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Palestinian Calls Sharon Stroke a 'Gift'
 | The Paleos never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. |
Pan-Arab satellite television broadcasters beamed out largely straightforward, nonstop live coverage early Thursday from outside the hospital where Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon -- a particularly despised figure among Arabs -- struggled for his life. But a radical Palestinian leader in Damascus, the Syrian capital, called Sharon's health crisis a gift from God. "We say it frankly that God is great and is able to exact revenge on this butcher. ... We thank God for this gift he presented to us on this new year," Ahmed Jibril, leader of the Syrian-backed faction Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, a small radical group, told the Associated Press. He said Sharon's legacy would be one of huge damage inflicted on the Palestinian people.
| Jibril will have no legacy. As soon as he's dead he'll be forgotten. |
A Palestinian commentator on the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya network offered Sharon unexpected praise as "the first Israeli leader who stopped claiming Israel had a right to all of the Palestinian's land," a reference to Israel's recent withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. "A live Sharon is better for the Palestinians now, despite all the crimes he has committed against us," said Ghazi al-Saadi. The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera aired an extended interview with Sharon adviser Raanan Gissin, who explained the Israeli leader's condition and treatment. Sharon's illness cast a huge shadow across the political life of the region, where the Palestinians were to vote in parliamentary elections Jan. 25 and Israel slated a nationwide vote March 28.
In Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, a key figure in the militant Hamas group, told AP he saw no justification for postponing the Palestinian vote because of the political turmoil in Israel. "On the contrary, it could be an opportunity for the Palestinians to take advantage of the jolt caused by Sharon's absence to conduct an election away from pressures. Sharon out of the picture is a way out for Palestinians to escape the pressures," he said.
Posted by: Fred 2006-01-05 |
