When Sharon says `yes,' what does he mean?

[Classical_Liberal]

When Sharon says `yes,' what does he mean?

By Uzi Benziman



A sensational psychological-political diagnosis was
made in the prime minister's entourage last week,
while Ariel Sharon was on an official visit to
Rome. A "senior source" stated that the
Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qureia (Abu
Ala), "wasn't and will not be a puppet or a rag
doll for Yasser Arafat."



This utterance implies that
Abu Ala's predecessor,
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen),
was, indeed, a rag doll. Let
us ignore for a moment the
profound political wisdom
reflected in this statement -
Ariel Sharon is insulting the
man with whom he intended to
sign a political deal only

four months ago, and who, according to
intelligence evaluations, may once again take
Abu Ala's place if the latter tires of, or is
removed from, his job. This statement is no
less reckless than the decision to send Israeli
rescue and investigative teams to Istanbul, to
trample on Turkey's dignity and undermine faith
in its government's ability to handle the
terrorist attacks on two synagogues. It is not
the prime minister's wisdom that is discussed
here, but his intentions.

Sharon does not speak out for no reason. When he
sees fit to contrast Abu Ala with Abu Mazen, he
is striving to create a certain impression in
public opinion. He is preparing the ground for
a move that will appear justified on the basis
of his learned diagnoses. To achieve the end he
wishes at a given moment, he does not refrain
from denying positions he once espoused and
even abandoning allies. Today Sharon is
interested in elevating Abu Ala's status,
therefore, he can mock Abu Mazen's leadership
skills and present his successor as "a very
independent man." He assumes the pictures of
brotherhood that immortalized his meetings with
Abu Mazen have been forgotten, that the
compliments he showered on him have evaporated,
and that the solemn evaluations he and his
aides provided about the qualities of the
previous Palestinian prime minister and about
the challenge to Arafat in his very election,
have faded away. Sharon also wishes to erase
from memory his former reservations about Abu
Ala's candidacy for the Palestinian
premiership.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/363922.html

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