November 13, 2005

Open Letter to Prime Minster Martin, Justice Minster Cotler and McGill Principal Heather Monroe-Blum

November 12, 2005

I understand the three of you will be speaking at the General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities to be held in Toronto from November 13-16, 2005.  The General Assembly website indicates that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has also been invited to speak at the same event.  You have chosen to ignore the objections and protests of Canadian civil and legal society, who, along with human rights groups around the world, view Ariel Sharon as a war criminal.

In 2003, Baruch Kimmerling, who at the time was a Distinguished Research Professor at the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto and George S. Wise Professor of Sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, published a book titled "Politicide: Ariel Sharon's War Against the Palestinians".  I feel the following liner notes from the book give Canadians a good sense of the man you will sharing the stage with next week in Toronto:

"Ariel Sharon is one of the most experienced, shrewd and frightening leaders of the new millenium.  Despite being found both directly and indirectly responsible for acts considered war crimes under international law, he became Prime Minister of Israel in 2001.  From the beginning of his career, Sharon was regarded as the most brutal, deceitful and unrestrained of all the Israeli generals and politicians.  A man of monstrous vision, his attempts to destroy the Palestinian people have included the proposal to make Jordan the Palestinian state and the now infamous invasion of Lebanon in 1982, which resulted in the Shabra and Shatila massacres.

Baruch Kimmerling's new book outlines Sharon's quest to reshape the whole geopolitical landscape of the Middle East.  He describes how Sharon is committed to politicide, the destruction of the Palestinian political identity, and how he has won the support of powerful elements within Israeli society and the present American administration in order to achieve this. 

At this time of crisis, Kimmerling exposes the brutality of Sharon and his junta's "solutions" and constructs a devastating indictment of a man whose cruelty and ruthlessness have resulted in widespread and indiscriminate slaughter."

History will record who you stood with in the face of this slaughter.



Ron Saba
Editor
Montreal Planet Magazine