Sharon says he's sorry about Arafat

[poseidon]

Well, he's sorry he didn't kill Arafat when he had the opportunity to do so 20-some odd years ago.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2002Jan31.html

I agree. He should have.

Arafat has done more to harm the Palestinian cause than anyone else. It is his stubborness, his short-sightedness, his greed, his need for martydom, his hatred for the mere existence of the State of Israel compounded with his refusal to accept the biggest sweetheart of a deal that has continued and accellerated this war in the Middle East.

[poseidon]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...dc_3&printer=1

Apparently he's saying that he wouldn't kill him now 'cause it's more fun to see him suffer house arrest.

I like this guy.

[kurt_messick]

Hmmmm...

Never a pretty picture in that part of the world, is it?

[AuntieEmma[$]]

For a little balance, you might want to read this article about the Israeli peace movement:

...Although the polls show that Sharon has the support of 57 percent of the public, the same polls reveal that there is very little support for permanently moving back into Palestinian towns and cities. Israeli soldiers, and their families, do not want to go down that road again ...

... A large ad signed by 53 reserve combat soldiers and army officers placed in all Israeli newspapers late last week revealed cracks in soldiers' willingness to serve in the occupied territories.

"We hereby declare that we shall continue to serve the Israel Defense Forces in any mission that serves the defense of the State of Israel," it said.

"The mission of occupation and repression does not serve this goal -- and we refuse to participate in it. We understand today that the price of occupation is the loss of humanity of the IDF, and corruption of Israeli society in general."

The letter is a significant expression of dissent among Israelis, for whom the army is an almost holy institution. But more is needed to constitute a sea change in public opinion, Goodman said.

"The only way out of this dance of death between Israelis and Palestinians is a big, grassroots protest movement on both sides," he said. "We're just seeing little flickers of life right now."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...28/MN69537.DTL

[AuntieEmma[$]]

Looks as if Sharon and Arafat have taken a breath and calmed down for the moment, but of course we've seen this before. Interesting, though, that while Sharon was spouting off his "Kill Arafat" rhetoric, he was also meeting secretly with some of Arafat's people (see the article).

Also, an update on the Israeli Army protestors -- the protest has grown, and now the Army is threatening court martials:

... Alarmed by the declaration, the army has begun relieving some of the dissenters of their commands and is threatening to court-martial them...

Although they may not change the government's policy, the protesters have already provoked the first real public debate in Jerusalem about the army's conduct toward Palestinian civilians -- and about whether the military command is routinely asking troops to carry out illegal orders -- since the Palestinian revolt began...

"We were raised to be officers with values, and they've turned us into combatants who deal in bloodshed and war crimes," said Lt. David Zonshein, a 28-year-old software engineer who was one of the founders of the movement...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...2/MN125419.DTL