“In wars, civilians are killed. We know that. It's a tragedy, BUT, to take civilians as a target is something that one cannot forgive." Ariel Sharon, 2001

“This will strike some as rich coming from a man famous around the world for the quantity of blood on his hands. In 1953 Sharon led a raid on the Palestinian village of Qibya, during which his men massacred 69 civilians. Later, as many as 20,000 people died in Israel's invasion of Lebanon, which the then prime minister [Menachem] Begin claimed he ran like a personal project. And most notoriously, he was held partially to blame for the massacre at the Shatilla and Sabra refugee camps in southern Lebanon. In 1982, Sharon was defence minister when Christian militias were allowed to enter the camps to root out ‘terrorist factions.’ They wound up killing at least 800 innocent people. Some account put the death toll as high as 2,000.* How is that not an unforgivable targeting of civilians? Sharon tutts dismissively. ‘They can accuse us as much as they want to.’ The car stops. ‘You want to see some sheep?’"

For the rest of Emma Brockes’ substantial, revealing November 7, 2001 interview with Ariel Sharon for the Guardian, go here.

*Flogger Footnote: “Israeli officers and figures had nothing to do with planning, assisting or carrying out the massacre, but the Kahan Commission found them ‘indirectly responsible’ for not fulfilling their responsibility in supervisory and other capacities as an occupying force responsible for the protection of civilians, in that it was remiss by not being forward-looking, or evaluating, exploring and reporting suspicious information upwards and across the commands - and the report details the basic logistical support they provided, which unwittingly assisted the Phalange in their slaughter of civilians.”

Unwittingly? Something only sheep can believe.