Sharon not responsible for massacre

In Wednesday's edition of The Spectrum, I was dismayed and disappointed regarding a particular statement made by Jeremy Burton ("Understanding the Bulldozer," Feb. 1). He stated that "there is no denying Sharon was responsible for the 1982 Sabra and Shatila refugee camp massacre." This is nothing more than a canard and a specious claim originally stated by a journalist with an anti-Israeli bias by the name of Paul Jones. Burton later commented in the column that then-Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon "oversaw" this massacre.

It is instructive to point out a number of facts that disprove such claims. First, the Kahane Commission in 1983 proved that Defense Minister Sharon was negligent. In 1985, Sharon sued Time magazine for libel and a federal court concurred with Sharon that these claims were both false and defamatory. As a result of hideous reporting made by a stringer with dubious connections and credentials, which Time printed, Sharon was humiliated publicly and forced to resign from his post.

Therefore, we can conclude that Burton failed to check his facts on both accounts. Because a federal court established that Sharon did not direct the massacres and that the Kahane Commission proved "negligence," this section of the column represents a grave misrepresentation of the facts and a serious failure on the part of the author. "Oversaw" is a very strong term which suggests direction, planning and permission. This is entirely false. While the Defense Minister and IDF did nothing to prevent the massacres by the Phalangist militia in response to the cold-blooded murder of their leader President-elect Bashir Gemayel, there is no evidence in existence to prove coordination or direction with any part of the Israeli government or military. So, to say Sharon "oversaw" this massacre is false and there is considerable room for question and denial on the part of Sharon and/or the government. There simply is no corroborative evidence to substantiate these claims.

I do not condone or support the acts by the militia against Palestinian refugees in Southern Lebanon. But to say Sharon was directly responsible, which Burton intimates with the use of the word "oversaw" is a serious misrepresentation of the facts.