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Lafayette Journal and Courie Contributing: Associated Press How will Sharon's illness affect peace? Opinions
vary January 7, 2006 Sharon, 77, suffered a brain hemorrhage earlier this week and has gone through several operations to relieve swelling and stop the bleeding. His prognosis remains dire and it appears his political career is over. "He may not be at his best. He may not be what he was before," said Hamid Hamdi, a neurologist at Unity Healthcare in Lafayette. "It is very doubtful that he would be able to come back from this into his normal role." That does not seem to alarm Maria Wainer and Ariv Yaffe, a married couple who used to live in West Lafayette but now reside in Rehovot, Israel. "This is not even a tiny hiccup with the government," the Israeli-born
Yaffe, a former Purdue University employee, told the Journal and Courier
by phone Friday from Israel. "There is an opportunity for a charismatic person to emerge politically. We will see if people are attracted to a person rather than an ideology," said Wainer, former executive director of the Hillel Foundation at Purdue. A potential change worries Zeyad Abdulrazzaq, a Palestinian who fled the region in 1967 during the Six-Day War. "He (Sharon) was trying to become more centrist," said Abdulrazzaq, who has lived in the United States for 25 years. "If the elections go ahead, Benjamin Netanyahu will probably be elected, and he does not have good relations with the Americans or his neighbors." Sharon's Kadima Party is rallying around Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who a new poll shows as emerging victorious in March 28 elections. Whoever takes over will face the daunting prospects of keeping peace in the Mideast, which includes the possibility of Palestinian statehood. Kevin Anderson, an associate professor of political science at Purdue University, is cautiously hopeful that even without Sharon in power, a peace agreement could be reached in the next several years. "It's possible that the death or medical deterioration of one person is not going to affect the central dynamic as much as one might think," he said. The major issues standing in the way of peace, Anderson said, remain the fate of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. A new leader would have these details plus the West Bank barrier around part of Israel to contend with on the way to a lasting peace. "There is no way the Israelis can occupy the whole of Jerusalem and have peace with the Palestinians," he said. "There's also that wall going up. It's said that the wall is temporary until a settlement can be reached, but I think the view of most international observers is that the wall is not a good idea." Sharon's political demise could return the Palestinian cause to square one. That's the concern of Rabi Mohtar, an associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue. "I don't think there is any moderate Israeli who will jump into power and take his moderate part," said Mohtar, a Lebanese native who advises the Friends of Palestine student group on campus. "I just don't see it." The current state of the Palestinian leadership, which has several competing factions, could make the situation worse than it already is, Abdulrazzaq said. "I was hoping for a more intellectual group of people taking over in the Palestine territories, so that when they speak to Israel, they would speak in one voice," he said. "Instead, it is a situation in disarray. I don't think anybody will take them seriously when it does come to negotiations." While Israelis and Palestinians differ on land claims and how best to settle them, there is agreement on the role of the new leadership. The end of Sharon's reign will "create more uncertainty politically," said West Lafayette's Joseph Haberer, the founder of Purdue's Jewish Studies Program. But "the Israelis will have to come to some accommodation with the Palestinians."
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