Segacs's World I Know

Posts Tagged ‘ariel sharon’

Unlike last year, I didn’t walk into the middle of any Israel Day parades. And no, I did not see Ariel Sharon. I did, however, see some people wearing the “Gush Katif Forever” t-shirts entering a subway station in Midtown. Personally I prefer the “I love NY” t-shirts, but hey, that’s just me.

Courtesy of Meryl Yourish:

On the serious side, it appears that W. isn’t going to get the fact that Ma’ale Adunim is a neighborhood of Jerusalem, not a “settlement” in the West Bank (think Queens in NYC for a comparison, or the south side of Richmond, which is actually fifteen minutes away from downtown yet is still part of the city, and I have the tax bills to prove it), and then tell the PA to eff off. Because Ariel Sharon isn’t giving it up, nor will the rest of Israel.

Jerusalem was out of Jewish control for nearly two millennia. We will never willingly give it up again, since we had the proof during Jordanian control, when they were legally obligated by treaty to let Jews worship at the Western Wall and did not, that the Arabs cannot be trusted to let Jews worship at our holy sites — even though Jews have let Muslims worship at theirs since 1967, and indeed, enacted a law protecting all holy sites.

In fact, the Jordanians destroyed much of Jewish Jerusalem while they were in control.

Here’s the thing: The Arabs lost the war. Now they lose some territory. It happens. Deal with it.

Ah yes, cause they’ve been “dealing with it” oh-so-well for all these years.

This AP report of today’s cease-fire declaration between Israel and the Palestinians is, like most reporting on the issue, optimistic.

Reading between the lines, though, we see the telling of an entirely different story. For example, the article claims that the “sides are moving quickly”. Let’s see what each side has done so far:

“Today, in my meeting with chairman Abbas, we agreed that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere, and, at the same time, Israel will cease all its military activity against all Palestinians everywhere,” he said.

Yay, no more violence. But…

But the Palestinian militant group Hamas immediately called the deal into question. The group’s representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, told The Associated Press it would not be bound by the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire declarations.

So in other words, the terrorists will continue their attacks, and Abbas will continue Arafat’s tradition of claiming to have no control over them and nothing to do with them. Meanwhile, Israel will have tied its hands in being able to respond.

Moving on…

In signs the two sides are working quickly, Palestinian negotiator Hassan Abu Libdeh said the leaders agreed that 500 Palestinian prisoners would be freed immediately by Israel, to be followed by 400 more at a later stage.

So Israel is sending more terrorists back on the streets, freeing them to kill again. What are the Palestinians doing in return?

Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, a key parliamentary committee narrowly approved a bill that would allow Mr. Sharon to carry out his planned pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank in the summer. The vote passed 10-9 on a subject that has split the party and angered one of its main constituencies — settlers and their supporters.

Nope, that’s another move by Israel. A biggie. Still searching for a Palestinian concession here.

During the summit, Mr. Sharon also invited Mr. Abbas to visit him at his ranch in southern Israel and Abbas accepted, according to a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official, Gideon Meir. Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said that meeting would take place soon.

Nice gesture. Maybe they can go snorkeling together. But I’m not sure how this amounts to any kind of Palestinian concession.

Gissin said that as part of Israel’s halting of military operations, it would stop its controversial assassinations of wanted Palestinians, as long as the Palestinians kept militants under control.

Another concession from Israel. Where are the Palestinian confidence-building moves?

Whoops, we’ve reached the end of the article. I haven’t seen any yet.

I suppose it’s that people are so sick of war, they’re grasping at straws for hopes for peace, even though they’ve all been down this road before and they know full well where it leads. Sad, but not really unpredictable.

The latest cease-fire announcement between Israel and the Palestinians should be good news. Right?

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will declare a formal end to more than four years of fighting at a summit in Egypt on Tuesday, officials from both sides said Monday.

[ . . . ]

“The most important thing at the summit will be a mutual declaration of cessation of violence against each other,” said Palestinian Minister Saeb Erekat.

An Israeli government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the cease-fire agreement, adding that the deal would also include an end to Palestinian incitement against Israel.

So why am I skeptical here? Is it because previous cease-fire attempts have only led to more bloodshed? Is it because despite the signs of hope, the lessons learned the hard way from Oslo teach us that there are no easy answers? Or am I just too much of a pessimist? Nah… couldn’t be. Especially with news like this.

I hope that this is a step towards peace. Unfortunately, I fear that it’s just another futile effort.

Update: “You may say I’m a pessimist… but I’m not the only one”. Here’s Caroline Glick (via Lynn B.):

So, here we are again, at the dawn of a new peace process which will bring no peace; will legitimize terrorists and the authoritarian regimes that support them; will weaken Israel’s democratic institutions while endangering its citizenry; and will engender scorn for America and faith in Israel’s eventual destruction in the hearts of millions of people who today waver between support for freedom and support for terror.

I hope she’s wrong. But sadly, I know she’s probably right.

Tony Blair is in Israel holding meetings this week with Israeli and Palestinian leaders (separately, of course):

The centerpiece of Blair’s visit is his initiative for a conference in London focused on strengthening the new Palestinian leadership. Sharon said Tuesday that Israel will support the conference but will not attend. He said the conference is meant to influence the promotion of reforms in the PA, and to consolidate support for a sweeping plan to rehabilitate Gaza and the Palestinian economy.

Analysts are saying that Blair sees an opportunity with Arafat’s death and is trying to capitalize on it.

Blair sees an opportunity alright… but it has nothing to do with helping the Palestinians, and everything to do with his own political career.

Ever since Blair cast his lot with Bush by joining the campaign in Iraq, his political stock among Europeans and a good number of Britons has plummeted. The Israeli-Palestinian issue is his pet project to try to score back some brownie points.

And while he seems to be proceeding cautiously for the moment, I can’t help but think that Blair is wading into waters that are much too deep for him. I only hope the Israeli people don’t pay the price.

Arafat is dead… and the fat lady is singing a song that probably resembles the theme song of “The Apprentice” – you know, “Money money money money, MONEY”

Update: Watching CTV’s pre-prepared obituary on the 11 o’ clock news. I think I need an aspirin cause the whitewashing is giving me a headache. For some perspective, see the Canadian Jewish News’s retrospective of the terrorist’s life of failures.

Update #2: CNN has it now. So does Reuters, BBC, Ha’aretz, and Associated Press. Prepare for more sickeningly whitewashed obits.

Update #3: The Suha Arafat soap opera plot sickens. Allison has reports of bribes offered to her to agree to pull the plug on her husband, and the supposed affair that she’s been having with her financial advisor. Israel Insider reports that her boyfriend, Pierre Rizk, was directly implicated in the massacre at the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982. You know, the one that Ariel Sharon gets constantly blamed for, even though it was actually carried out by Maronite Phalangists – apparently including Rizk. Something tells me that the details are just starting to emerge on this one.

The news keeps happening much faster than I can keep up on it. Funny how that happens, ain’t it? At any rate, until I can successfully build my time machine that will allow me to “pause live reality” and catch up while everyone else is in freeze-frame, here’s an in-brief recap:

• Sharon’s Gaza disengagement plan was approved by the Knesset after some typically-Israeli political jockeying that’s still ongoing. Netanyahu’s threatening mutiny unless Sharon agrees to hold a referendum, but so far, Sharon’s not budging. The settler fringe is of course up in arms – somewhat literally – and on the anniversary of the Rabin assassination, some can’t help but wonder if Sharon is looking over his shoulder these days. Despite being uncomfortable with the idea of the plan being perceived by the Palestinians as a reward for terrorism, and my general overall pessimism about the whole conflict, I can’t help but think that despite the mess, Sharon will land on his feet. He always does. For more, see Allison and Jonathan.

• The CJC has Issued another statement responding to the remarks by Canadian Islamic Congress leader Mohamed Elmasry that said that all adult Israelis are ‘legitimate targets’ for terrorism. The CJC statement called the CIC marginal and irrelevant, no matter whether Elmasry resigns or not. The CIC, you will recall, likes to believe it speaks for all Canadian Muslims. I personally am waiting to hear a huge outcry from Canadian Muslims who believe that this organization does not represent them. I’m still waiting. I think I’ll be waiting a while. The police, by the way, are investigating Elmasry’s remarks as a hate crime.

• Speaking of the CIC, they’re the same group that issued an election report card urging Canadian Muslims to vote for or against specific candidates (seemingly based on how pro- or anti-Israel they are). Damian points to anti-American remarks by Liberal MP Yasmin Rantisi, the first Muslim woman elected to Parliament. Something tells me the CIC would give her an “A”.

• Arafat’s ill health continues to dominate the news. My feeling is that this is an overexaggeration designed to cause panic and an outpouring of sympathy for Arafat. Meryl’s not betting on anything but she does have an interesting idea for a Magen David Adom matching fund if any Arab dictators croak. Arafat would be included in this, it seems. MDA is one of my favourite charities and the irony just seems deliciously appropriate.

• Less than a week before the US election and it’s still too close to call. I’m thinking Tuesday might be a good time to actually get some work done, since everyone will be preoccupied with voting and watching the results. Hmmmm.

• There was a lunar eclipse tonight. I didn’t get much of a view of it but I hear that people who had clear skies and lines of sight were wowed.

• Oh yeah, and the Red Sox won the World Series, breaking an 86-year “curse”.

A vote by Likud to reject a coalition with Labor to push through Gaza disengagement is being presented as a major setback for Ariel Sharon:

Likud’s Central Committee, its decision-making body, voted by a 58% majority to prevent PM Ariel Sharon from negotiating with the opposition Labor party. By a narrow margin, even Sharon’s modest proposal to allow him to talk with any Zionist party was rejected. The PM vowed to pursue his course and talk with Labor anyway. Most Likud Ministers and Knesset Members supported him.

In his speech, interrupted by frequent catcalls and boos, Sharon attacked the “rebellious and irresponsible” parts of the body that opposed him. “Unfortunately, there is a group within the party that has been plotting against the government since its establishment,” he said. “This is not the behavior expected from members of the ruling party.”

That last bit sounds like Jean Chretien speaking to Paul Martin. But anyway…

This is one of the problems with fighting a war in a democracy. All the decision-making is done in public; all the dirty laundry gets to be dissected by the international press. Arafat, in contrast, can just shoot anyone who opposes him. Much less messy or controversial, I suppose.

Anyway, the opposition is busy talking about how bad this is for Sharon’s government:

A Labor Party spokesman said that the decision would inevitably lead to elections: “The Likud convention decided that it wants to see the Likud refusing peace and destroying any chance of ending violence in the region. If this position is adopted elections will be required.”

But ultimately, the disengagement plan will happen. Ariel Sharon is – politically – the cat with nine lives. Every other week, some media outlet predicts the collapse of his government and the end of his political career. They’ve always been wrong until now. We’ll probably see that repeated again here.

I may have been on vacation for two and a half weeks, but amazingly, the world didn’t stop chugging along in my absence. Here’s a bit of catch-up.

Firstly, a hearty MAZEL TOV to Allison on the birth of her new baby girl, Tamar! If she’s anything like her mom, we’ll be reading her byline in about 20 years or so.

Unfortunately, not all the news from Israel is that good. While I was in Israel, lots was happening there… and now that I’m home, time to catch up on it. The IJC ruled that the security fence is illegal – no surprises there. Meryl is essential reading, and Lynn has an increasingly popular view on the subject. Now that the UN General Assembly is preparing to do what it does best and issue yet another resolution against Israel, what can I really say on the subject other than it’s no worse than everyone expected. I used to wonder why Israel didn’t put more effort into winning the media war, but now I’m starting to come around to the view that none of that effort would make the slightest bit of difference. The world is determined to villainize Israel, and in the meantime the Israeli government should concentrate on defending its citizens. Especially if the fence helps prevent more incidents like this one. Whatever I could say on the subject, I know that, as usual, Imshin already said it better.

But, hey, the UN still acknowledges that Israel is the best place to live in the Mideast. Even despite all those GA resolutions.

It’s looking more and more like civil war in Gaza. But I have to agree with the Jerusalem Post commentary that this is not good news for Israel. Arafat is a murderer, a terrorist, and a corrupt leader who has inflicted most of the hurt he has caused on his own people. But he’s also incredibly attached to power, and extremely savvy at holding onto it. Speculation that he may be brought down is, I believe, no more than wishful thinking. Besides, anyone who could conceivably replace Arafat would probably only be worse. Chaos will just lead to more bloodshed, which is bad news all around.

The assassination of an Israeli judge is leading to shock and questions. Was it terrorism? Related to criminal or civil matters? Something else entirely? The police investigation will reveal more, and in the meantime, the papers are engaging in plenty of speculation.

The French seem to never tire of creating pointless headlines. Jacques Chirac has told Ariel Sharon that he is unwelcome in France, due to remarks Sharon made encouraging French Jews to make Aliyah to Israel to escape antisemitism. Way to go, Jacques, that’ll really convince people you’re committed to wiping out antisemitism, barring the Israeli Prime Minister and all. Right. To Mr. Sharon: I hear Eilat is much nicer than Paris this time of year anyway.

The violence in Iraq continues to claim more lives on a daily basis. Suicide bombings are becoming so common that they’re hardly even getting reactions anymore. Here’s a thought: maybe if the Americans built a fence…

On the home front, Paul hits the nail on the head on the CRTC decision to allow Al-Jazeera to broadcast, albeit with special restrictions. The CJC may see this as a good compromise. But I think it’s just further evidence that the CRTC needs to be dissolved. How is it okay, in a supposedly free society, for our government to decide that we’re allowed to watch Al-Jazeera but not HBO?

Canada has taken a small step away from our usual foreign policy of holding up a maple leaf and shouting “please like us”. We have chosen to express our displeasure with Iran in the Zahra Kazemi murder trial by… recalling our ambassador. Yeah, that’ll show those bastards. Burnside agrees. We should really take a few lessons from Israel on how to deal with threats from countries like Iran.

Those are some of the highlights and low points. Lots more happened, of course, but I’m through playing catch-up. Onwards and forwards.

Ariel Sharon is opting for minority government rule rather than trying to launch talks with Labor to form a unity government.

It makes a lot of observers wonder. After all, the disengagement plan that Sharon is trying so hard to push through – over the objections of the religious right that formed part of his coalition – is very similar to the plan that former Labor leader Amram Mitzna campaigned on last election… and that Sharon dismissed as unrealistic. Israeli politics can be funny that way. But still, one might think that Sharon would welcome the opportunity to broaden his power base and earn more support for his plans.

Or maybe not. After all, most analysts agree that in Israel, the left proposes the tough concessions but only the right can get them passed. Post-Oslo, the Israeli public does not trust Labor to look out for their security interests. So if Sharon wants to win support for his plan from the hard-line elements, he can’t be seen getting to cozy with the opposition, I suppose. No doubt this is a calculated gamble.

The good news is that the religious parties will lose some influence in government with the NRP ministers’ resignations. As the religious parties become more fractured, their power base will diminish and they might lose some of their grip over aspects of secular Israeli life. One can hope, anyway.