As if things weren't hairy enough in the middle east. Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke Wednesday. He's still alive but it looks like his days of active politics are over. I'm pretty uneducated on the matter, but in the short term I think we'll see Sharon's plans continue with Israel pulling out of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. I say short term because some Arabian country (cough... Iran, cough...) will no doubt try again to push Israel into the sea (Intel probably wouldn't be too happy with that). After which who knows. Of immediate domestic interest, oil prices rise further due to increased insecurity in the Middle East (and West Africa).
4 comments:
Sharon is a peacemaker and deserves a Nobel far more than that rat Arafat did. If the rumors are true and it is unlikely he will recover full brain function then a great man will have passed. I'm not terribly familiar with Israeli politics but it may be that his plan will continue, although I think it was bitterly opposed by many Likud party members (I think even Bibi). There really is a lot of uncertainty right now - pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Not to pick at nits (well, maybe a little) but Iran isn't Arab. I had a Iranian coworker at Intel and he bristled whenever you lumped him in with Arabs. He said he was Persian.
My mistake on Arabian/Persian. I was just tired of typing Middle East. Thats what I get for being creative. I'm not actually sure what the difference is between Arabian and Persian. Maybe the Persian empire was distinct from Arabs livings in tents at that point in history? It doesn't seem to make much difference to their respective modern behaviors.
I'm not sure the distinction either, but I think they are slightly different in ethnic makeup, but very different linguistically. My coworker spoke Farsi, or Persian (I don't know if there is a difference) and not Arabic. Iran is also one of the few majority Shiite muslim countries.
I think the difference matters more to the respective peoples since, as you mentioned, the countries' modern behavior is pretty much indistinguishable.
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