It's the Money!

As a dispute resolution specialist (http://www.sannsmediation.com), most conflicts are really over either control (or perception of control) and/or money. Today, I was reading about Pat Robertson's apology to the Sharon family. It's all about the money.

A little background first. Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel, has been debilitated by a massive stroke. As of this writing, he's in stable but critical condition. It seems very likely that he will not be able to return and serve in a political capacity.

After the stroke happened, an al Qaeda leader came out to say this was Allah's grand punishment for the death he has brought to Arabs. Concurrently, Pat Robertson came out to say on his "700 Club" program that G-d was punishing Sharon for dividing the Land of Israel via its withdrawal of the Gaza Strip. "G-d has enmity against those who 'divide My land,'" Robertson said during last week's broadcast. "G-d says, 'This land belongs to Me. You'd better leave it alone.'"

I guess it wasn't the fact that Sharon was out of shape and grossly overweight that had anything to do with his stroke. Not to mention his age and poor medical care after his minor stroke.

I always chuckle at these simplistic "cause and effect" comments. Funny how you never see an al Qaeda official comment about the successes of the Jews or America, an effect.

Robertson's comments did not go over very well in Israel. The Israeli Tourism Ministry was set to lease land in the Galilee to a group of American evangelists that included Robertson's in order build a Christian tourist center. After Roberston's comments, he was no longer welcome to be part of the group.

A day after this decision, lo and behold! An apology (sort of) for his comments. Robertson sent a letter to Omri Sharon, the PM's son, apologizing for his comments. If you read the actual text, his apology is mostly about the timing of his comments. I guess Robertson didn't want to be shut out on the Galilee project. After all, it's all about the money.