The Sharon Test

Israeli Prime Minister Sharon still lives (notwithstanding earlier rumors), but still unconscious--the object of prayers from the secular media, the Pope, Israelis and others everywhere. Full recovery probably awaits a miracle; fortunately, Jerusalem tops the league tables in miracles per square meter per millennium.

Still, Jerusalem Post editorial-page Editor Saul Singer soberly "speak[s] of him in past tense, since his return to power is inconceivable." And in tragedy, Sharon's never been more admired. The Associated Press reports a near universal outpouring of tributes, prayers and sympathy for Sharon and Israel:

From Japan to the Atlantic, world leaders praised and fretted about the ailing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Thursday - a remarkable outpouring for a man not long ago seen as a threat to the Middle East.

Even the Arab world was relatively benign toward Sharon, with anxiety about the future overshadowing pockets of jubilation. In Europe, leaders showed unusual unity in their praise, reflecting a shift in the continent's attitude toward Sharon, driven in part by its own recent experiences with Islamic terrorism.

Of course, as Tigerhawk observes, the timing's a bit odd:

European leaders do seem, throughout history, to appreciate Jews much more when they're at or near death than when they are alive. It is, after all, why there is an Israel in the first place, right?

Cynical? I say Tigerhawk's overly optimistic--he forgot the tinfoil hat brigade:

• Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

  was quoted Thursday as saying he was hoping for the death of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
  
  “Hopefully the news that the criminal of Sabra and Shatila has joined his ancestors is final," the semi-official students news agency ISNA quoted him as telling a group of Shi'ite Muslim clerics in Iran's holy city Qom.

• Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson:

  suggested Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for "dividing God's land."
  
  "God considers this land to be his," Robertson said on his TV program "The 700 Club." "You read the Bible and he says `This is my land,' and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, `No, this is mine.'"

  Appearing on Hugh Hewitt's radio show, Mark Steyn replied:

  As for Pat Robertson, he sounds as nutty as these Imams, who say it's the will of God. I don't subscribe to this equivalence between, you know, Wahabi Imams and Christian fundamentalists. But I'm prepared to make an exception for Pat Robertson.

• The Arab News



• Palestinians and Lebanese, men, women and children. Well, to be fair, not every Palestinian. According to the BBC, Gaza's homesick for Jews:

  There are numerous armed factions that used to channel their violent energies into attacks on the Israelis - but they now have little on which to focus. . . .
  
  Hafiz Barghouti, the editor of the newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadeed, has written: "It appears we are neither prepared to change, nor admit that we have failed in running our own affairs. Everyone is busy calculating how to make the biggest possible gains at the homeland's expense.
  
  "While most Palestinians find it easy to blame the occupation for all our ills, it is a fact that the occupation was not as bad as the lawlessness and corruption that we are now facing."

In any event, the Kumbaya-break will be brief, just as after September 11th. But, it will be instructive, as SC&A presciently predicted last month:

The civilized world is on trial today.

It is a simple matter, really. How we respond to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks denying the Holocaust and excoriating Jews will say a lot more about us that it will about him. . .

What lessons have we learned from the past? What morality have we integrated into our very being as the result of the Holocaust, directed against the Jews, by design? What morality have we integrated into ourselves as a result of that wider holocaust, the one that left 50 million dead in the span of six years?

Have we learned from our mistakes- and our past? History, it appears, is repeating itself.

From Palestinian to Pat, Moonbats will flunk the test--but that's not all bad. Sharon's stroke will flush stupid from trees, where they can safely be tranquilized, identified, tagged and iggied. It's all authorized under Patriot II -- a law so secret not even Congress read it!

Ok, ok, it's impractical. Nothing can stop the loony and feverish left. They may not have Ariel Sharon to kick around any more, but they'll blame even that on George Bush.

(via LGF)