Translated "Avante!" article by Angelo Alves, Member of the Political Committee and of the International Department
The “official” approach line to Ariel Sharon’s death has great significance on the deep and criminal hypocrisy on how the Palestinian issue has been dealt with and of how the Israel state terrorism policy is supported.
Shimon Peres, Israel’s president gave the motto: “ The land from where you were born is now ready to embrace you with our nation’s history and for which you contributed with an unforgettable chapter”, he said. Barack Obama sided up with the tone: “ we associate ourselves to the people of Israel paying tribute to his compromise towards his country”. Angela Merkel stated Sharon as “ an Israeli patriot” and praised his “courageous decision” of withdrawing from the Gaza Strip settlements. Joe Biden, the USA vice-president and who attended the funeral services, stated that Sharon’s “ guiding star” was “ the Israeli state’s ”security and survival”, adding that his “ unquestionable mission was his people’s security”. Ban ki-Moon, the UN’s secretary-general, considered him “a hero for his people”. David Cameron paid is tribute to his “ courageous and controversial decisions” concerning the “ peace process in the Middle East”, naming him as “ one of the most important figures in Israel’s history”. François Hollande praised “his choice for dialogue with the Palestinians, upon a long military and political career”.
These statements which transform Sharon into a patriot and even into “ a man of peace” (as George W. Bush had the courage to state), are, as one has said, a proof of imperialism’s unconditional support to Israel’s state terrorism policy. But it inserts another highly dangerous element: violence trivialization, crimes and racism, which marked both Sharon’s life and career and Israel’s policy.
Sharon never was a man of peace, but instead a war criminal, who fought or commanded Israel against Palestine and the Arab countries in the region. He never was concerned with his people ‘s security, and brought upon insecurity throughout the region and terror to Palestine and countries such as Lebanon. Sharon never held as “guiding star” , Israel’s “survival”, nor was a man of courage, but instead a provocative commander , which very early used provocation and war, in order to deny the existence, not only of a state but the people of Palestine itself. Sharon never was a patriot, but a far right-wing nationalist and racist, the man in Qybia ‘s massacre in the West Bank, in 1953, as the 101 unity commander, killed 69 people, many of them burnt alive in their own homes. He was the author, together with the Falangists, assumedly Fascists, who attacked the Palestinian refugee camps in Sabra and Shatila ( in West Beirut), during which, and under the Israeli tanks siege , around 2000 Palestinians were assassinated and many of them tortured and violated. He was not the man of the Gaza Strip settlements withdrawal, but instead, transformed Gaza into a gigantic prison and who, in 1998, incited the Israeli settlers to occupy the most of the West Bank territory. Sharon was the man of dialogue, but the one who performed, together with 1500 soldiers, the Mosques Esplanade provocation, in Jerusalem, in 2000, and when prime-minister ordained the Jenin massacre in 2002 and decided to build the Apartheid Wall, in Palestine.
This is the man, whose death happens precisely when the operation “ melted plumb” celebrates its five years, in Gaza, which killed 1400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis and when Israel announced the building of more than 1800 houses amid the Israeli settlements, showing the hypocrisy and the real intentions of both Israel and the USA, concerning the “peace process”. Unfortunately, Israel’s atrocities, illegalities and crimes do not end with Sharon. Therefore, and now more than ever, the Palestine’s people unity and solidarity with its struggle are reasons that ought to bring upon peace to both peoples and the Middle East region.
