Should Sharon be given a chance?

Amonst other things, Jo Wagerman argues that Jews were not allowed to worship at the Western Wall under Arab rule. This may have had something to do with the presence of houses built up around it. Houses which were promptly bulldozed and the Arab occupants summarily ejected with the founding of the 'Jewish' nation. A small portion of the wall was only reachable down a tiny alley, and the way I heard it, Arab residents protested only when alters and other furniture were erected within its confines.

Wagerman also argues that it was Sharon's visit "to the Western Wall," his right as any Jew, that began riots that started the Autumn 2000 massacre of Palestinian and Israeli Arabs. Sharon's visit also included forced entry to the Haram al-Sharif (Dome of the Rock) with the aid of over 1000 Israeli Police officers. The idea that Prime Minister Ehud Barak knew nothing of this vast diversion of manpower is to grotesquely ignore the facts.

Once again the Orwellian tactics of Zionism (a despicable and racist movement prone to the odd act of terrorism itself, such as Unit 101 massacre led by Sharon at Qibya) are aptly demonstrated. To say, as Wagerman does, that Barak's "courageous attempts" at peace were rebuffed by the PLO is ridiculous. Barak and Labor are just as rejectionist as Sharon and Likud. After the Oslo accords, Israel retains de facto control of 90% of the West Bank and Gaza, whilst simultaneously ridding themselves of responsibility for the most densly populated Arab towns. Hardly the fair deal it was portrayed as being in the media. As for the idea that the Palestinians "chose the course of violence rather than to moderate their extreme demands" Yasser Arafat declared that he was willing to accept a two-state settlement as early as 1976. Shortly after Israel had dismembered Lebanon for its own political ends. Israel and the mainstream media ignored this groundbreaking peace offer, claiming that they would not negotiate with "terrorists". Why not? The PLO were willing to do so.

Like his racist predessesor Ben-Gurion, Sharon is a thug and a Nazi. It is unremarkable that the pampered youth of Israel, too young to remember the holocaust and whose first memories are second-hand accounts of the six-day war (by the victors), should have elected him as their leader.

To give Arabs equal rights in Israel is to deny the very foundations of Zionism, therefore the oppression, murder and abuse of basic human rights will go on as long as countries like Britain and America trade goods and arms with Israel. Vast amounts of aid, which are set to increase under Bush Jnr, continue to flood into the USA's most important strategic asset. In response to Wagerman's letter, I can only wonder whether he is aware that the date on the top of the letters page is 2001. For a moment there i thought we were back in 1984.

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