Ariel Sharon Dead at 77?

World Tribune is reporting that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon died at 1 p.m. Israeli time [6 a.m. EST. (25 January 2009)
Note: They (World Tribune) seem to be alone in reporting this. Scroll down for updates. As of 1243 EST, the best guess is that Sharon is alive but in a coma.

Ariel Sharon dies.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the most powerful Israeli leader in 50 years, has died. He was 77.
Sharon was declared dead by physicians at Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital before 1 p.m. Israeli time [6 a.m. EST], Middle East Newsline reported. Authorities have already been notified of the death, and a government announcement was expected to be issued over the next hour.
GoogleNews and YahooNews still have him in surgery.

While Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and televangelist Pat Robertson are rejoicing, Charles Krauthammer rightly calls this "A Calamity for Israel!!"

The stroke suffered by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon could prove to be one of the great disasters in the country's nearly 60-year history. As I write this, Sharon's condition remains uncertain, but the severity of his stroke makes it unlikely that he will survive, let alone return to power. That could be disastrous because Sharon represented, indeed embodied, the emergence of a rational, farsighted national idea that seemed poised in the coming elections to create a stable governing political center for the first time in decades.
(MORE)...

Gaza battle stretches into night despite truce calls

GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli troops backed by air strikes fought to seize ground from Hamas militants deep inside the Gaza Strip on Monday despite international calls for a ceasefire in a conflict that has killed more than 540 Palestinians in 10 days.
Israel's defense minister said the operation, aimed at stopping Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel, could get more difficult before the mission was accomplished.
Hamas vowed to fight on in "every street, every alley" and threatened to fire more rockets across the border into Israel. .. MORE

Boycott USA!

Rocky's Bru dalam blognya melaporkan tentang saranan Tun Dr. M supaya rakyat Malysia memboikot mata wang dan produk keluaran Amerika sebagai uasaha memprotes dan menyelamatkan Palestine. Saya rasa sudah sampai masanya kita jangan sekadar berdemontrasi pada hari Jumaat sahaja untuk menyokong Palestine dan membantah kekejaman Israel cum Amerika. Apa kata kalau kita kumpul sokongan dan bantuan kewangan membantu rakyat Palestine khususnya di Gaza malalui bantahan secara SMS!. Wang yang terkumpul boleh digunakan untuk membeli perubatan dan peralatan yang diperlukan untuk menyelamat mangsa kekjaman Israel cum Amerika.

PUTRAJAYA: The world community should boycott the United States’ currency and products to pressure the superpower to stop supporting the violent attacks by Israel against Palestine, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.
The former prime minister said while governments might not be able to support the move as many were “scared stiff” of the superpower, the people could play their part to “save Palestine.”

Malaysia has been taking a consistently strong stand on the Palestinian issue since back when, especially when Dr M was the PM and he had Abdullah Badawi as his Foreign Minister. It's heartening to note that Malaysia is taking the lead when the PM this morning called for a Special UN sitting to discuss Israel's invasion of Gaza.
..... dari bolg Rocky's Bru

The Day That Bush Took Gaza

Washington Post has this to say on the present onslaught in Gaza.

By Martin Indyk, Sunday, April 25, 2004.

Call it an election-year device to please a domestic constituency, or a change in rhetoric based on deep-seated conviction. But whatever its origin, President Bush's embrace of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for unilateral Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip is going to turn out to be more than a mere gesture.
Sharon's radical initiative would evacuate all Israeli settlements and military positions, unilaterally, within the next 18 months. His purpose is to end the Israeli occupation of Gaza and thereby absolve Israel of responsibility for the Palestinians there. Indeed, one of the articles of Sharon's disengagement plan declares that it will "obviate the claims about Israel with regard to its responsibility for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

But who's going to take over that responsibility? Not the tattered Palestinian Authority. Not cautious Egypt, which once ruled Gaza. Instead, de facto responsibility for what happens in Gaza once Israel withdraws will fall to the United States. That's the hidden meaning in the president's letter of assurance to Sharon saying that the United States will lead an international effort to build the capacity and will of Palestinian institutions to fight terrorism and prevent the areas from which Israel withdraws from posing a threat. .. MORE

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Talking about Areiel Sharon.., is he still alive and kicking?! Never heard of his funeral. I am just curious!.

Bush blames Hamas for Gaza conflict

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. President Bush laid the blame for recent fighting in Gaza squarely at the feet of Hamas, accusing militants of waging a campaign of violence against Israel with little regard for its people.

"Since Hamas' violent takeover in the summer of 2007, living conditions have worsened for Palestinians in Gaza," Bush says in prepared remarks released Friday by the White House. "By spending its resources on rocket launchers instead of roads and schools, Hamas has demonstrated that it has no intention of serving the Palestinian people."
In a radio address to air Saturday, Bush says Hamas committed an act of terrorism when it renewed rocket attacks into Israel last month, provoking this week's airstrikes by Israel.
"In response to these attacks on their people, the leaders of Israel have launched military operations on Hamas positions in Gaza," Bush says. "As a part of their strategy, Hamas terrorists often hide within the civilian population, which puts innocent Palestinians at risk."

Palestinian medical sources said Friday that at least 421 people have been killed and 2,200 wounded in Gaza since Israeli air raids began December 27. .. MORE