Reply #2: "and why did you sting me after I agreed to carry you?"

[whalerider55]

asked the fox of the scorpion, as the two of them drowned mid-river.
"Because," said the scorpion. "It is what I am..."

Sharon is the ultimate survivor. He is still a profoundly corrupt and corrupting, genocidal and polarizing figure. He still has a lot of blood on his hands, of Israelis and Palestinians. He may continue to
hold on to power, but we should never confuse the failure of the left to cohere after the death of Rabin and Sharon's ultimate slithering into the role of statesman with an affirmation of him as a person or leader.

he has always practiced the politics of division; he has habitually trimmed his sails to suit his pursuit of power, and he also historically used and disposed of allies to suit his own ambitions.

in effect, sharon has left likud because they believed him when he promoted a policy of settling disputed lands; a policy he was instrumental in creating and enforcing; a policy that has cost thousands of lives. It is a policy he now wants to partially dismantle, and finds his folowers unwilling to swerve.

i've always been a strong supporter of Israel; i've probably got fifty trees planted there in my name from my bar mitzvah. but a thug is a thug, and just because we might share the same friday night rituals, i still reserve my obligation as a person of the hebrew persuasion to oppose those who are inimical to justice.

whalerider