By Tom Kando
On October 18, the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was released by Hamas, after more than 5 years of captivity, in exchange for 477 and eventually 1027 Palestinian prisoners. The young man’s return home was accompanied by great national celebration. There is much rejoicing. I share the joy, and I want to see this in a positive light.
The government of Israel has pledged to its people, whose children must ALL serve in the military, that it will do “EVERYTHING” to secure their freedom in such cases.
The Netanyahu administration is proud to have succeeded in this exchange, where its predecessors failed. However, here are some things to consider:
Can there be such a vow of “doing everything”? What is “everything”? Next time, does Israel hand over half the country for the release of Israeli prisoners? Maybe you’ll say, “well, they meant ‘everything within reason’.”
And that is precisely my question: Was the exchange of ONE prisoner for 1,027 prisoners reasonable? A certain proportion of the released Palestinian prisoners are mass murderers. Releasing dozens of such people may result in future deaths of innocents, as more cafés and schools in Tel Aviv and Haifa get bombed (and more Palestinians are killed in reprisal). Several of the released Palestinian terrorists/freedom fighters have already vowed that they will resume their attacks.
Naturally, to the Palestinians, these released prisoners are not mass murderers. They are freedom fighters. Some participants in a Dutch opinion poll put it this way: “compared to 60 years of Israeli terrorism against the Palestinians, Gilad Shalit’s 5 years of incarceration were meager punishment.” Besides, there are still 5,000 (some say 10,000) Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
On the other hand, much of Israeli public opinion feels that this was a pretty expensive exchange.
That’s how it feels to me, too. Does this deal reflect the bargaining skills of Hamas and of the Israeli government? If so, Israel is in big trouble.
Don’t misunderstand me: I am not saying that Gilad Shalit should have been abandoned. And don’t come at me with the cliché, “what if it were YOU (or your own child)?” This is the non-sequitur argument I heard from many of my students whenever we discussed issues like euthanasia and capital punishment. All I am focusing on now is: 1 vs. 1027, and I think, “wow!”
It would be nice if this prisoner exchange gave Israel at least a MORAL victory. Perhaps world public opinion could say, “They did that? Gave up 1027 prisoners for ONE of their sons! That’s very, very nice of them!” Sort of a sympathy vote.
Don’t hold your breath.leave comment here
5 comments:
To push a kind of reasoning to the hilt: The Israeli attitude could be considered as a show of extreme arrogance: 1 Israeli soldier is worth 1027 Palestinians. That's how superior we are....
Dear Csaba,
This thought had occurred to me, too, but then I dismissed it. I feel that it only has a 15% chance of being true.
Of course, there will always be some individuals who feel this way - the true chauvinists and racists. But the question is, how widespread would this attitude be? My hope and my belief are that most Israelis don't have this attitude.
Also, if we now argue that this was the true attitude underlying the lopsided exchange, Israel can't ever win: if they are intransigent and refuse to deal, we say, "of course, they are a..holes." And if they do deal and trade 1028 prisoners for 1, we say that they are arrogant. No matter what they do, they are bad...
By the way, I just read that they are making another exchange today: One American-Israeli prisoner held by the Egyptians, in return for 28 Egyptian prisoners. is this a better ratio?
Hi Tom,
Hier een lang stuk over de vergelijking die jij eerder maakte:
http://jandirksnel.wordpress.com/category/politiek-israel-en-palestina/
Groet,
To the reader, re Paul's comment:
He sends a link to a Dutch article which deals precisely with the issue raised by Csaba and me:
There are now many who say that the prisoner swap reflects the arrogant view that there is a "1:1027 exchange ratio" between the value of an Israeli life and that of a Palestinian.
On the other hand, many find this a nefarious accusation.
The article touches upon many aspects of this debate.
I'll repeat where I stand: Regardless of the context, handing over 1027 hostages in exchange for 1 is generous. Period.
Calling Israelis arrogant shows more about the person who expresses that critique than the Israelis.'Value is in the eye of the beholder'.
It never even entered my mind to perceive a Palestinian life as worth less than an Israeli life, and I am sure most Israeli share my opinion. Shame on the ones that give this spin on the exchange.
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