I'm fully aware, and scared, at the comments this post will generate, but it's a very important day and I feel compelled to post. It's been a rough day for Israelis (I'm a dual-citizen) and those concerned with peace in the Middle East. Ariel Sharon is done politically (if not physically) and this opens up chaos with no real viable leaders in Israel to make peace.
Let me clear the air on a few things:
1) I am no Ariel Sharon lover. I strongly opposed his historical positions on the growth of the settlements, Lebanon, etc. etc. In fact, let's face it, for most of his life, he was a dick.
2) I still believe, given the current facts on the ground right now, and given the total lack of other strong leaders in Israel or on the Palestinian side, he was currently the best hope for peace. Would it be a totally just peace? No, of course it wouldn't. In a perfect world I still believe in a fairly negotiated solution.
But it's been such an intractable problem for so long, it was time for some type of solution so that the people could move on with their lives and make the best of it.
Also, Sharon was the only leader who was able to forceably remove Israeli settlers from occupied territories, a move I supported strongly.
3) The sad truth is this opens the door for Likud and Bibi Netanyahu to come back - Bibi's a neocon who will lead Israel back to the policies that will get us nowhere but the condemnation of the world and the same old cycle of back and forth and fear. Sharon may have been a dick, but Bibi is much worse.
There's no other leader Israelis will trust. The Labor leader is focused entirely on economic issues, and Sharon's new centrist party has no strong back-ups. Israelis aren't an inherently right-wing people, but they're scared for their security (with reason) and they'll vote first for the guy who promises to protect them. That's scary news.
And for those who say Israelis will reap what they sow, don't forget the system in Israel involves over 20-something political parties, so it takes only a very small plurality for a party like Likud to come to power.
4) It's hard to be a liberal today. I've seen so many blogs with people whose positions I normally support say things like "Good, I hope Sharon dies," and "He's a Nazi genocidal maniac who should burn in hell."
It's frustrating as someone who spends part of every year in Israel to see the misunderstanding on both sides that persist. Conservatives think that somehow you can separate the two people and that will be the end of that, but they don't know how intertwined the people are on such a small land. There has to be a way for Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace side-by-side, period. Liberals attack Israeli policies at the drop of a hat, going so far as to often justify suicide bombings, while I say killing is wrong period and two wrongs don't make a right. As with all things, the truth is much more complex - and it's genuinely difficult to fully comprehend this without a visit to the region.
There are days where I see why some people equate criticism of Israel with anti-semitism. OF COURSE, it's not the same thing. No one criticizes Israeli policy more than I do.
But there's something about the relish with which Israel and Israelis are attacked, the language used, and something about the ease with which people group Israelis and their government's policies in one batch (as if all Americans are Bush-ites) that is disturbing. Most disturbing is how often (everytime without fail) the word "Nazi" is used to describe Israeli policies. I don't know the answer, but it's a little scary.
Anyhow, one thing that's never good in the Middle East is a power vacuum and chaos, and let's hope for stability and peace for all involved. I'm a liberal, but I'm also a supporter of pragmatic approaches to very difficult policies. As much as a bastard as Sharon was, he did in many ways represent the best hope for some movement towards peace in a long time. Now, who knows?
Please, all comments to this post be rational and not reactionary. The facts on the ground are complex, and we are intelligent enough people to understand this.