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Downloadable PDF: The Life of Ariel Sharon
Don't don't like to read on the web? Download the entire Ariel Sharon profile here and print it out on the Adobe Acrobat format. [ Download/View File ]
Downloadable PDF: After Ariel Sharon
Download our analysis of life after Sharon here, or read it online by clicking on the last link at the bottom of this list.
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Sharon's Early Years
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Sharon's Rise in the Military
Sharon's first infamous act, in Qibya
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Sharon builds settlements and a coalition
Sharon enters politics and makes a quick mark
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Sharon, Sinai and Lebanon
Giving up settlements and plotting an invasion
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Sabra and Shatilla
The incident which earned Sharon the nickname "Butcher of Beirut"
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Sharon’s setback, 1983-1996
Sharon claws his way back to the top after the Lebanon scandals
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Sharon’s Comeback
Sharon rises to the top of Likud and the Israeli government
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Sharon as Prime Minister
Sharon finally claims the top spot to devastating effect
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Sharon and the Second Intifada
Sharon fights the intifada with massive destruction
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Sharon’s “Transformation”
Sharon begins to change his image in both Israel and America
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Sharon and Disengagement
Sharon orchestrates a public relations coup with the Gaza Withdrawal
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Conclusion and Selected Bibliography
Wrapping up and some tips for further reading
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After Sharon - JVP In-Depth Analysis
In addition to our coverage of the career of Ariel Sharon, we offer here an analysis of the Israeli political scene in the wake of his departure and the prospects for the future of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
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Ariel Sharon, Not a Man of Peace As of this writing, Ariel Sharon lies in a coma in Israel.
It is possible that his life has effectively ended and virtually certain that
his political life is over. So, while asking pardon for speaking of a man as if
he is dead when he is still alive, (something that may seem untoward, no matter
what one thinks of the person in question) it seems an appropriate time to
evaluate the life of Ariel Sharon.
Introduction
If anyone had said ten years ago that Ariel Sharon would
leave office being remembered as a “man of peace,” they would have been laughed
at by virtually anyone across the entire political spectrum. Yet the mainstream
media’s coverage of events over the past several years, right up to Sharon’s current hospitalization, makes it fairly clear
that this is how he will be recorded, at least for a time, in the popular mind
of America.
Israelis, no doubt, will have a considerably more nuanced and informed view,
but his legacy there still seems to be largely one of a man who changed his
ways in the last years of his life. Palestinians, on the other hand, will
always remember him as the “Butcher of Beirut”, the man who built a wall in the
West Bank and, in general, as a war criminal
and merciless opponent.
But if Sharon is going to be thought of in the near term as a man who changed his
course toward peace, it is both our hope and our task at Jewish Voice for Peace to convey the reality of Sharon, both his early days and his time in the Prime
Minister’s office.
What emerges is the picture of a man who knew no boundaries in fighting for his agenda. We see in Sharon a man who rose ruthlessly to positions of power and, when he attained them, was both clever in his machinations and brutal in his actions. No careful study could possibly conclude that Sharon was ever a "man of peace". But he is a man who is ending his career at the height of his popularity in Israel and the US, and who has, inarguably, made a profound impact on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Simply click on the links below to view that chapter in the life of Ariel Sharon. You can also go straight to JVP's analysis of prospects for peace after Sharon.
