#Trending: Death of Peres: a very different reaction

Among the tributes from world leaders following the death of former President Shimon Peres, many on social media had a very different view on the controversial Israeli leader.

Narrated

2 min read

The New Arab

28 Sep, 2016

Many in the Arab world remember Peres as a warmonger [ AFP]

The death of Israel's former President Shimon Peres on Wednesday - two weeks after suffering a major stroke - has led to an outpouring of praise from world leaders.

But the image of Peres the "peace-maker" - whose role in the 1993 Oslo Accords landed him a Nobel Peace Prize - was a far cry from the reputation of Peres the warmonger by many in the Arab World.

Commentators and social media users took the eulogists of Peres to task by pointing to the rampant bloodshed unleashed on Palestinians and Lebanese by Israeli forces under his reign.

What remains in most minds is the 1996 Qana massacre when Israeli forces shelled a UN compound where Lebanese civilians had sheltered, killing over 100 people.

Palestinians will not forget Peres' involvement in the ethnic cleansing of West Bank villages during the 1960s.

Elsewhere, others accused him of pursuing a pro-settler, colonial agenda and that he advocated apartheid policies that gathered pace after his era.

Here are some of the trending hashtags used to comment on his death:

#Qana

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[Translation: Forever relegated to the dust-bin of history. #ShimonPeres spearheaded Israel's terror]

#EthnicCleansing

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#Gaza

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[Translation: The last of the founding fathers of Israel and the perpetrator of the most atrocious crimes against humanity.]

#IllegalSettlements

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