Dispatch: Israel and Hamas Set a Precedent with Gilad Shalit Deal

[웃 910]

[Saddle Bronc 124]

You heard and felt the cold water hitting you, LI?

Not a precedent--as such deals have happened more than once (the release of Samir Quntar for example).

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

The negotiations that led to the release of Samir Quntar were conducted between Israel and Hezbollah, not Hamas.

But it's certainly true that Israel and Hamas have negotiated in the past - for instance the Gaza cease-fire agreement of 2008 (which Israel then broke in November 2008 as a lead-up to its Cast Lead assault.) But these negotiations have never been conducted in such a public way. Of course the Shalit story has been a huge and continuing drama in the Israeli media - getting much more attention than any other case. His family never let up on the pressure on the Israeli government to reach a deal, and they amassed a huge public following.

Netanyahu could have cut essentially the same deal at any time over the past 5 years, but only now decided that it was politically expedient for his own purposes. His appearance with Shalit in nearly every photo the Israeli government released shows how much he wanted to use the opportunity to promote himself - even insisting on hugging Shalit before his own family could. It's all about Bibi - as Israel's Channel 10 noted, he said the word "I" a total of 37 times in his speech yesterday at the air force base.

The shamelessness of his photo-opping may be backfiring on him. In less than one day, these started showing up all over the Israeli blogosphere:

He even popped up in Shalit's X-ray!

[mawilson 2,133]

Now Israel must hunt down and kill the terrorists responsible, Munich style.

Find them wherever they are and make it hurt.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

1,027 terrorists for 1 soldier

fair trade?

[웃 910]

1,027 terrorists for 1 soldier

fair trade?

Terrorists are tough negotiators

[mawilson 2,133]

1,027 terrorists for 1 soldier

fair trade?

Hamas just proved what Israelis have known all along - one Israeli life is worth 1,000 Palestinian lives.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

The negotiations that led to the release of Samir Quntar were conducted between Israel and Hezbollah, not Hamas. ...

Ok, I was rather unspecific--but the point was that this deal was NOT a first-time, that they had done others with orgs of which Israel is declared foe.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Now Israel must hunt down and kill the terrorists responsible, Munich style.

Find them wherever they are and make it hurt.

Looks like they prefer to outsource the job. Here's your chance to make 100K, tough guy:

http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/296/867.html?hp=1&cat=402&loc=3

(In most countries, advertising to hire a hitman will get you arrested - even when the target of the murder plot is "only" someone your own government released from jail.)

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Ok, I was rather unspecific--but the point was that this deal was NOT a first-time, that they had done others with orgs of which Israel is declared foe.

That's what I said - Israel has already negotiated with Hamas on numerous occasions. (The topic is about Israel negotiating with Hamas, not other groups.)

[sandinista! 1,816]

Looks like they prefer to outsource the job. Here's your chance to make 100K, tough guy:

http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/296/867.html?hp=1&cat=402&loc=3

(In most countries, advertising to hire a hitman will get you arrested - even when the target of the murder plot is "only" someone your own government released from jail.)

but but but scandal said yesterday that israel was all like "Heveinu Shalom Aleichim" and because there were "Hamas supporters rally near Ramallah, call for renewed terror attacks, soldier kidnappings." that "the contrast between the following two items says it all".

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/334820-live-blog-the-gilad-shalit-prisoner-swap-as-it-happens/

go figure.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

but but but scandal said yesterday that israel was all like "Heveinu Shalom Aleichim" and because there were "Hamas supporters rally near Ramallah, call for renewed terror attacks, soldier kidnappings." that "the contrast between the following two items says it all".

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/334820-live-blog-the-gilad-shalit-prisoner-swap-as-it-happens/

go figure.

Clearly, it's different when Israelis do it.

[scandal 951]

but but but scandal said yesterday that israel was all like "Heveinu Shalom Aleichim" and because there were "Hamas supporters rally near Ramallah, call for renewed terror attacks, soldier kidnappings." that "the contrast between the following two items says it all".

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/334820-live-blog-the-gilad-shalit-prisoner-swap-as-it-happens/

go figure.

but but but scandal said yesterday that israel was all like "Heveinu Shalom Aleichim" and because there were "Hamas supporters rally near Ramallah, call for renewed terror attacks, soldier kidnappings." that "the contrast between the following two items says it all".

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/334820-live-blog-the-gilad-shalit-prisoner-swap-as-it-happens/

go figure.

Yes, to me, that contrast sums up my feelings adequately. Clearly you feel differently.

I feel, as do most Israelis, a sense of relief and joy that Gilad is home, and a sense of fear and trepidation that the people just released will do us more harm. At the moment of his homecoming, we are singing songs of peace. That is the sentiment in our hearts.

Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are also feeling relief and joy at the return of their loved ones, which is understandable. What is not understandable is their outspoken desire to kill Israelis in further terrorist attacks, and to wish the experience Gilad suffered on further kidnapped soldiers. What kind of people wish that death and kidnapping upon others? Why not enjoy the moment of family reunification as an opportunity for peace rather than more warfare and terror? I'm saddened by that response, but not really surprised.

Clearly, it's different when Israelis do it.

Do what? Sing songs calling for the kidnapping and murder of Palestinians? Please let me know when we burst into spontaneous cheers calling for that. I've yet to hear one.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Terrorists are tough negotiators

And, apparently, very competent ones.

[scandal 951]

What kind of person tells children that she hopes they grow up to commit suicide and to kill other people?

What kind of parents let their children listen to such instruction?

I know if a crazy woman came up to my kids and told them "I wish to see you grow up and put a bomb on your belt and go over there and blow yourself up and kill as many of those people as you can", that I would (a) get my kids as far away from her as I could (b) call 911 and have that crazy person arrested.

She wants to study psychology, apparently. Psychology of what? The insanity of people who are simultaneously suicidal and homicidal? She can make herself her own case study.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/freed-female-palestinian-terrorist-to-gaza-children-i-hope-you-will-become-martyrs-1.391014

Freed female Palestinian terrorist to Gaza children: I hope you will become martyrs

Wafa al-Biss, who was freed as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, was sentenced to a 12-year term for planning to blow herself up near Be'er Sheva's Soroka hospital in 2005.

A would-be Palestinian suicide bomber freed by Israel in the prisoner swap for soldier Gilad Shalit told cheering schoolchildren in the Gaza Strip the day after her release on Wednesday she hoped they would follow her example.

"I hope you will walk the same path we took and God willing, we will see some of you as martyrs," Wafa al-Biss told dozens of children who came to her home in the northern Gaza Strip.

Prisoners release, Gaza - Reuters - October 18, 2011

Biss was travelling to Beersheba's Soroka hospital for medical treatment in 2005 when Israeli soldiers at the Erez border crossing noticed she was walking strangely. They found 10 kgs (22 lbs) of explosives had been sewn into her underwear.

A member of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, Biss was sentenced to a 12-year term for planning to blow herself up.

After she spoke, the children cheered and waved Palestinian flags and chanted: "We will give souls and blood to redeem the prisoners. We will give souls and blood for you, Palestine."

Biss said she had planned to blow herself up at the checkpoint but her detonator malfunctioned.

"Unfortunately, the button did not work at the last minute before I was to be martyred," Biss told Reuters.

She said she had not yet adjusted to her freedom and arose early on Wednesday for prison roll call.

"This morning I woke up in my room, wore my scarf and stood up awaiting the line-up time before I realised I was home and not in jail," she said.

Once she settles back to her routine, Biss said she plans to complete university psychology studies but added that she remained defiant in the face of Israeli warnings to act against those who return to militancy.

"We will pursue our struggle and (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nentanyahu) knows that. Arrests will not deter us from our strong battles and confrontation in the face of Zionist arrogance in the land of Palestine," she said.

Biss was one of 477 Palestinians freed by Israel on Tuesday in the first stage of an exchange with Gaza's Hamas Islamist rulers that ended Shalit's five years of captivity. Another 550 Palestinans will be freed in the second stage later this year.