Another obituary for Sharon

Here's an article in Electronic Intifada recapping on Sharon's career:

After reading a number of tentative eulogies for now brain-damaged Ariel Sharon in the mainstream US press, one wishes that more sound-bites and column space could be devoted to those who bore the brunt of “the Bulldozer’s” morally troubling and legally insupportable policies and decisions.

Could we not hear from the bereaved parents of the Israeli soldiers that Sharon led into Lebanon in 1982 in a reckless war that caused more Israeli casualties and provoked sharper social debates than any Israeli military action up until then? Perhaps we should give attention not only to Ariel Sharon’s idyllic ranch, steely determination, and pride as a warrior, but also to the most aggrieved victims of violent acts committed under his Command Responsibility: the victims of the Sabra and Shatila massacre of 16-18 September 1982.

One cannot help wondering, in light of media focus on the campaign for the upcoming Israeli elections: What ever happened to the Israeli public that reacted with appropriate moral horror to news of the massacre in 1982 by staging the largest demonstrations Israel had ever seen? No Arab country witnessed such public outrage over the massacre; Lebanon's shattered government refused to investigate it seriously.

Is it possible that the Israel of 1982 had more integrity than the Israel of today? Average Israelis' humane and outraged reaction to the massacre 23 years ago paved the way for the 1983 Kahan Commission's (non-legally binding) investigation, which concluded that Ariel Sharon should never again hold public office. His return as Prime Minister in 2001 reveals Israel's political cynicism, deterioration, and corruption. Palestinian intransigence does not explain Sharon's political resurrection as well as does the complete impunity that Israel has enjoyed for war crimes over the last two decades, particularly since the Al-Qaida attacks of 2001, a watershed event that enabled Israeli and US discourses about "wars on terror" to dovetail seamlessly.