Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20140113

Memorial, israeli Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu. The people of israel bow their heads for the departure of ariel sharon, the former Prime Minister. A warrior. I believe he was one of the greatest military leaders we had in modern days. We will get reaction from noam chomsky. Israeli historian avi shlaim, and Rashid Khalidi. Ariel sharon began his career as a military commander with atrocities in 1953 and continued through masterminding the lebanon war in which 50,000 became casualties. He ended his career as the architect of the israeli expansion in the occupied territories of the west bank, largely his handiwork from 1977 onward. All of that and more coming up. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Hundreds of thousands of West Virginia residents are on their fifth day without safe cap water after a Chemical Spill in the elk river. The Company Freedom industries leaked up to 7500 gallons of an agent used in coal extraction on thursday. Residents have been barred from drinking, cooking, or bathing with water from their taps. Scores of schools and businesses have enclosed, including in the state capital am a. The head of the West Virginia Water Company told residents to only use water for flushing toilets. Right now, no water is safe. Under the do not use as the governor mentioned, do not use it for anything other than sanitation. Dozens of people have been hospitalized since the spill, with symptoms including nausea, vomiting, dizziness, rashes, and written skin. On sunday, the West Virginia governor said the amounts of chemicals in the water is on the decline, but offered no timeline on when it will be safe. Good. Numbers looked like last time, they are encouraging. I believe we are at a point where we could say we see light at the end of the tunnel. Environmental inspectors have not visited the plant behind this bill since 1991. Under West Virginia law, areicals Storage Facilities not even subject to inspections. The chemical doesnt receive close federal or state oversight. The plant also had no Groundwater Protection plan in place. Unemploymentu. S. Rate has fallen to 6. 7 , its lowest point since october 2008. But new figures leased on friday show the economy added just 74,000 jobs last month, less than half of what had been expected. President obama vowed to focus on creating new manufacturing jobs and renewed his call for congress to extend benefits for unemployed. Theongress needs to finish job right away. More than one million amercos across the country will feel a little hope right away if they do. Working folks are looking for the kind of Stable Secure jobs that went overseas in the past couple of decades, the next week i will join companies and colleges to take action to boost the hightech manufacturing that attracts the kind of new good jobs the growing middle class requires. The senate is continuing negotiations on whether to extend the jobless benefits that expired last month. The talks appeared to have hit an impasse with republicans demanding an equal amount in cuts to government spending. Lawmakers are also negotiating over a new farm bill that will reportedly cut another nine dollars billion from food stamps over the next decade. The cuts would deprive over 800,000 households of up to 90 dollars in a permanent. That comes on top of the 5 billion in Food Stamp Cuts imposed last year. As lawmakers seek to reduce aid unemployed, new study says for the first time ever, major a majority of u. S. Congress members are millionaires. According to the center for responsive politics, at least 268 of the 534 hours of congress were worth an average of 1 million in 2012. Irans interim nuclear deal will take effect a week from today after being finalized with six world powers, including the u. S. Ae two sides agreed to timeline for a limitation on sunday after reaching agreement in november. Iran will receive partial sanctions relief in return for slowing Nuclear Operations and capping uranium enrichment at 5 . John kerry said the ensuing talks to reach a final agreement will be a far greater challenge. Aboutare very clear eyed the even greater challenges that we face in negotiating the comprehensive agreement. We understand it will be a tough negotiation and we are very clear about what will be required in order to be able to guarantee to the International Community that this is a peaceful program. The negotiations will be very difficult, but theyre the best chance that we have to be able to resolve this Critical National security issue peacefully and durably. As part of the agreement, iran will receive sanctions relief or that 27 billion. 559itial installment of in frozen oil revenue will be released next month. In International Peace conference for serious that to Begin Next Week in geneva, but the summit remains in doubt of Syrian Opposition groups have yet to confirm their attendance. The main xl group has post on a vote until later this week missed continued internal disputes. On sunday, secretary of state john kerry said he expects the oppositions involvement. I am confident that he and others will be in geneva in order to pursue this negotiation. And with respect to the assad regime, we have been told from day one, allegedly, theyre. Repared to negotiate ive been told they are prepared to be there. I am counting on both parties as well as the 30 or so plus other nations to come together in an effort to try to end this violence. The u. N. And russia have both called for an iranian role in the talks, the Obama Administration continues to claim tehran wont be taking part. John kerry said iran could potentially contribute from the sidelines. The uncertainty surrounding the geneva talks comes amidst continued violence between rebels in northern syria. Activists say the al qaeda linked, state of iraq and the to 100 has executed up fighters from another al qaeda group. The syrian observatory for human rights said the rebel infighting is left over 700 people dead in just over a week. The Syrian Government meanwhile has begun a new offensive to retake the key strategic city of aleppo. On sunday, the head of the International Committee of the red cross met with syrian officials to discuss the delivery of aid to civilians trapped by the fighting. We are worried because of the and of access to people particularly hot areas in syria, and we are worried because of the impact of the conflict of the saline population, we are worried about the war wounded in this country but we are also increasingut the disintegration and problem of the health system. Dozens of people were killed in iraq over the weekend amidst continued standoff between Government Forces and sunni. Ilitants in Anbar Province Government Forces have yet to retake parts of ramadi and falluja for militants. Former israeli Prime Minister ariel sharon has died at the age of 85. He spent the past eight years in a coma after suffering a stroke while in office. He played a major role in the history of israel over half century, first as a fighter and later as a politician. Share and was seen as the father of the Settlement Movement and the architect of the israeli atasion of lebanon come which killed a reported 20,000 palestinian and lebanese. Oversaw minister, he deadly crackdown on the second posting in intifada after helping to spark it with a visit to the temple mount. He later carried out israels withdrawal from the gaza strip and what was the lesser mover peace, but what a top aide called inactive per melba hide in order to freeze the Peace Process and strengthen israels control over illegal settlements on the west bank. Thousands of israelis filed past sharons coffin on sunday ahead of his state funeral today. Vice President Joe Biden is among the foreign dignitaries in attendance. Afterariel sharon step headlines. Opposition protest in thailand are intensifying in a bid to shut down the government of the embattled Prime Minister yingluck shinawatra. People have flooded major intersections in the capital bangkok today as part of the Ongoing Campaign to force sngluck shinawatra resignation. Opponents accuse her of being controlled by her brother, former Prime Minister convicted of corruption and now living in selfimposed exile. A snap election has been called for next month, but the opposition has vowed a boycott. The u. S. Has deployed a team of military advisers and trainers to somalia for the first time in 20 years. Post reports a u. S. Contingent has operated out of the capital since october, insisting african troops in the fight against alshabaab militants. Maintained a continued presence with operations including a cia base and drone strikes. Protesters rallied outside the white house on saturday to mark the 12th anniversary of the arrival of the first prisoners at guantanamo bay. Wearing orange jumpsuits and hoods come the demonstrators marched through washington a call on president obama to uphold his now fiveyearold bow to close the prison. Thismous for torture, at point, the majority of people held their have been cleared by courts, so theres no reason to be holding them. Theyre not going to get trials. Some of them have been in there for 12 years. They need to be returned to their families. Their protest cap a week of action surrounding the anniversary including solidarity fast with Hunger Strike or sec guantanamo. The Human Rights Group reprieve said the number of Hunger Strikers has doubled since the pentagon imposed a media gag last month. The pentagon has stopped disclosing all information on Hunger Strikers, saying it doesnt want to draw attention to their cause. According to reprieve, 33 prisoners are on Hunger Strike and 16 are being force fed. Saturday marked the First Anniversary of the suicide of Internet Freedom activist aaron swartz who took his own life weeks before he was set to go to trial for using mits network to download millions of academic articles with the intent of making them freely available. He was facing 35 years in prison, a penalty supporters called excessively harsh. On sunday, the Hacker Group Anonymous attacked a number of mits website and posted messages criticizing aaron swartzs prosecution and calling for reform of internet regulation. The message said over the weekend, a group of activists tied aaron swartz also launched what they call the New Hampshire rebellion, twoweek walk across the state to protest government corruption. The marginal and on the birthday of doris granny d haddock, who walked across the United States at the age of 90 in a bid to support Campaign Finance reform. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Israel, where a state funeral was held today in front of the knesset, israeli parliament, for former pry minister ariel sharon. He will be buried at a state funeral today in his home in southern israel. 8 18 was among countries to send delegations to attend sharons funeral, along with middle east International Envoy tony blair and the russian and German Foreign ministers. In jerusalem, vice President Joe Biden remembered sharon as a controversial but bold military leader and statesman. 10,000 israelis to leave their homes in gaza and order, from his perspective, to strengthen israel, i cant think of a much more controversial as , itudent of the jewish state cant think of a much more difficult and controversial decision to make. But he believed it and he did it. The security of his people was always [indiscernible] commitment to the years of jews for the 30 or 300 years from now. That was vice President Joe Biden speaking during Ariel Sharons memorial. Thousands of israelis came to pay their respects as his coffin lay in state outside the Parliament Building in jerusalem. Ministers held a minutes silence at sundays Cabinet Meeting to remember their former leader. This is israeli Prime Minister intima netanyahu. Roles all of his latest as minister of defense, as minister of housing, minister of infrastructure, minister of foreign affairs, he has contributed to the state of israel and as much as he could, the security of israel, and that is what he did as israels Prime Minister. I believe he represents a generation of jewish leaders who rose from our people with the resumption of our independence. He was tied to the land. He knew the need to protect the land, and he understood that above all that, our independence is our abilities to protect ourselves by ourselves. I believe he will be remembered as one of the prominent leaders and one of the bravest commanders in the heart of israel forever. Ariel sharon has been one of the most dominant political figures in israels history, involved in each of israels major wars dating back to its founding in 1948. As Prime Minister he oversaw israels disengagement from the gaza strip will stop the gaza disengagement caused a serious rift in sharons likud party. He formed a new party, kadima, which wants to maintain the gaza disengagement. Among palestinians, he was one of the muster about political figures and the history of the israelpalestine conflict. He seen as father of the Settlement Movement, an architect of the israeli invasion of lebanon which killed reported 20,000 palestinian and lebanese. Commission of inquiry found sharon had indirect responsibility for the massacre of over 1000 Palestinian Refugees at the sabra and shatila camps in lebanon in 1982. To talk about Ariel Sharons life and legacy, were joined now by three guests. In new york, were joined by Rashid Khalidi, professor of arab studies at Columbia University and author of several books including, brokers of deceit how the u. S. Has undermined peace in the middle east. And just reissued, under siege plo decisionmaking during the 1982 war. Joining us from his home in massachusetts by phone, noam chomsky, worldrenowned political dissident, linguist, and author. He is Institute Professor emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of technology where he is talking more than 50 years. Joined fromso professoravi shlaim, of International Relations at Oxford University. In the israeli army in the mid1960s and widely regarded as one of the worlds leading scholars on the israeli arab conflict. We welcome you all to democracy now lets go to avi shlaim first. Your response to the death of ariel sharon . What you feel he should be remembered for . Ariel sharon is one of the most iconic and controversial leaders in israels history. He was a deeply flawed character , known for his brutality and corruption. ,espite these character flaws he is a major figure in shaping israels modern history. He was one of the 5 most who left a figures deep mark on modern israel. The first was the founder of the thee who in 1949 concluded armistice agreements with the neighboring arab states, the only internationally recognized borders that israel has ever had. Aftermath ofn the presided overwar, the transformation of israel, plucky little democracy into a brutal colonial power. The third was the likud leader who signed the first peace treaty with an air of country. He signed the peace treaty with egypt in 1979. Only israelis the Prime Minister who went forward on the political front toward the palestinians. And he did this by signing the cut reachingn 1939 the historic opera mice between the two nations with the iconic and shake with Yasser Arafat on the white house lawn. And finally there is ariel sharon who always rejected the come and tryocess to sweep away the remnants of oslo and forge a new strategy of giving up on the palestinians and redrawing unilaterally the borders of greater israel. So his legacy can be summed up in one word unilateralism. Acting in International Law and International Public opinions. The real question is, how will air sharon and how is israel today under his successors able to defy the entire International Community . The answer is, israel could not have done it on its own, but it has a little friend, and a friend is United States of america. Were going to take a break in the get response from professor Rashid Khalidi and professor noam chomsky as well as continue our discussion with israeli historian avi shlaim. Death talking about the of ariel sharon. Stay with us. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We are talking about the death of the former Prime Minister ariel sharon who died saturday after 8 years in a coma. He was 85 years old. We are joined by professor noam chomsky in massachusetts, by avi shlaim, it is really historian at Oxford University in britain, and here in new york by Rashid Khalidi. Among his books are, brokers of deceit how the u. S. Has undermined peace in the middle east. Your response to the death of ariel sharon . The most important emotion for me is a sense of finally the man who carried out a war in which 20,000 people were killed, the lebanon war of 1982, who besieged beirut, who destroyed building after building telling scores of civilians in a search to destroy the leadership, has finally left the world. I was in beirut that summer of 1982. Watch it is terrific to what is being produced by people like vice President Joe Biden, the New York Times, by much of the media about a man who really should have ended his days at the hague before the International Criminal court. He was a man who from the very beginning of his career started out killing people as the commander of unit 101, the men who ordered the massacre explain what that is. Unit 101 was a military unit of the israeli army formed at the orders of the israeli leadership at the time to carry raids. Age reprisal were talking about dozens of victims in retaliation, for this case, two or three people been killed. 69 people had their homes blown small village a in what today is the west bank. This is the first condemnation of israel by Security Council resolution, something the United States at the time was willing to say was a horrible, horrible crime. This is a man who since then, really, has only acted on the basis of a belief that force is the only thing the arabs understand. The idea that he is now considered by some to be a peacemaker is grotesque, frankly. Theam chomsky, you wrote fateful triangle in response to what happened in lebanon. He changed the discourse for many in this country. First, explain your reaction to the death of ariel sharon and what we should understand about him. Well, you know, there is a convention that youre not supposed to speak ill of the recently dead, which, unfortunately, imposes a kind of a vow of silence because theres nothing else to say. Theres nothing good to say. Was saying khalidi is exactly accurate. He was a brutal killer. He had one fixed idea in mind which drove him all his life. A greater israel as powerful as possible, with as few palestinians as possible they should somehow disappear and then israel, which can be powerful enough to dominate the which ishe lebanon war his worst crime, also had a goal state ofng a client lebanon. These were the driving forces of his life. The idea that the gaza evacuation was a controversial almostr peace is [indiscernible] by 2005, gaza had been devastated, and he played a large role in that. Hawks and understand easily that it made no sense to keep a few thousand Israeli Settlers in gaza using a very large percentage of his land and scarce water with a huge army contingent to protect them. What made more sense was to take the mound and place take them out and place them in the west bank. It couldve been done simply. The israeli army could have announced on august 1 they were leaving gaza, in which case the settlers would have piled into the trucks that were provided to them which would take them from their subsidized homes in gaza to illegal subsidized homes in the territories that israel intended to keep. And that would have been it. But instead, what the israeli sociologists call [indiscernible] in observed theater was constructed to try to demonstrate to the world there cannot be any further evacuations. The force was farce was a successful Public Relations effort. Joe bidens comments show that. It was a virtual replay of what israel was 1982 when compelled to withdraw from the egyptian sinai and carried out an operation that the Israeli Press ridiculed as Operation National drama in 1982. We have to show the world how much we are suffering by carrying out an action that will benefit our and our security. And that was the peacemaking effort. But his career is one of unremitting brutality, dedication to the fixed idea his life. Courage and commitment shown to pursuing this ideal, which is an ugly and horrific one. , go back to 1982 and what happened in lebanon. First, where were you . In 1982, ariel sharon was the defense minister. He was the architect of the invasion of lebanon. Because sharonn tricked his colleagues into launching this operation by pretending the aims were limited , wherein fact, he had a big plan to completely change the politics of the region, to create a new order in lebanon but by helping Israels Christian allies to come to power in lebanon and then sign a peace treaty with israel. Then to expel the Syrian Forces from lebanon and to replace syrian with israelis in the levant. This for a deception itd in tears. Of deception and it in tears. It ended with the massacre in the refugee camps of saber a and should tell a should tivo. There was an Israeli Commission inquiry which found defense responsibleron as for failing to prevent the massacre of the Palestinian Refugees by Israels Christian allies. And sharon was forced to step down she was fired as minister of defense. And no one could have guessed at that time our man who was found unfit to serve as minister of back aswould bounce israels Prime Minister. But this is all over sharons career as a soldier and as a politician. As professor Rashid Khalidi pointed out, sharon committed his first war crime as a young destroyed953 when he many houses in the jordanian village, and he was responsible 69 the massacre of civilians. So that was his first war crime, but it was not to be his last. And the consistent thread in his career as a soldier and as a politician was to use brute thee, not just against regular armies of the arab states, but also against palestinian civilians. And the other consistent thread rely onun diplomacy and brute force to impose the israeli figure money on the entire region. President george w. Bush famously called sharon a man of peace. Sharon was nothing of the source. He was a man of war through and through and he called his autobiography warrior not diplomat. His approach to diplomacy [indiscernible] was the feudmacy of war by other means. For the last few years, the israeli conflict has been my Main Research interest. I can honestly say that ive never come across a single scintilla of evidence to support the notion of sharon is a man of peace. To 1982, to go back the Commission Report you refer to, avi shlaim, and ask noam chomsky about the commission and what it is they found and how it is that ariel sharon actually survived politically beyond that. Didell, the commission condemn sharon for what they called indirect responsibility massacre. Bra shatila i think it was a whitewash. They tried to get as soft as possible and interpretation of what was in fact the horrifying massacre, one that should resonate with the people who are familiar with jewish history. It was honest a replica of the in paris first world anssia, and atrocities atrocity. The czars army had surrounded this town and allowed the people within it to rampage, killing jews every three days. They killed 45 people. That is pretty much what happened in Sabra Shatila. The army surrounded it and send in forces that were peacefully bent on murder these were the Lebanese Christian forces . Yes, a terrorist force allied with israel. Soldiers watched as they eliminated it. They help them enter. They watched for several days why they murdered while they murdered not 45 people, but somewhere israel claims 800 and others go up to several thousand. That is the Sabra Shatila massacre. These are was bitterly condemned internationally for direct responsibility. In fact, that is one of the events that set off the huge flow of refugees from Eastern Europe including my father, among others. Replicawas a kind of except far more brutal and vicious. Than itped more is true he was removed as defense minister, but it wasnt long before he came back. That is one of a number of extremely shocking incidents in his career. I want to stay with that for a moment because i want to turn to ellen segal, jewishamerican nurse who worked at hospital at the sabra camp at the time of the massacre in september 1982. We interviewed her in 2001 and plated on the 20th anniversary of the killings played it on the 20th anniversary the killings. She describes some of what she saw during the massacre. It was the 18th, a saturday morning, also the first day of rosh hashanah. We were told to come down to the entrance way to the hospital that the Lebanese Army was downstairs. Well, it wasnt the Lebanese Army. Here were a group of soldiers who looked quite neat, clean, and they told us they were going to march as out of the camp. They took our passports from us. They started to march as down the main street of the hospital. As we were marching, we saw dead bodies. They started to holler at us, this militia, telling us we were not christian, that we can to help people who hated christians come a we were terrorists. They were talking on walkie talkies. There is constant communication to someone. Palestinian who have been working in the hospital who did not flee when the rest of them did. He was terrified. He asked for someone to give him a lab coat. So we gave him a lab coat. But of course, he was picked out immediately because he looked very different than these white and blonde and scandinavian and american and British Health workers. I turned around and i saw him on his knees pleading. I was told to keep walking. The next thing i heard was a shot. I never looked back. As we continued walking, there were new soldiers. There was a whole contingent of other soldiers lining the street. These militia people looked quite crazed. They looked very dirty, very messy, and looked like they had been on drugs or something. Se,y were tenants ten extremely nervous, wideeyed. There was a group of palestinian and lebanese refugees who they us,ed to line up against lined on this pathway. One of the women had an infant in her hands and she tried to give this infantile one of the theors infant to one of doctors. They said, no. They were watching us and giving us the sign. It was hard to tell what was going to happen to who. As we continued down the street, there was an area that had been part of the camp. Suddenly, there were bulldozers with the hebrew letter on it. It was going back and forth, back and forth. It turned out to be the mass grave. We kept on walking. Walkietalkies. We reached the end of the camp and we turned a corner. They lined us up against a bullet ridden wall and had the rifles ready. We really thought it was a firing squad. Suddenly, in israeli soldier comes running down the street and halts it. I suppose the idea of gunning down for Health Workers was something that was not very appealing to the israelis. But that fact they could see this and stop it shows there was some communication. That was alan sieg ellen siegel, working in the hospital at the time of the sabra and shatila massacre. I asked her what should happen to ariel sharon. I think what should happen is what has happened to our jewish history. Ever since i was a child, i learned what happened or not holocaust happen because people were silent, people did not speak up, people out bad things to happen to other people and did not do anything about it. We should be the last people on earth that should allow that to happen. Continue togencies look and not see war criminals where they should come and bring them to justice. Ariel sharon is a war criminal. Ie legal aspects of this understand as a nonlegal person put him in that category. Yell out innocent people he allowed innocent people to be murdered. And so he should be tried. That was ellen siegel, a nurse who worked in the sabra camp in 1982 at the time of the massacre. Professor Rashid Khalidi, your relative headed the hospital called gaza hospital . Correct. My cousin was the director of gaza hospital at the time. And you were in lebanon. He was there. Describe the reaction afterwards , what he was doing at that time. My cousin . What she was doing . Well, she was trying to stay alive. They were treating patients as victims of the massacre came in. As ellen describe only critical patients will stop most people realized massacre was going on. My cousin was traumatized as work thousands and thousands of others who were living in beirut during the siege. One of the things nobody has talked about is the new documents that have been revealed in the israel state archives, which i think in direct responsibility for much more of what happened on not only ariel sharon and the Israeli Government, but reveal american responsibility for what happened. The New York Times on the 30th anniversary of the massacre published an oped with links to some of these documents by student of mine, actually, which shows in fact sharons responsibility was far greater than indirect. It shows the Israeli Government well what was going on, that they stonewalled to prevent the massacre from being stopped. One can read in these documents defended atsharon all. The pretext was an assassination attempt on israels abbasid are london and the shelling of northern israel. Habib since 1981 had stopped the crossborder. The text of his meeting with secretary of state haig in may. He lays out his objectives. He says, were going to turn lebanon into a satellite state. We are going to illuminate certain influence and destroy [indiscernible] those are his objectives. As theessor professor said. He intended to reach beirut and do all of these quite ambitious things to change the entire map. Are going to take a break and come back to this discussion. Youre talking about the debt that ariel sharon, his life and legacy. We are talking about the death of ariel sharon, his life and legacy. Stay with us. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The former israeli Prime Minister ariel sharon has died. He died on saturday after eight and years and years in the, at the age of 85. Our guests are professor avi shlaim from Oxford University where he is a Professor Emeritus there of International Relations. Noam chomsky, worldrenowned linguist, political dissident and author. And Rashid Khalidi, arab studies professor at Columbia University. Youre just talking about the New York Times and how they covered what happened at Sabra Shatila in the direct responsibility ariel sharon, from u. S. Andnts ariel sharon responsibility. Elaborate further on that and how his life is being described today in the same pages. I describe it as he is being turned from war criminal and muchmurderer into a god in of the american media. The New York Times has played an enormous role in this. Instead of, for example, running their own oped, which was published a little over a year ago, which lays out in damming detail from document in the israel state archives, israeli and american responsibility, for this massacre, they republished in the Online Edition yesterday in oped by sharon in which he justifies the war. It has been integrating spectacle to watch the american and israeli media turn this man into a man of peace, something he could never possibly have been described as. Why does professor professor avi shlaim, why does ariel sharon hold a special place he does in the annals of israeli history . Reminded us that one shouldnt speak ill of the recently dead, so i would like to Say Something positive about ariel sharon, which explains both his popularity in one segment of the israeli population and the reviling of sharon by another segment of the israeli population. And the point is, toward the end of his active life, sharon ofally understood the limits military power. He had always been a proponent of greater israel, but he understood the facts of democracy worked against israel so he didnt jettison the dream of greater israel, but scaled it down to what he thought was realistic for israel to maintain in the long run. So he of the strategy of redrawing the borders of greater israel unilaterally. Stage one was building the wall on the west bank. Stage two was the unilateral in august from gaza 2005. Now, the withdrawal from gaza was not part of any negotiations or overall peace deal with the palestinian authority. It was a unilateral move interestn in israels so sharon withdrew from gaza but wanted to consolidate israels presence on the west bank. And this got him into trouble with the right wing of his own party the likud party and with the settlor committee. ,o he set up a new center party kadima. Kadima did not survive sharons political demise. Today, kadima has two seats in the 120member knesset. So his lastminute effort to realign israeli politics ended in total failure. His enduring legacy in israels history is that he empowered and emboldened some of the most aggressive, racist, expansionist and intransigent elements in israels dysfunctional local system. Professor Rashid Khalidi . Another thing that might be mentioned about gaza, there is a huge debate in israel about whether the withdrawal was a good or bad thing. The withdrawal did not change the situation of gaza as being completely under israeli control, which it is until which it is to this day. It completely controls the strip. Sharon also had a notorious period of commander of the Southern Command in which he participated in the savage repression of resistance inside gaza, killing thousands many hundreds of thousands per destroying thousands of homes as part of a huge repression of the resistance. Noam chomsky, a top aide to ariel sharon described the with draw from gaza by saying the significance of our disengagement plan is the freezing of the Peace Process that supplies for now the hide. Explain how that translates today to the socalled Peace Process going on. [indiscernible] understood the situation well, the oslo accords in 1993 determined that the gaza strip and the west bank are single territorial entity which cannot be divided immediately. The United States and israel said about separating the two and making sure they would not be united. Extremelys significant not only for the people of gaza, but the prospect of any viable palestinian entity. Ae west bank is essentially prison. It is one access to the outside world would be through gaza. Accessed through the sea were air of there was an airport and so on. By breaking gaza or separating her from the west bank, that undercuts whatever limited possibility there might be for meaningful palestinian self determination. Meant is and as he said, the israel will keep the people in gaza on a diet. We wont let them starve to death. That wont look at in the international world. Well just give them just enough to stay barely alive in this and they will be separated from the west bank. Meanwhile, both the wall the separation wall, and annexation wall that sharon initiated and other development and settlement projects including in the Jordan Valley will effectively can tonights whatever is left cantonize whatever is left of the Palestinian Administration and surround it so that it is another kind of prison, surrounded completely by israel and its jordanian ally. The professor said something important, all of this can happen because of what he called israels little friend, ironically, because the United States authorizes and supports it, provides the requisite diplomatic economic, military support and also ideological falsifyingmely, by the process of reshaping and falsifying what is underway. Its quite reminiscent is not novel, unfortunately. If you look at the history of south africa, it is pretty similar. By 1960, the South Africans knew they were becoming a pariah state. The South African foreign minister called in the American Ambassador and told him, look, we know everyone is going to vote against us and the united nations. Were going to have all kinds of problems. But as long as you support us, it doesnt make any difference. And that is the principal they had here, too, right until the end of the reagan years, 1988, u. S. Along with britain was still the towing and blocking resolutions which would call for any kind of sanctions, and supporting South African atrocities and crimes. This is kind of a replay of it. As long as the United States on the most powerful state in the world, continues to play its crucially supportive role, unfortunately, these developments will continue. And this is a prime significance for people like us, for american citizens. It is our responsibility. Sharon may have had in direct [indiscernible] whitewash claim for indirect responsibility for Sabra Shatila , and we have direct responsibility that the government is crucially facilitating this. What could john kerry do right now . What should we do . What do you feel john kerry should do . He should insist on implementing a very broad international, virtually universal consensus, calling for a two state settlement on the internationally recognized border, which, as we said before, the 1949 ceasefire, a line possibly with minor and mutual adjustments which was we have 5 seconds. And this is supported by the entire world. It is been blocked by the United States for 35 years. We should shift that policy and join the world and carry out that which might conceivably bring a semidecent peace. We have to leave it there. Thank you, noam chomsky, avi shlaim, and Rashid Khalidi. [captioning made possible by democracy now ]