On
January 13, 2014, liberal Saudi columnist Khalaf Al-Harbi published an article
in the Saudi government daily 'Okaz, in which he claimed that, despite
the "horrific acts of massacre" that former Israeli prime minister
Ariel Sharon carried out, the number of Arabs he killed is nowhere near that of
those who died at the hands of Arab rulers, especially since the onset of the
Arab Spring.
The following are excerpts from the article.[1]
"...Today, as we ponder the
news of the death of the [former] Israeli prime minister [Ariel Sharon], we
find that, despite the horrific acts of massacre he carried out [sic] against the
Palestinians, the number of his Arab victims is nowhere near that of the number
of Arabs who have been murdered by tyrannical Arab [rulers] or killed in
suicide bombings carried out by Arab terrorist groups. This is the truth, whose
shame will haunt us throughout history: We cannot compare the number of Arabs
killed on orders from Bashar Al-Assad, Hassan Nasrallah or the terrorists of
ISIS [i.e., the jihad organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria], or who
were dispatched by the barbaric mechanisms of oppression throughout the greater
Arab homeland, to the number of people [killed] by Sharon, who died without
being tried in international court as global human rights organizations
demanded.
"Had
Sharon been placed in the same cage as Arab criminals, the judges would have seen
that the number of victims killed in the massacres he carried out throughout
his long military and political history does not come close to the number of
victims killed in [even one] nonviolent protest that one of the criminal Arab
[rulers] caged beside him had ordered to disperse.
"Sharon
did everything for his nation. He participated in wars as an officer and
defense minister, he slaughtered and conquered the territory of others, and he
accepted the rules of the democratic game more than once and did not stubbornly
remain in power when the Israeli voter did not reelect him. Even though he is a
national hero in the eyes of his people, his family had to participate in the costs
of his [medical] treatment after Israel capped the sum set aside for this
purpose at four million dollars. This, because, in a country that staunchly
guards public funds, no one is above the law, not even national heroes.
"Today we
understand that, even using nuclear bombs, Sharon could not have done the Arabs
more [harm] than they have caused themselves. The schisms and the blood feuds
ongoing throughout the Arab homeland in general, and in Palestine in
particular, exceed our enemies' greatest hopes. Moreover, [until recently,]
every extremist Zionist who tried to portray Arabs as a barbaric people who
only understand the language of force [had to] base his argument on a few small
lies. Today, however, [we face] a reality that exceeds imagination, [and
includes] decapitations, bombing houses with explosive barrels, the rape of
women, and the expulsion of millions of innocent civilians. [Now] the Zionists
no longer have to try and distort the image of the Arabs using American cinema
and global media, [for] the Arabs have provided them with a short cut. Now the
world need only follow the news in order for to know how cheap human life is in
Arab countries!"
Khalaf Al-Harbi
(source: Alwatan.com.sa)
Endnote:
[1] 'Okaz (Saudi Arabia), January 13, 2014.
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