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Politicide: Ariel Sharon's War Against the Palestinians

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Professor Baruch Kimmerling's essay on the failure of the Middle East peace process coins the term `politicide' to describe Israel's denial of the Palestinians' right to function as a social, political and economic entity. An unintended legacy of Ariel Sharon's Peronist-style authoritarian government, he maintains, is the victory of Hamas in the January 2006 elections to the Palestinian Authority Legislative Council. To all appearances the situation thus remains as deadlocked as ever. As an inevitable consequence of Israel's hard-line policy the PA Legislative Council is now dominated by a faction which in its turn endorses politicide, that of the Jewish state.

The very nature of the Zionist undertaking, according to Kimmerling, must logically entail the politicide of the Palestinian people. The democracy which Israel has evolved is, in fact, a `Herrenvolk' democracy; that is, existing for the benefit of a privileged caste lording it over a subject population. The chauvinism of Israel's leaders is all the more suspect for being religion-based. Kimmerling does not recognise the 2,000 year-old `exile' from the Holy Land as favouring the Zionist cause. Indeed, most of the Jewish people who fled the East European pogroms of 1880-81 entertained no concept of a Biblical homeland to which they should return, choosing instead to move westward. The rigid adherence to scriptural fiat is thus seen as a crime against reason. Those guilty of it include the Gush Emunim settler movement and an obnoxious Christian fundamentalist clique in America which brooks no criticism of Sharon and his ilk and holds that the post-`67 capture of Jewish holy places by Israel was divinely ordained.

The narrative is organised around three landmark events, according to the author's interpretation, in the history of Israel's politicide against the indigenous Arab population. The first of these is the 1948 ethnic cleansing initiated by General Yigael Yadin's Plan B which advocated the destruction of Arab villages and the expulsion of their populations. Although formerly denied this is now recognised as historical fact. Kimmerling mentions Jewish revisionist historian Benny Morris who has demonstrated in his writings how the idea of population transfer figures largely in mainstream Zionist thinking, but he is criticised for failing to connect these ideas with the 1948 war. In fact Kimmerling's book predates an appalling interview (`Ha'aretz' January 2004) in which Morris admits the truth of the 1948 ethnic cleansing allegations made against Israel but insists that, in the interests of state-building, even the carnage of Deir Yassin was justified. `You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs', is his oft-quoted remark. Only a little less candid is Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon's description of the Palestinians as a `cancerous manifestation' for whom `chemotherapy' would be the appropriate remedy. He is possibly advocating their expulsion rather than actual physical annihilation, and Kimmerling notes that when public figures in Israel call for the enforced transfer of Arab communities as a plausible solution to the conflict few eyebrows are raised.

The second major episode dealt with is Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 when Sharon was Defence Minister. For an extended treatment of the tragic events Noam Chomsky's masterly, harrowing `Fateful Triangle' is highly recommended, but here Kimmerling is concise and to the point. Despite the Israeli cabinet agreeing a plan to allow the evacuation of the PLO, Sharon, hoping to destroy Arafat's organisation rather than allow it to leave, instigated a 7-hour assault on Beirut which resulted in 300 mostly civilian casualties. When the PLO finally did leave Sharon refused to grant Arafat's request that multinational forces be brought in to protect the Palestinian refugees from the revenge of the Lebanese Phalangist militias whose murderous reputation was well known. After the militias' entirely predictable genocidal rampage in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila the Kahan inquiry commission found Sharon `indirectly responsible' for the massacre. We are reminded of an earlier chapter in which Kimmerling discusses the behaviour of Sharon's 101 unit during its 1953 assault on the Palestinian village of Qibiya where houses were detonated with the inhabitants still inside. Members of the unit subsequently denied their commander's claim that he ordered them to evacuate all dwellings before commencing the attack. As for the Kahan commission's recommendations, these were not heeded to the letter. Although resigning as Defence Minister Sharon continued to hold public office and, of course, would later become Prime Minister. We may note, in passing, how this highlights the issue of public as opposed to private morality in different societies founded on the Western democratic model. Whereas here in the UK sexually indiscreet behaviour can rebound catastrophically on holders of public office, in `democratic' Israel collusion in mass murder has no such damaging effect on the political careers of those held responsible.

Thirdly, Operation Defensive Shield was undertaken after a sucide bomber claimed the lives of 29 people in the town of Netanya in March 2002, although the operation had in fact been pre-planned and only required a pretext for it to be carried out. The relevant chapter focuses on Israel's destruction of Palestinian radio and TV stations, databases, documents, water-treatment facilities, power-generating plants, clinics, schools and universities. According to the terms of Kimmerling's analysis all this constituted a `politicidal' act on the part of Israel under Sharon's Premiership because, in destroying infrastructure and civilian institutions, it went well beyond the stated aim of `wiping out the Palestinian terror network'. The various phases of Defensive Shield including the battle in Nablus, the Jenin events and Arafat's virtual `last stand' in the Ramallah compound are gone over briefly. Kimmerling also considers Israel's policy of so-called targeted killings, not so finely targeted that they avoid civilian casualties and, significantly, even some members of the Israeli public now openly condemn such actions as war crimes. As a reminder of the first major incident of `politicide' discussed earlier there is a quote from a `Ha'aretz' magazine interview in which Sharon states that the 1948 war was `just one chapter' in the `War of Independence' which has yet to be concluded. Ever the discreet tactician Sharon does not elaborate but, given the events of that fateful year which have since come to light the implications are, to put it mildly, sinister.

This is not so much a biography of Ariel Sharon as a condensed history of the Middle East conflict, but Kimmerling's compelling and lucid account considers the salient points of Sharon's career and his role in several key events. Running to a concise 230 pages it will serve as an easily digestible, though challenging, antidote to the public image of its subject fostered by George W Bush's anodyne `man of peace' rhetoric. Finally, it should be emphasised that the author is clearly a man of compassion and, as such, quite undeserving of the cliched `self-hating Jew' brickbat which will inevitably be thrown at him by his least perceptive critics. Rather than end on a gloomy note he discerns the beginnings of an understanding on both sides that painful compromises will have to be made, something which, in the light of current events (June/July 2006), unfortunately does not seem imminent.

In this extremely useful book, the Israeli historian Baruch Kimmerling shows how the Sharon government is committing politicide by destroying the Palestinian public sphere, including its leaders, schools, universities and hospitals, destroying the Palestinian private sphere by making everyday life unbearable for people, in an effort to dissolve the Palestinian people as a legitimate society, polity and economy.

Kimmerling details Sharon's record as a warrior against civilians, and his consistent use of a strategy of provocations: the 1953 massacre in Qibiya, the 1955 Gaza raid into Egypt, his forces' killing of 1,000 civilians in the Gaza Strip between 1967 and 1970, the 1982 invasion of Lebanon which killed 18,000 people, his connivance in the Sabra and Shatila massacres, and how he provoked the September 2000 Intifada.

Kimmerling describes Israel's growing fascist tendencies: he says it is becoming `a Thatcherite and semi-fascist regime', with reduced freedom of expression, all opposition smeared as treason, the army's growing involvement in politics, one-man rule, the demonising of Palestinians and Arabs, and the destruction of Palestinian society through economic privation, violence and terror.

Menachem Begin admitted that Israel attacked Egypt in 1967, in the war that led to Israel's brutal and illegal occupations. Now, in re-occupying Palestinian territories, Israeli forces have killed 250 Palestinian children, and 72 Israeli children have been killed. Since September 2000, 2,546 Palestinians and 892 Israelis have been killed, and 23,930 Palestinians and 5,973 Israelis have been injured. 2,202 Palestinian homes have been completely destroyed, and 14,436 partially; one Israeli home has been destroyed

Sharon's strategy is failing: killing Palestinians and destroying their society is not protecting Israeli citizens from terrorist acts; Jews are safer anywhere else in the world. The only way forward for Israel is a two-state settlement, whereby the two peoples accept each other's existence, renounce violence and commit to cooperation and peaceful coexistence.

Professor Kimmerling's book is an important contribution to the understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian war and should be read by everyone who is concerned about the future of our country. America's Middle East policy is at this time not evenhanded but clearly favors Israel's wishes over those of other countries in the region. Since Kimmerling documents the oppressive policies of Israel toward its conquered Palestinian population Americans need to read this book which presents the proverbial other side of the coin.
This is especially topical now when guns are blazing again in Gaza and Israel uses the pretext of freeing a kidnapped soldier to punish the Palestinian people for democratically electing a Hamas led government. The current situation clearly proves Kimmerling's point, that a viable Palestinian state will not be tolerated by Israel's government.
The book discusses the "pre-emptive" 1967 war which led to the Yom Kippur war and the ill advised invasion of Lebanon for which Sharon was mainly responsible. He was also the main architect of the settlement program in the occupied territories which has now become a millstone around the neck not only of Israelis and Palestinians but also Americans because neither of the parties can see a just solution to this increasingly vexing problem. Kimmerling's excerpts from "Machsomwatch," which detail the conditions Palestinians are forced to live under are especially poignant.
When one reads this book it becomes clear why the rest of the world does not trust America at this time and only when America will begin to support, instead of vetoing, resolutions in the UN which demand an end to Israel's current practices will there be a semblance of hope for peace.

This is a good book. It's not a perfect one - because, focussed as it is on the blaming of Sharon, it often forgets what the Israeli Labour party was able to do against Palestinians when it was its turn to hold power.
But this book is a timely one. Already in 2003, Baruch Kimmerling was able to point out to the risk that, should Sharon go on unhampered, he can reach his next objective: the expulsion of Palestinians from the land they live on. This can be obtained not only "by the sword", but by making their life impossible. And this is exactly what's happening: at the beginning of April, UNRWA had to stop the feeding of Gaza strip, because Israel had been successful in blocking its activities. Secondly, this book is prophetic for another reason: because it signalled that what Sharon wished to build up was a Palestinian "state" made up of non-communicating encalves. This is the project Bush signed, not many days ago. And the risk is that Palestinians, since this is a plan that none of them can approve, carry out other suicide bombers - alienating more and more the Israeli opposition, and intellectual public opinion overseas, away from them. The day public opinion only sees the suffering of Israeli civilians, and forgets about Palestinian deaths and hunger - the moment public opinion turns a blind eye on them - Sharon can do what he wishes
This is what we can read quite at the end of the book (p. 211): "All of these conditions are, according to Sharon, designed to lower Palestinian expectations crush their resistance, isolate them, make them submit to any arrangement suggested by the Israelis, and eventually cause their "voluntary" mass emigration from the land". So, Sharon's plans, and the way he wants to implement them, must be fully known; and this book must be read and widely distributed

Politicide by Kimmerling, is in many ways remarkable as both Israeli historiography and as an Israeli political event: this detailed history by an internationally known member of the Israeli elite (Professor Baruch Kimmerling holds an appointment both at Hebrew University and at the University of Toronto, he is a sociologist) of Ariel Sharon is both an engaging portrait of a famous Israeli officer turned politician, and a succinct characterization of the politics of the Israeli right; the role of successive raids and many military provocations by the Israeli army that preceded all of their wars (with the Arabs); and, therefore and by extension, a description of the inherent violence of the Zionist state entity in its many faceted dealings with the Arabs, since 1948.

Details are provided the reader, as well, of IDF approved, or permitted, massacres of Palestinians in their refugee camps and villages , and other politically motivated murders: these events few of which are known outside of Israel are regarded (in context) as an integral part of the making of an important military career (within both the early culture of the IDF and that of Israeli popular culture too). This career is made visible by the present prime minister of Israel. Details of Ariel Sharon's early growing up and how this may have presaged the choices of the future man are also introduced .

The strategic Israeli plan that is presently being implemented now on the ground to create and maintain a kind of Bantustan out of all the West Bank areas (and Gaza too) is described as long held planning by some in the Israeli political and military elite, and as a personal `vision' of Sharon and those in the Israeli Right, among them the settlers and their political parties. A vision which if fully implemented would mean, according to Professor Kimmerling, the extinction, for all practicable purposes, of the Palestinians as a recognizeable, historical entity. Kimmerling introduces to his readers the sociologist's technical term 'Herrenvolk' (roughly translated as `master race' ) to describe present day Israeli (state) relations to all Palestinians, both those within , and without, the present Israeli borders. He frequently uses the term 'military settler society' to characterize present Israeli society (he has written about such things in professional journals) With a decent bibliography and a useful index.

This is a very well written analysis of the career of Ariel Sharon & modern Israeli-Palestinian history. from the Qibiya massacre in 1953 to Sabra and Shatila in 1982 and the present day's war crimes during operation defensive shield of spring 2002, his determination to wipe out any functioning Palestinan political and/or communal entity cannot be any clearer. In his own words, the war of 1948 is not yet over, and the danger of further ethnic cleansing (aka 'transfer')has never been greater.

This book is by the late Israeli sociologist Baruch Kimmerling. The paperback edition, which I am reviewing, was published apparently in early 2006.

Kimmerling goes over a few of the major events of what he calls Israel's attempted "politicide" against Palestinians. First obviously was the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians that helped facilitate the creation of Israel in 1948. Kimmerling cites the "Plan D" formula written by General Yigal Yadin in the spring of 1948 which called for the Israeli military to destroy all Palestinian villages near Jewish settlements and military installations. A few massacres of Palestinians like at Deir Yassin by Menachem Begin's Irgun also encouraged Palestinians to flee. Sharon came to prominence in the early 1950's as the commander of IDF unit 101. After 1948, Palestinian victims of 1948 were in the habit of infiltrating back into Israel to retrieve belongings or commit violence, including the killing of Jews. Attacking a supposed base of these infiltrators, Sharon led an expedition in 1953 against the Al-Burg refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, killing 15 Palestinians, "mostly women and children." Kimmerling quotes an account by Sharon biographer Uzi Benziman to the effect that Sharon desired to maximize civilian casualties in the operation. The Al-Burg operation encouraged Egypt to endorse the organization of Palestinians into Fedayeen groups to conduct raids inside Israel. Sharon told his soldiers that the women killed at Al-Burg were all whores who serviced the "terrorists." Then came October 1953, when after three Jews were killed by Palestinian infiltrators, Unit 101 attacked the Jordanian village of Qibya, killing 67 Jordanian civilians by blowing up the village's houses. Soldiers claimed that, contrary to Sharon's claim, they were never instructed to warn the village's inhabitants to leave their homes. As a paratrooper Commander Sharon led a raid on an Egyptian military base in Gaza in February 1955, killing 40 Egyptian soldiers, and compelling Egypt to turn to the Soviet block for military aid.

Sharon's career took off after the 1967 war. In a footnote, Kimmerling quotes Yitzhak Rabin, Levi Eshkol and Menachem Begin as stating that Israel was not in danger of imminent attack by Egyptian forces in the Sinai, contrary to Israel's patriotic version of history. But after the 1967 war, Israel began its ongoing construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, measures which are illegal under international law, as Kimmerling reminds us. Sharon was extensively involved in supporting these settlements, of course. Sharon oversaw the pacification of the Gaza strip in 1970 with great brutality, under which 1000 Palestinians were summarily executed and massive numbers of Palestinian homes destroyed. With Moshe Dayan's support, he cleansed Bedouins out of their homes in the Sinai.

Sharon's biggest effort to commit politicide against the Palestinians took place in 1982 when as minister of defense in Menachem Begin's government, he planned and executed Israel's invasion of Lebanon, where the PLO had long established its headquarters and led the Palestinian refugee community in the country. Kimmerling writes that the Begin government wanted to start a war in Lebanon to destroy Syrian military power in Lebanon and to destroy the PLO. Kimmerling writes that Israel constantly bombarded Lebanon from early spring to July 3rd 1981 hoping to induce a PLO rocket attack on northern Israel so as to justify an invasion of Lebanon. The PLO refused fall into the trap of responding to these provocations until July 1981 when it sent rockets on northern Israel to which Israel responded by bombing Beirut. This Israeli bombing killed around 100 people, mostly civilians, according to Kimmerling, citing the book on Israel's Lebanon war by Ehud Ya'ari and Israel's leading military analyst Ze'ev Schiff. Then Philip Habib negotiated a cease-fire and both sides adhered to this cease-fire according Kimmerling. Then the Abu Nidal group, a violently anti-PLO Palestinian terror organization wounded the Israeli ambassador in London in an assassination attempt in June 1982 and the Begin government bombed Lebanon in response though, of course, the PLO hadn't been involved in the assassination attempt. The PLO responded by bombing northern Israel and thus Israel had its justification to invade Lebanon, in alliance with the thuggish Lebanese Christian militias, killing close to 20,000 people.

The pinnacle of Sharon's career, of course, came with his assumption of the premiership in 2001 and the intensification of murderous and massive violence against Palestinians in order to further the politicide of Palestinians. Sharon came to advocate a Palestinian state but Kimmerling observes that Sharon defined this "state" as several clusters of Palestinian population centers that have no territorial contiguity and are broken up by Jewish settlements and by-pass roads. According to this book, Sharon's plan envisioned bridges and tunnels to be built to connect the Palestinian cantons.

There are a few instances in this book where Kimmerling seems a bit vague or inchoate in his coverage of major issues. It is hard to be completely sure but he seems to think that the Oslo accords, in spite of their many problems of which some he describes, had some legitimacy as a vehicle for the securing of Palestinian rights but I disagree.

Kimmerling chastises the Meretz party for being unwilling to break with the Labor-Likud-Kadima militarist consensus and especially the Party's unwillingness to support the refusenik movement. At the end of the book he provides several excerpts of accounts by activists describing on the ground conditions in the West Bank. One such account is from an Israeli Jewish peace activist who describes being part of a delegation attempting to help Palestinian villagers harvest their olive crop. Jewish settlers have regularly destroyed Palestinian olive trees, the source of economic sustenance for many Palestinians, while the Israeli army pretends not to notice.
Kimmerling expresses great concern about the erosion of Israel's democratic qualities in recent years as militarism and far right political currents have been strengthened. Also he expresses worry in this book about growing economic inequality in Israel, in particular the substantial growth in child poverty under Sharon's government and its neoliberal economic policies

That an Archameadean point which makes an objective reality possible does not exist means simply that all we know is based on our perceptions, that nothing exists 'out there' which we can understand in its total, "massive" otherness. If this is so, whatever we know about an entity is constrained, shaped, defined, and deterimined largely by several other entities, conceptions, perspectives, etc., as well as by our individual cognitive abilities (presuming these exist even if one is able to break free of all other constraints). It is this why we would find the above reviews of Kimmerling's "Politicide" varying from those considering it as an excellent diagnosis of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict to those seeing it as outright anti-semetism (though usually the label 'self-hating Jew' would be the choice when the dissident voice is Jewish).Obviously, a 'Palestinian' perspective is missing here.

But even from a Palestinian perspective, there are still many possible readings of the book that correspond to varying levels of analysis and considerations. For example, if the author of the book were Palestinian, he or she may be criticized rather harshly by most Palestinians. The author, however, is an Israeli Jew, which brings us to a second crucial determinant; the predominant Zionist discourse. This hegemonic discourse has systematically rejected and denied the collective Palestinian narrative, even their very identity and existence as such. This discourse, backed up by American Nazi Christians (the next on Hitler's list (would?)have been the Arabs, next on the so called 'Zionist Christians' (is) the Jews- hence Nazi Christians), is so predominant that any other view is automatically relegated to the discourses of dissent- by definition not shared by the collectivity. The book seen through this prism is a giant leap. But do we really have to consider the book as related to the prevaling Zionist narrative? Is this how far can a conscientious objector stray from established (non)wisdom? Isn't the real politicide done by this Zionist discourse and hegemonic culture that set the parameters within which Sharon simply identified his g(l)ory path, and which is the real enemy of Palestinians and Israelis as well, and which should be fought, first and foremost, by Jewish conscientious objectors themselves? If this is true, Kimmerling's book shouldn't be evaluated in relation to mainstream Zionist perspectives. It is not a giant leap.

My more specific contention with the book does not stray from the above argument. Kimmerling seems to blame it all on Sharon. Again, its the prevaling norms and institutions, many of which were already fossilized long before poor Sharon-in-a-coma was born. Consider, just for instance, Jabotinsky's idea of presuming the survival of the Jewish state as contingent on Jewish military power, the iron wall, the garrison state. Sharon's life was dedicated to that ideal, he even started buiding a giant physical wall to complement it. Again, there is the presumption that an Israeli public opinion was at odds with Sharonism, when it is evident in the book that he became (in)famous with every massacre he'd committed. Sharon is but a Zionist construction, and now that he is gone, and now that Zionism is still thrust deep into the very recesses of belligerence and intransigence, a thousand Sharons may lead the way(st).

_Politicide_ by Baruch Kimmerling is a highly controversial work dealing with the politically charged conflict in the Middle East between Israelis and Palestinians. In the wake of the tragedy of September 11, 2001 many Americans have turned to Israel and its leader Ariel Sharon as a fundamental ally in a conflict with what is perceived as a terroristic menace arising out of the Arab world. President George W. Bush has declared a "War on Terror" and has enlisted the support of the Israeli regime under the control of Sharon in his fight against Arab terrorism. However, as this book shows total and complete support by Americans for Israel may be highly problematic. Baruch Kimmerling argues from a particular point of view and presents Sharon as a right wing dictator who is attempting to politically neutralize the Palestinian people. Kimmerling traces the history of Zionism and Sharon's particular biography in his rise to power from a general in the Israeli army to a political opportunist. On February 6, 2001 Ariel Sharon was elected Prime Minister of Israel. Since that time according to Kimmerling, a systematic attempt has been made by Sharon to root out the Palestinian people and remove their political presence from Israel. Kimmerling shows by examining the history of Israel and the military career of Sharon that various crimes have been committed against the Palestinian people. In retaliation, many of these Palestians have been forced to engage in terrorist tactics - "the last weapon of the weak". The Middle Eastern conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is perhaps the most geopolitically charged conflict in the world today. It continues to result in tragedy for all concerned and oppression. Various religious "fundamentalisms" (including Christian Zionists) regard the return of the Jews to the Holy Land as a fulfillment of prophecy and the first step along the way towards the Second Coming of Christ. In addition, many Jewish and Christian fundamentalists (including former President Bill Clinton) believe the Temple of Solomon is located beneath the Temple Mount. However, this Temple Mount is currently the location of the mosque al-Aqsa, the third holiest shrine in Islam. It is within this mythically charged situation that the conflict between world religions and indigenous peoples of the Middle East exists. Individuals such as Sharon believe the Jews have a mandate for the Holy Land and believe in the continual expansion of the borders of the Jewish Israeli state. However this presents a particularly troublesome demographics problem in that it would result in Jews becoming a minority within their nation. For the Israeli "right wing", this is a troublesome issue. On the other hand, Palestinians continue to feel oppressed by a people who they do not recognize as having rights to their land. I do not believe there will be an easy or even any solution to this question; however, the potential travesty that can and continues to result within the Holy Land may one day escalate to apocalyptic proportions. In the meantime, the United States continues to face the menace of Arab terrorism and the Israelis and Palestinians continue to do battle with each other.

Prof. Baruch Kimmerling's new book about the checkered career, heinous war crimes and diabolical treachery of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is of such critical importance to understanding the expolsive Middle East crisis, that one would think it would make the cover of Newsweek, and be the subject of discussion and debate from the New York Times to the CBS Nightly News. Needless to say, publicity for Kimmerling's expose has been tightly suppressed by the Establishment media, who have a vested interest in portraying the Butcher of Beirut as an honorable, if hawkish warrior and Zionist "patriot."

The truth, according to Kimmerling's formidable research, is very different. The bill of indictment is eye-popping. Sharon is a Nazi, a racist and an assassin intent on imposing a defacto concentration camp on the Palestinians. Extreme? Yes, but Sharon is the epitome of extremism.The bloody wreckage of Palestinian AND Israeli lives is effectively the basis for "Politicide."

Put aside the System-approved fantasies by Bernard Lewis, Dore Gold and Steve Emerson. Instead, study this courageous and revealing work from a writer who embodies a voice of conscience and dissent against what is done in the name of the Jewish people to the hapless natives of Palestine.

The fact that this book is being denied publicity by the corporate media is one hint of its power. The System seeks to protect at all costs the reigning paradigm. In "Politicide," Kimmerling indicts mass murderer Sharon, and he does so without polemics, with a cool recitation of facts.

"Politicide" is fallible and there are a couple of errors: the author upholds the official Israeli line on the Jenin massacre and the attack on the Church of the Nativity; and there is one noteworthy omission: all mention of Baruch Goldstein's 1994 massacre of 40 Palestinians as the flash point that initiated suicide bombings, beginning in April of that year.

With those caveats noted, this book is nonetheless a huge embarrassment for the legion of Sharon partisans in the American media and US government ,and they are doing their worst to keep "Politicide" in the deep freeze. But if Kimmerling's work gains a wide American readership, I predict that Sharon's usefulness to the Cryptocracy will be finished and many lives may be saved.