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Today, Ariel Sharon is Irrelevant!
© 2005/5765 Ariel Natan Pasko
Until Arafat's recent demise, Israel's feckless leader Ariel Sharon was wont
to call Yasser Arafat "irrelevant". Sharon did it at every
opportunity. Yet, Arafat was anything but irrelevant. He called all the
shots in "Palestine," he held the purse strings, he turned on and
off the terror tap at will, and everyone listened to him. So much, can't be
said for Ariel Sharon today.
After the recent Karni terminal bombing, Ariel Sharon has done an about
face, (Is that a retreat? Or, a disengagement?), freezing all diplomatic
relations with the newly elected Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud
Abbas, whom he just weeks ago praised as a man who Israel can do business
with, and a moderate.
Now Sharon has put him in "Cherem" (isolation), just one step down
from "irrelevant".
True, the terror gangs aren't listening to Abbas any better than they did
when he was PA Prime Minister in 2003 and called for an end to terror
attacks (he calls it ending the "militarization" of the Intifada).
True, Abbas is still the same Holocaust-denying liar, intellectually
dishonest and Arafat's fellow traveler for almost 50 years (he even
campaigned on Arafat's celebrity and how he would continue in Arafat's
path). True, most Palestinians still want to wipe out Israel and Abbas feeds
their blood lust with the codeword "right of return," which he
campaigned on preserving for them.
And true, many analysts and observers of the Middle East assume that Abbas
won't get real control of the situation in the PA and Abbas himself has
stated that to avoid a civil war in "Palestine," he doesn't intend
to honor his commitments in the Roadmap, which states, "...undertake
visible efforts on the ground to arrest, disrupt, and restrain individuals
and groups conducting and planning violent attacks on Israelis
anywhere...Palestinian Authority security apparatus begins sustained,
targeted, and effective operations aimed at confronting all those engaged in
terror and dismantlement of terrorist capabilities and infrastructure. This
includes commencing confiscation of illegal weapons and consolidation of
security authority, free of association with terror and corruption."
So, irrelevant might just be a good word to describe Abbas...
Except that much of the international community has been working very hard
to "Kasher" this pig (i.e. praise Abbas as a moderate and
peacemaker). He's relevant, because they (the world) want him to be. Bush,
who went along with Sharon's "Cherem" on Arafat, has already
invited Abbas to the Whitehouse. EU leaders have rejoiced that they now have
a "moderate terrorist," clean-shaven and in a suit. UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, can breath a sigh of relief that if Abbas
comes to UN headquarters, he won't be "packing" as his predecessor
was. Everyone is happy.
Which brings us to Arik (Sharon's nickname).
Sharon has gone against the Likud Central Committee a few times recently to
pursue his Gaza Expulsion Plan, and in the process torn Likud apart. He's
brought the "loser" Peres and his losing party, Labor, into a new
government coalition, after having adopted the losing party's policies from
the last elections.
While terrorism, rocket attacks, and the general attempt on the part of
"Palestinians" (read Amalek) to annihilate as many Jews as
possible continues unabated, Sharon has insisted that he will carry out his
"disengagement" plan this summer. Or, is that retreat under fire
(something Sharon promised he wouldn't do)? Sharon still insists he plans to
implement the left's (and Arafat's) "ethnic cleansing campaign"
against the Jews in Gaza and Northern Samaria.
But, while Sharon continues to try to curry favor with world leaders by
expelling Jews from Gaza, he's shooting himself in the foot, with his
expanded military retaliations against "Palestinian" terror.
Sharon recently said, "The army and the security forces have been
instructed to increase operational activity to stop terrorism and they will
continue to do so without restrictions - I emphasize without restrictions -
so long as the Palestinians don't lift a finger. The operational level has
been instructed to take any step necessary to stop the terrorism."
But increased military activity against terror targets (rightly justified),
and putting Abbas on the spot (he should be hung like Eichmann), won't do
much for Sharon's image in western capitals.
And contradictory positions (called flip-flops in Israel), "Abbas is
good," then "Abbas is bad," within weeks, (when we all heard
Abbas' campaign rants against Israel "the Zionist enemy" as he
called it), won't help Sharon's image in Israel either.
Can Arik pull it off?
Can Sharon claim to be for "peace," and to want to get back to the
"diplomatic process," yet hold Abbas' hand over the fire, and
start a major new military offensive in Gaza, on the one hand, and at the
same time continue to prepare to expel thousands of Jews from their homes,
in spite of the growing opposition to his plan from Israelis?
Public calls to disobey expulsion orders in the Israeli army are growing
daily. According to reports, the "Defensive Shield" organization
has now signed up over 10,000 "refusniks," soldiers who will
refuse to comply with the army's expulsion orders if called on to carry them
out. "Right-Wing Extremists," "Hill Top Youth," even
leaders from the Yesha Settlers Council (considered moderates among the
"Jewish settlers"), are preparing for massive civil disobedience
in the coming months to stop the expulsions. The recent events at Yitzhar,
when the evacuation authorities tried to visit the town, only to be met by
massive civil resistance, blocking their way, are being held up as a model
for things to come.
Threats of "civil war" are ringing in the air...
Not long ago, in a meeting with Avi Dichter, the head of Israel's FBI (the
Shin Bet or Shabak, meaning the General Security Service), the Yesha Council
people told Dichter they no longer could control the "street,"
things had gone too far. So who knows where things will lead to?
Recently, top security officials have simultaneously expressed their
concerns that given aggressive resistance from the "settlers,"
(volunteers will come from around Israel and even the Diaspora to resist),
they might not be able to carry out the expulsions, and that an Israeli
military withdrawal from Gaza would immediately endanger over 40 towns in
the Negev area, from Kassam rockets, with Ashdod and Ashkelon coming under
fire in the near future.
So what's the point of the expulsions and withdrawals?
Events are moving quickly, and they seem to be taking on a life of their
own. The Quartet (US, EU, UN and Russia) i.e. the world, want a Palestinian
state, no matter what. The Jews are divided, but a strong anti-expulsion
resistance movement is growing rapidly. With almost a third of Likud MKs
voting against the proposed coalition, the new Israeli government coalition
of Likud, Labor, and two small religious parties, was dependent on the votes
of the far-left Yahad party and two Arab MKs to come to power. Sharon
is loosing control.
My prognosis, it's going to be a long hot summer!
It's debatable if Arafat was ever irrelevant, but Abbas seems to be. To this
list, I think we can add Ariel Sharon.
Today, Ariel Sharon is irrelevant!
Ariel Natan Pasko is an independent analyst & consultant. He has a Master's Degree in International Relations & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites, in newspapers, and can be read at: www.geocities.com/ariel_natan_pasko