Thursday, January 05, 2006

Stroke of Bad Luck: Do you get the feeling that God himself does not want peace in the Middle East?

Anytime any progress heads toward peacefully resolving some situation there, something happens that blows the whole process up. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin got assassinated. Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat dodged death for years while he murdered others, until finally God let him die. Now Israel's current prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has suffered a major stroke.

Sharon had just created a political earthquake in Israel by moderating his stance and pledging to work more closely with the Palestinians. While nobody believed this would end the conflict outright, Sharon's plan held promise to make more progress on the road to peace.

Then he has a stroke, and he looks like his influence will be curtailed sharply -- and that's if he survives.

If I were a conspiracy buff (which I am), I'd be suspicious that Sharon had this incident so soon after announcing that he was leaving his conservative party and forming a moderate one. Now, just before the new party was to gain power, he has a sudden debilitating stroke. There are many poisons that can trigger such a reaction, especially in someone with a history of the illness. Obviously I have no evidence for this accusation, other than my own paranoia. But enough people in his own party were pissed off, that I wouldn't be surprised if something like that happened.

Update: Oh. Dear. God. I make a joke about God smiting those who dare try to bring peace to the Middle East, and lo and behold, conservative nutjob Pat Robertson seriously expresses this view. (via Volokh)