Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Historic Visit
to Baruch Makes Headlines Around the World

--Supporters, Critics of Israel's Withdrawal Plan Attend Rally--

Ariel Sharon, prime minister of Israel, began his recent three-day visit to the United States by speaking to an audience of more than 1,000 supporters at Baruch on Sunday, May 22. Reporters from both domestic and international news agencies attended the high-profile rally, with reports appearing in more than 200 publications, and on radio stations, and television networks throughout the world.

Accompanying him on the historic visit to the campus were members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, a group that includes the leaders of the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, and Hadassah, along with representatives of other influential American Jewish organizations.

Reports about Sharon’s visit to Baruch were published by the New York Times, the New York Sun, the Associated Press, Dow Jones newswire services, the ABC News, Guardian of London, Xinhua News Agency, the Indo Asian News Service, the Jerusalem Post, Aljazeera.net, and many more. Clyde Haberman of the New York Times also devoted a column to the event in the paper’s Tuesday, May 24 edition.

The purpose of Sharon’s tour was to drum up support among American Jews for his controversial plan to close Israeli settlements on the West Bank and evacuate Jewish settlers living in the Gaza Strip. The strategy is supported by a majority of Israelis, but criticized by conservative Jews who see the withdrawals as a betrayal of the settlers.

"I said in the past, and I say it also today: I am willing to make painful compromises for peace," said Sharon during his visit. "I think that the entire world can now see how hard such compromises are."

 

Olayinka Fadahunsi
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