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Political Hemorrhaging
By Remi Kanazi
01/05/06 "ICH" -- -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a
severe stroke resulting in a cerebral hemorrhage on January 4, 2004.
Paramedics rushed Sharon from his ranch in the Negev Desert to a
Jerusalem hospital for life saving surgery. From the early news
feeds and doctor’s comments things are not looking good. Internal
bleeding after six hours of surgery led to another three hours in
the operating room. After the second surgery doctors said his vital
signs are stable, although his condition is still “grave.”
Pundits and analysts are already grabbing pen and pad to jot down
their assessment. Many believe Ariel Sharon's political career is
over. Haaretz correspondent, Aluf Benn, stated, "even if he does
recover, he will have a very hard time convincing the public of his
ability to serve four more years, after undergoing two strokes in
two and a half weeks." YNet contributor, Attila Somfalvi, was more
forthright: “Following the prime minister's stroke, nothing will
bring him back into the political game: Not the surging popularity,
not the concern and aching heart of the public, and not even the
waves of sympathy.”
While those in the West and Israel naively labeled Sharon a new "man
of peace" and fresh corruption charges surfaced, his political
career was strong as ever. Sharon was running a one man show going
into the March elections with his new Kadima (forward) party. Major
polls showed the premier was a shoe-in, but now the question becomes
which direction Israel will be headed politically.
On one right you have the hard-line Binyamin Netanyahu. The Likud
strongman dished out harsh criticism to Sharon and his “timid”
policies concerning the Occupied Territories. Netanyahu fervently
objected (and resigned from his post under the Sharon
administration) to the "disengagement" of the Gaza Strip. He holds
tight the Likud principals: keep the illegal settlers in the
Occupied Territories, expand settlements at full pace, continue the
Judiazation of Jerusalem and build the wall deep into Palestinian
land. On the left you have Amir Peretz, the underdog that beat out
Shimon Peres to head the Labor Party. Peretz, a Moroccan Jew, has
promised to focus on social justice, the eradication of poverty and
the needs of the average Israeli. He also claims to be determined on
a two-state solution as a resolution to the Israeli/Palestinian
conflict and is seen, in Palestinian circles, as much more dovish
than his colleagues in the Labor Party. We mustn’t forget the
possibility of another resurrection from Peres himself, the man in
the middle, who has envied the premiership and has yet to win it
legitimately. It is thought that the long time politician would be
able to get a leg up through a strong Kadima victory, but one
wonders if the movement will die before it ever gets off the ground.
Nevertheless, this is just the left, right and middle, with many
others looking to fill the shoes of a man who dominated Israeli
politics for five years. Time will tell what the Israeli public's
reaction will be and who they think should be the next leader of
their state. Palestinians and the rest of the world will be watching
closely as well to see what direction the Holy Land will be headed.
Remi Kanazi is the primary writer for the political website
www.PoeticInjustice.net.
He lives in New York City as a Palestinian American freelance writer
and can reached via email at
remroum@gmail.com
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