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Some American Jews Cautious Over Sharon Victory
CAIRO, Feb 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Likud leader Ariel Sharon's victory in Israeli elections was met by cautious reaction from some American Jews.
"Sharon will pose grave dangers not only for Palestinians, whom he is likely to brutalize, but also to the entire region and possibly to world peace," said Rabbi Michael Lerner, Rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue in San Francisco.
Lerner said that Barak proved that Israel has to choose between settlements and peace adding, "[The] way to build peace is through peace, not through mobilizing forces to crush your opponents."
Lerner said that many American Jews reacted to the victory of Sharon with "sadness" and "mourning".
In the meantime, Arthur Waskow, director of the Shalom Center, a Jewish American peace organization, expressed his grief towards Israeli brutality in the occupied territories.
"We dare not leave peacemaking to the interaction between Prime Minister Sharon and Chairman Arafat," said Waskow in a press release by Shalom Center obtained by IslamOnline.
Waskow not only denounced violence committed by Israeli soldiers, but also by Israeli settlers, saying that in some Palestinian towns, Israeli soldiers and settlers have destroyed olive trees.
Waskow vowed to help plant new trees for Palestinians towns in cooperation with Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel, an organization that aims to educate Jews, especially Israeli citizens, that they bear a burden of moral responsibility in the area of human rights and civil liberties, especially in regard to Palestinians.
The path the Jewish state is following is not surprising, said Lerner, explaining that a state which occupies the land of another by force, would inevitably lead to "repressive" and even "fascistic" leadership.
Meanwhile, a British political analyst wrote an editorial in the Internet edition of the Independent daily quoting Arab reactions to Sharon's victory.
"I hope Sharon gets elected," said a Palestinian survivor of the Sabra and Shatila massacres.
"I want an aggressive Israeli to get the reins of power and initiate a war, because then there will be a reaction," he said, asserting that Palestinians and Israelis should live either in peace or in war. "And there's no peace," he added.
A Palestinian leftist addressing fellow Palestinians, said that their support for Barak was misdirected because Barak never intended to give them Jerusalem back, and that he further intended to build more settlements than his Likud predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, and that he rejected the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
"Now see if you can manage to support Sharon. See if you can approve his behavior and claim we are the ones who destroy peace," he added.
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