listened to our prayers," Michael Ben-Horin, a member of the anti-Arab Kach group. Politicians said they would halt campaigning for a March 28 general election that Sharon's newly formed Kadima party had been expected to win by a landslide. His illness put Kadima's future in doubt. Some Israelis going about their business in Jerusalem said the country would bounce back. "The Jewish nation has been around for 4,000 years, and has seen many governments and leaders rise and fall," said Igal Malka, a Jerusalem businessman. "This is just another change. There is no person without a replacement, and a replacement will be found, for better or worse," he added. News of Sharon's illness was greeted with celebrations in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian children held up signs saying "Sharon go to hell" and gave out sweets to mark the occasion. Sharon drew Arab enmity for masterminding the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, during which Christian militia allies massacred Palestinians in two refugee camps, and later for his crushing response to a Palestinian uprising that erupted after he visited a sensitive Jerusalem shrine in 2000. "The downfall of the Dracula of the century is a day of happiness for every Palestinian and every Muslim," said Abu Abir, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, a militant group. (Additional reporting by Corinne Heller and Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza) http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L05317079.htm ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/TXWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. 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