Bishara blasts Sharon 'media circus'
Photo: Gali Tivon
PM Sharon – war criminal? Bishara seems to think so
Photo: AP
MK Bishara: Sharon a war criminal
Arab Knesset Member Azmi Bishara lashes out at media over coverage of ailing prime minister, says Sharon is no peacemaker, has been a war criminal since his university days
Arab-Israeli Knesset Member Azmi Bishara issued a scathing attack on Israeli media outlets over their coverage of the hospitalization of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi reported Thursday.
During a meeting of Bishara's party, the National Democratic Assembly, the Knesset member commented on the intensive media presence at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem saying government advisors are using the media to portray a favorable image of the prime minister.
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Bishara said the Israeli media is turning the “war criminal Sharon into a peacemaker” as it turned Nobel Prize for Peace Laureate Yasser Arafat into a terrorist.
The staunch opponent of Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians noted the hospitalized 77-year-old prime minister never intended to pursue peace with the Palestinians, adding that Sharon tried to find ways to free Israel from any commitment to diplomatic negotiations.
“The disengagement plan is a perfect example of demographic disengagement, in this case from Gaza, to strengthen settlements in the occupied West Bank. Sharon’s logic aims at torpedoing the peace process. Sharon himself said the disengagement plan is an alternative to the Road Map, against which Israel had 14 reservations,” Bishara said.
'Don't vote for Kadima'
Bishara added that the disengagement plan is a cover to Israel’s plan to keep hold of West Bank settlements and questioned the logic of turning Sharon into a peacemaker.
“He (Sharon) has been a war criminal since his days at the Hebrew University as a student. He started his life with the murder of three Arab women in the village of Katna north-west of Jerusalem,” Bishara said.
Bishara also hinted of Sharon’s role in the Sabra and Shatila massacres and described his visit to the Temple Mount in September 2000 as an attempt to torpedo all peace attempts.
The Arab-Israeli Kenset member lashed out at recent polls showing a large number of Israeli Arabs intending to vote for Zionist parties, saying the move will amount to an approval of the occupation.
“Sharon and Kadima have no interest among the Arabs,” he said adding that a vote for Kadima will be a reward for “the massacres, the settlements, land confiscations and desecration of holy sites.”
