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Ghassan Tueni: Sharon's Ouster is the Only Insurance Against "Apocalyptic War"
by Ghassan Tueni	 03 Feb 2004
"Ariel Sharon must go to spare the Middle East - and the universe – an imminent nuclear catastrophe, Ghassan Tueni opined in his weekly editorial in An Nahar Monday. " www.Naharnet.com
And although Israel's "neo-historians" are struggling to justify the "ethnic cleansing" practiced against the Palestinians in the 1948 war, they have been unable to ignore the inevitable fallout of the Israeli prime minister's "wall of hatred" plan and the proliferation of settlements.
Even Benny Morris, the renowned Israeli historian, has described Sharon's policies as a recipe for "an "apocalyptic, perhaps nuclear, war" or an "Armageddon," Tueni said.
Morris and his likes have not called for Ariel Sharon's ouster, "but we ought to do so on his behalf and reject any bargaining with Sharon, instead of sending signals of peace that would only bolster his position in power."
Tueni likened his call for Sharon's ouster to demands for Saddam Hussein's resignation to spare Iraq war before the U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq last year.
But he wondered how soon Israel's "friends and Sharon's protectors" would realize the imminent danger he poses not only to Israel and the Palestinians, but to a Middle East region exposed to "a nuclear ignition that would spill over to its Mediterranean environs as well as Asia, Europe and Africa."
Sharon's "brutality" would "devour what has been spared of Palestinian land and people… in a repeat of the Deir Yassin carnage," Tueni added.
"There will be no return for anyone after the next Deir Yassin, and no vengeance for the original sin because the next one will be the ultimate sin," he said.
Tueni urged the Arabs– for once – "to gather courage and practical vision to alter what many believe is an inevitable fate."
"Sharon must be ousted before he eliminates every possible option to make war and peace equally legitimate."
Beirut January 27 2004
www.Naharnet.com