RESIDENTS of Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, on Saturday celebrated the death of Israeli former general and prime minister ‘Butcher Sharon’.
Sharon is held responsible for the massacre of unarmed Palestinian women, children and old men in the camp in September 1982, when Israeli forces let loose the Phalangist Lebanese fascist militia.
Palestinians at the refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in south Lebanon also rejoiced on Saturday at the news of the death of Sharon, a widely reviled figure in the country.
‘We wish he had fallen in battle,’ they cheered as they played revolutionary songs inside the camp.
Munir Maqdah, the Fatah military commander at the Ain al-Hilwah Ain camp, said Sharon was ‘the butcher that killed Palestinians in the occupied lands and in Lebanon.’
‘The Israeli state is all like Sharon and Palestine will only be restored by the power of arms,’ he said.
The Hamas news agency, Palestine Information Centre (PIC) said on Sunday Palestinians, nearly at all levels, have expressed deep satisfaction at the death of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the man many Palestinians consider their ‘ultimate tormentor.’
Palestinian intellectuals and commoners said they were quite relieved at the death of the man they said killed so many innocent Palestinians and caused suffering and misery on a large scale.
PIC noted: ‘Sharon is especially reviled for the Sabra and Shatila massacres in 1982, when he, as Defense Minister, enabled Christian militiamen allied with Israel to penetrate the two refugee camps on the outskirts of Beirut and butcher hundreds of refugees.
‘Sharon denied the allegations but the monstrosity of the massacres convinced very few people, even inside Israel, of his innocence.
‘His visit to the Aqsa Mosque esplanade in October 2000 was seen as the main event triggering the second Palestinian intifada in which thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of Israelis lost their lives.
‘Palestinians also believe that Sharon ordered the assassination by way of poison of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
‘In 2004, Sharon ordered the assassination of Ahmed Yasin, the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas. A few weeks later, Sharon approved the assassination of Yasin’s successor Abdul Aziz al-Rantisi.
‘The ostensibly overwhelming hatred the Palestinian public harbours for Sharon seems to have made Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas refrain from extending official condolence to the Israeli government.
‘The PA might also be worried that a formal call of condolence would be used by Hamas as a “propaganda capital” against Abbas and the PA.
‘While the PA leadership refrained from commenting on Sharon’s death, some Fatah leaders unhesitatingly voiced their deep satisfaction at Sharon’s death.’
Jebril Rajoub, an outspoken Fatah leader and former head of the Preventive Security agency said: ‘Sharon was a bona fide criminal. He is responsible for the murder of so many innocent Palestinians, including Yasser Arafat.
‘We would have hoped to see him dragged to the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court to stand trial for his numerous crimes.’
For its part, Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, couldn’t hide its pleasure at Sharon’s death.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesperson, said the Palestinian people were more confident in victory after the death of Sharon.
Abu Zuhri said: ‘Our people are quite happy that this criminal has perished.
‘We are happy because his hands were smeared with the innocent blood of our children.
‘We don’t hate Sharon and other Israeli leaders because they are Jewish. We hate them because they are criminals and murderers.’
Mushir al Masri, another Islamist spokesman, said it was ‘natural’ that Palestinians are happy about Sharon’s death.
‘Wouldn’t Jews be happy about the death of a Nazi killer who had killed numerous Jews during the holocaust?’ he asked.
Ismael Shindi, professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Hebron, said: ‘I know he is looked upon as a celebrated hero by most Israelis and Jews. But for us he was a despicable murderer and criminal.
‘He carried on his hands the blood of so many innocent people. I believe it is unethical and un-conscientious to feel sorry for the death of such a man.’
Shindi added: ‘I know that gloating over a mortal’s death is inappropriate. But the man we are talking about was not an ordinary criminal. He was our ultimate tormentor and grave-digger and I am not speaking metaphorically.
Ahmed Yousef, the former political advisor of Hamas’ Prime Minister Ismael Haniya, said: ‘Sharon’s evilness went beyond the pale. It transcended reality. That is why it would be dishonest to say that Palestinians don’t feel relieved by his death.’
Tayseer Masalmeh, a taxi cab driver from the small town of Dura in the southern West Bank, said that Palestinians cannot go against nature by pretending that they are not satisfied at Sharon’s death.
Tayser said: ‘I know that Sharon’s death won’t change things on the ground. I know that his death won’t make Israeli leaders reconsider their oppressive policies and practices against our people.
‘But at least Sharon will meet his maker and be brought face to face with the many thousands of people whose lives he cut short. I’m sure he will rot in hell. God wouldn’t be just if he didn’t.’
A similar view was voiced by Walid Suleiman, editor-in-chief of Hebron Times, a tabloid newspaper published in Hebron.
He said: ‘I think Sharon’s prolonged coma and ultimate death is a sign of God.
‘For us Palestinians, he was a terrifying figure, a sort of fearful golem. He was called the bulldozer for his ruthlessness and viciousness.
‘But eventually he succumbed to death as if he had never existed on this earth. I hope all tyrants and oppressors, Arabs and Jews and others will learn a lesson from Sharon’s life and death, namely that arrogance, insolence and evil don’t pay off.’
Palestinian political analyst Hani al-Masri doesn’t credit Sharon for withdrawing Israeli occupation troops from the Gaza Strip in 2005.
Al-Masri said: ‘He didn’t do it for the Palestinians’ sake or for peace. He did it because he wanted to have as much Palestinian land as possible with as little population as possible.
‘Besides, Israel never really terminated its domination of Gaza borders, waters and airspace.’
Masri doesn’t think there is any qualitative difference between Sharon and other Israeli leaders.
The Palestinian analyst said: ‘Sharon would murder us while cursing but people like (Israeli President) Shimon Peres would do the same thing while saying “we love you”.’
Meanwhile, in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian Authority Presidency spokesman Nabil Abu-Rudaynah has stressed that under no circumstances can a peace agreement be reached without occupied East Jerusalem as Palestine’s eternal capital.
Commenting on Israeli Premier Binyamin Netanyahu’s statements to the effect that ‘he will not agree to negotiate over Jerusalem,’ Abu-Rudaynah said that ‘we will accept nothing short of East Jerusalem in its entirety as a Palestinian capital and we will not agree that any of the issues, whether Jerusalem or the refugees, be dropped from the agenda of the negotiations, stressing the need to release all the prisoners.’
