The West Bank village of Qibya has its own bitter memories of Ariel Sharon.<br /><br />In 1953, he led a commando unit that blew up homes and killed dozens of people in a reprisal raid for the slaying of an Israeli woman and her two children.<br /><br />Hamed Ghethan was four-years-old then. He lived with his family in Qibya, which was ruled by Jordan at the time.<br /><br />“Sharon’s name reminds me of the 77 martyrs from my village, Qibya,” he said as he walked round the ruins of his former home. <br /><br />“It symbolises an infinite brutality in the killing of innocent people including women, the elderly and children.”<br /><br />Whether 77 people died as village records show or there were 69 victims as is often said, Qibya holds Sharon responsible.<br /><br />“There is no gloating in death, but this is the inevitable end for every tyrant,” Ghethan said.<br /><br />Sharon later said he had thought the houses were empty.
