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Former prime minister Ariel Sharon (Archives) Last update - 22:56 10/02/2008 Sharon documentary examines reasons for 2005 Gaza pullout By Reuters Tags: Gaza, IDF, Ariel Sharon  Ariel Sharon was once the epitome of evil for Israeli filmmaker Dror Moreh, but he turned into an unabashed admirer while making a documentary about the hawkish former prime minister. Moreh presented his sympathetic portrayal of the comatose Sharon at the Berlin Film Festival, a documentary that examines why he initiated Israel's unilateral pullout of the Gaza Strip in 2005. Sharon unexpectedly ordered the evacuation of 8,500 settlers from the Gaza strip and four settlements in the northern West Bank, in a move called the "disengagement". Advertisement Moreh said that the unexpected about-face by the former Israel Defense Forces general was a pivotal moment and could have been the catalyst for peace with the Palestinians. But Moreh, and others in his film, are full of sorrow that Sharon fell into a coma in January of 2006. "Sharon was a symbol of horror for me and not at all likeable," Moreh said after the film "Sharon" made its well-received international premiere. It is one of six Israeli films entered in the Berlin festival, a tacit tribute to the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state. "I thought of him as a ruthless and brutal person, a symbol of war and evil," added Moreh, who spent six years on the film. "But something changed. I discovered a different person while making this film than the person we were fed in the media. He was the only leader strong enough to do something, to bring a better future to the region." Sharon served as an IDF officer before entering politics, fighting in battles with Israel's Arab neighbors from before the War of Independence in 1948 until the Yom Kippur War in 1973. While for most of his Knesset career he was viewed as a right winger, Sharon alienated many of his supporters on the right with the "disengagement." He was accused of betraying his previous support of the settlements. Israel's pullout from Gaza was a massive psychological blow to supporters of the settlement movement, which seeks to establish a Jewish presence in land conquered by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, and which Palestinians want for a state of their own. Sharon had earlier drawn Arab enmity for masterminding the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, during which Christian militiamen massacred Palestinians in two refugee camps, and later for serving as prime minister while Israel combated the second Palestinian intifada that erupted after he visited the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the site of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in 2000. "Regrettably, there are no leaders strong enough now to do what's needed," Moreh said. "Throughout the Mideast there are only weak leaders now the public won't follow. Everyone knows what's needed for peace but no one will manage to do it." Related articles: Haaretz - Disengagement Ariel Sharon sought Barghouti's backing for PA premier in 2006 Sharon, savior of the settler, killer of Palestine Bookmark to del.icio.us   Facebook face-off Settlers win right to list country as Israel, not Palestine. Shin Bet.com The covert agency has deployed a new weapon: the blog.   1.   Sharon Documentary 16:23  |  Chuck 10/02/08   2.   Hey Chuckie, maybe he forsaw forse for future? 18:00  |  B`Galil 10/02/08   3.   First impressions, right impressions 18:24  |  Clickfool 10/02/08   4.   But what he did did not bring a better future 18:26  |  McQueen 10/02/08   5.   Dror&the Lefties rejoice at the fate of Sderot,his film one 18:33  |  Absolute Sweden 10/02/08   6.   Dror Moreh = Snapshot of the Israeli Left 18:45  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 10/02/08   7.   Fool with a Click 18:50  |  SMF 10/02/08   8.   only leader strong enough to do something, but it was the wrong 19:42  |  Jon 10/02/08   9.   I trust this film will.. 19:49  |  Clickfool 10/02/08   10.   Barak & Sharon - both failures 21:05  |  consorts 10/02/08   11.   On The Contrary There Are Very Strong Leaders 21:10  |  Yanatan 10/02/08   12.   Yes, But What Did It Accomplish For Yisrael? 21:24  |  Yanatan 10/02/08   13.   DISENGAGEMENT CAUSED LEBANON WAR, NUMEROUS QASSAMS AND CASUALTIES 21:46  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 10/02/08   14.   Sharon was a man of violence and war. Period. 22:23  |  peacelover 10/02/08   15.   Sharon Israeli Hero -if you don`t live here shut your noise 22:54  |  don 10/02/08   16.   Sharon Was Never A "Right-Wing Hawk" 23:18  |  Ben Israel 10/02/08   17.   The deification of Sharon Caesar 04:07  |  EGW 11/02/08   18.   Sharon Caesar #2 04:19  |  EGW 11/02/08   19.   Sharon 04:40  |  Emet 11/02/08   20.   We have met the enemy 06:45  |  stam Ish 11/02/08   21.   Typical Israeli Mythologizing 06:50  |  B. 11/02/08   22.   2005 GAZA PULL OUT 09:34  |  YEDIYDYAH 11/02/08   23.   2005 Gaza Pull-out. 11:09  |  sandra chitayat 11/02/08   24.   Re: Fool with a Click 12:22  |  Moshe ben Avraham 11/02/08   25.   Y`a`natan 12:24  |  Moshe ben Avraham 11/02/08   26.   Sharon Was, Is and Will Remain Sharon 18:32  |  Yaakov Sullivan 11/02/08   27.   Sharon violated Human Rts.&the word of GOD! 22:38  |  sam 11/02/08   28.   Next year the Diaspora 01:21  |  Johnson 12/02/08

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