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More on Israelâs Insane Prisoner Swap
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharonâs Cabinet narrowly approved on Sunday a prisoner exchange with the Lebanese group Hizballah that had run into strong opposition in Israel over the exclusion of a long-missing Israeli airman.If Israelis saw the exclusion of the airman as the main problem, then Israel might in fact be ready to give up. Some 400 jailed Palestinians and Lebanese are to be traded for Elhanan Tannenbaum, a kidnapped Israeli businessman, and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers. It was not immediately clear when or where the exchange would take place. Four hundred prisoners, many of them have killed Israelis already, for a lone businessman! Hizballah declined to comment immediately upon hearing that Israel had accepted the deal. Hizballah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said on Saturday the swap was off if it did not include all Lebanese prisoners. After such unequal deal, the murderous Sheik still asks for concessions! The army chief, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, was in favor, saying the price to be paid was reasonable, while the head of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, warned the exchange would boost Hizballahâs standing in the Arab world. You mean to tell me it takes the head of the Mossad to see such elemental truth? Sharon brushed aside the criticism, and told ministers that the ailing Tannenbaum â who reportedly was tortured and had all his teeth pulled by his captors â would die in Lebanon if the deal was rejected. And many more Israelis will die due to the foolishness of the exchange. However, opponents said the price is too high. âThe message that will be given by a yes vote is clear, that kidnapping really pays,â said Uzi Landau, a Cabinet minister without portfolio. âI shall vote against.â Worse yet, it will send the message that Israel is a morally weak State, ready for its destruction. But the enemies of Islam were not always this feeble.... As narrated in Warriors of God, a book I recently reviewed, Richard the Lionheart approached negotiation in a decidedly different manner. After Richard negotiated a prisoner swap with two of Saladinâs subordinates, Saladin begins to stall, hoping to delay the Crusaders while reinforcing his own Army every day. Richard would take none of it, and thus sent the Sultan an ultimatum: abide by the agreement, or watch every prisoner die. Saladin probably thought such threat a desperate bluff. On the day the swap was to take place, Crusaders marched the muslim prisoners to a field, where they all died by the sword on Richardâs orders. The Crusader King was not bluffing at all. Posted by: Sorge 2003-11-10 |
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