Shattering Democracy: Sharon’s Plan for Palestine
By Remi Kanazi
Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, showed his true colors earlier this week as his normative praise of “democratic
values” subsided. "I announced as clearly as I could that we formally oppose Hamas participation in the election as long
as it is not disarmed and has not cancelled the Hamas charter, which is a horrible document," Sharon stated on
Wednesday. On Saturday, he went further in an interview with reporters in New York, rejecting calls for democratic
elections in the Occupied Territories, "We will make every effort not to help [the Palestinians]. I don't think they can
have elections without our help."
Hamas plans to engage in the Palestinian political process, as it has in previous municipal elections, so why hinder the
charged peace process after the successful “disengagement” of Gaza? Sharon realizes that Hamas is gaining momentum in
the Occupied Territories and understands how much political power it can attain through sweeping parliamentary
elections, which will likely occur in January if Israel doesn’t interfere. Keeping a balance of power between the
Palestinian Authority and Hamas effectively destabilizes a unified Palestinian voice and further advantages a
politically savvy Israel. Israel supported Hamas in the 1980’s as a counterweight to the Palestinian Liberation
Organization (PLO)—the de facto representative of the Palestinians people—because the PLO was gaining political ground
on the international front.
Sharon is trying to politically deligitimize Hamas by keeping it out of the elections, while demonizing Abu Mazen for
not cracking down on “terror” and using the excuse of having “no partner for peace” as a ploy to further expand
settlements, the Apartheid Wall, and to impose greater restrictions on Palestinian life in the West Bank, and East
Jerusalem. Just this week as half the world was sleeping and the other half was still dazed by the effects of Hurricane
Katrina, Sharon stated on Israeli radio referencing the controversial Maale Adumim settlement, "They {Maale Adumim and
East Jerusalem}will be connected, and I don't think that this will become a problem."
The militaristic mind of Ariel Sharon cannot forget the irony and hypocrisy in demanding Hamas to disarm. The three
major Jewish militant—many claim terrorist—groups, the Haganagh, Irgun, and Lehi were not disarmed before the creation
of Israel. On the contrary, they went on the offensive under the instruction of Haganagh leader David Ben Gurion on
March 10, 1948 when the groups implemented Plan Dalet (Plan D). The effects of Plan D led to the dispossession of
hundreds of thousands of indigenous Palestinians and the massacre of nearly 120 Palestinians at Deir Yassin. There was
no attempt by these Jewish groups to put their faith in the political process and live with the indigenous population in
peace; rather they coveted the land on which the Palestinians lived, and sought to expel them to create a Jewish
homeland. Hamas is doing something the founders of Israel never thought to do: assimilate into the political process in
the land on which they live, and substantiate their voice by positive means. If the founders of Israel and people like
Ariel Sharon had done this, armed groups such as Hamas wouldn’t be fighting against the injustices that have plagued
Palestinian society for the last 58 years.
ENDS