USAMA LADEN
08-01-2006, 02:56 AM
Article published Jan 7, 2006
He has helped to further President Bush's road map for peace in the Middle East while building a more vibrant Israel.
He used his power just as Hitler had -- slaughtering innocent people.
Those are the distinctly contrasting prisms through which local people, thousands of miles away but with close ties to the Middle East, view the legacy of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who clung to life late Friday after a massive stroke.
"We in the Jewish community of Greensboro are saddened by his illness," says Rabbi Fred Guttman of Temple Emanuel, "and we are praying for his complete and speedy recovery and that our hearts are with him and his family and the people of the state of Israel."
"He was definitely the force behind the disengagement from Gaza, which I do believe in the long run will be a significant step toward peace in the Middle East and hopefully toward self-determination for the Palestinians. I don't think any other Israeli politician could have accomplished that."
Others aren't so complimentary of the man referred to as "the butcher" by some.
"The only thing I regret is that he's going to die in his bed and not at the hands of a Palestinian," says Wajeh Muhammad, a native Palestinian and local leader in the Muslim community whose family owned land for generations in territory now controlled by Israel.
Sharon's legacy and those views are born out of a history of bad blood between Palestinians and Israelis that dates back at least to 1948, when Palestinians were removed from the land that would become Israel.
Sharon, once a youth leader in Israel's war of independence, was elected prime minister in 2001. Political observers have speculated that this most recent health crisis, even if he survives, could signal the end of the leadership that has seen portions of the Gaza Strip returned to Palestinian rule.
Sharon worked to stem acts of terrorism against Israelis and created resentment within his own people for turning land over to the Palestinians.
"We realize that he has been a bold and a controversial figure within Israel and outside, but he has also made daring decisions, and sometimes leaders need to take risks that are unpopular for the betterment of those they are leading," says Marilyn Chandler, president of the Greensboro Jewish Federation.
"I think it's important to note that he was once a longtime opponent of a Palestinian state and he championed the building of settlements. However he embraced the idea during his current position of a Palestinian state as part of President Bush's road map (to peace). He made a decision to dismantle the settlements and to end the occupation of the Gaza Strip."
Badi Ali, a longtime leader in the local Muslim community and the former president of the Islamic Center of the Triad, equates Sharon with unmitigated evil.
"I'm not happy that this is happening to him as a person, but actually I am pleased this is happening to him as a man who was responsible for death and misery in the Middle East, in the entire region," Ali said. "Pat Robertson said this is a gift from Allah. On this we agree."
"Sharon in the Arab world is equal to Hitler," Ali says. "Nobody came after Hitler. Nobody will come after Sharon with that magnitude of destruction. This man is linked to genocide and things anyone with a human heart would be incapable of doing."
But didn't he do what leaders before him had refused to do?
"The people who say that are naive and do not know anything about the Middle East and the politics of the Middle East," Muhammad says. "The Israelis did not withdraw. They left these territories because they could not handle our people. He did not do that because he wanted peace. He did that because the Israeli army could not handle the people of Gaza."
Is there a middle ground? Here, thousands of miles away, the hope is that this is the generation that sees it firsthand.
"I really hope to see peace there; the Palestinians and Israelis pay a high price -- both of them, " says Ibraheem Kateeb, an electrical engineering instructor and a Jordan native who is one of the founders of the Arab-American Council of the Triad.
Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nmclaughlin@news-record.com
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The News & Record
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He has helped to further President Bush's road map for peace in the Middle East while building a more vibrant Israel.
He used his power just as Hitler had -- slaughtering innocent people.
Those are the distinctly contrasting prisms through which local people, thousands of miles away but with close ties to the Middle East, view the legacy of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who clung to life late Friday after a massive stroke.
"We in the Jewish community of Greensboro are saddened by his illness," says Rabbi Fred Guttman of Temple Emanuel, "and we are praying for his complete and speedy recovery and that our hearts are with him and his family and the people of the state of Israel."
"He was definitely the force behind the disengagement from Gaza, which I do believe in the long run will be a significant step toward peace in the Middle East and hopefully toward self-determination for the Palestinians. I don't think any other Israeli politician could have accomplished that."
Others aren't so complimentary of the man referred to as "the butcher" by some.
"The only thing I regret is that he's going to die in his bed and not at the hands of a Palestinian," says Wajeh Muhammad, a native Palestinian and local leader in the Muslim community whose family owned land for generations in territory now controlled by Israel.
Sharon's legacy and those views are born out of a history of bad blood between Palestinians and Israelis that dates back at least to 1948, when Palestinians were removed from the land that would become Israel.
Sharon, once a youth leader in Israel's war of independence, was elected prime minister in 2001. Political observers have speculated that this most recent health crisis, even if he survives, could signal the end of the leadership that has seen portions of the Gaza Strip returned to Palestinian rule.
Sharon worked to stem acts of terrorism against Israelis and created resentment within his own people for turning land over to the Palestinians.
"We realize that he has been a bold and a controversial figure within Israel and outside, but he has also made daring decisions, and sometimes leaders need to take risks that are unpopular for the betterment of those they are leading," says Marilyn Chandler, president of the Greensboro Jewish Federation.
"I think it's important to note that he was once a longtime opponent of a Palestinian state and he championed the building of settlements. However he embraced the idea during his current position of a Palestinian state as part of President Bush's road map (to peace). He made a decision to dismantle the settlements and to end the occupation of the Gaza Strip."
Badi Ali, a longtime leader in the local Muslim community and the former president of the Islamic Center of the Triad, equates Sharon with unmitigated evil.
"I'm not happy that this is happening to him as a person, but actually I am pleased this is happening to him as a man who was responsible for death and misery in the Middle East, in the entire region," Ali said. "Pat Robertson said this is a gift from Allah. On this we agree."
"Sharon in the Arab world is equal to Hitler," Ali says. "Nobody came after Hitler. Nobody will come after Sharon with that magnitude of destruction. This man is linked to genocide and things anyone with a human heart would be incapable of doing."
But didn't he do what leaders before him had refused to do?
"The people who say that are naive and do not know anything about the Middle East and the politics of the Middle East," Muhammad says. "The Israelis did not withdraw. They left these territories because they could not handle our people. He did not do that because he wanted peace. He did that because the Israeli army could not handle the people of Gaza."
Is there a middle ground? Here, thousands of miles away, the hope is that this is the generation that sees it firsthand.
"I really hope to see peace there; the Palestinians and Israelis pay a high price -- both of them, " says Ibraheem Kateeb, an electrical engineering instructor and a Jordan native who is one of the founders of the Arab-American Council of the Triad.
Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nmclaughlin@news-record.com
if (!window.print) { document.write('
To print this article open the file menu and choose Print.
'); } else { window.print(); }Copyright © 2005
The News & Record
and Landmark Communications, Inc.