Thursday, December 12, 2013

12-Dec-13: For those who think freeing convicted killers brings lasting peace, another wake-up call

Image Source: Reuters
US Secretary of State Kerry is preparing to arrive in snowy Jerusalem later today for the ninth time this year.

Here's a reminder of just how single-mindedly focused on the righteousness of his own thinking a person needs to be to transact deals by which murderers are freed prematurely with zero regard for the wishes or feelings of the victims.
PA will not commit to prisoner deal if next release delayed | Ma'an News Agency | Published December 12, 2013 at 03:34 | BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The undersecretary of the ministry of prisoners said Wednesday that the Palestinian leadership would not commit to an agreement to free Palestinian prisoners if the US postpones the release of a third batch which is scheduled for Dec. 29. Ziad Abu Ein told Ma’an that the deal included the release of 104 veteran prisoners and in exchange the PA would not go to UN organizations seeking recognition for nine months. However, he said, if the release is postponed the PA will go to international organizations and sue Israel internationally. Abu Ein said that the Palestinian leadership did not receive any official request from the US to postpone the release of the third batch. However, it was reported on Monday that US Secretary of State John Kerry suggested the delay of the next batch of Palestinian prisoners scheduled for release. Abu Ein explained that the Palestinian Authority perceived the step as connecting political events and the prisoner release, which contradicts the agreement and is rejected by the PA. Abu Ein added that Kerry’s earlier comments about the third batch of prisoners was an attempt to pressure President Mahmoud Abbas to accept US proposals to move forward negotiations. 
Regular visitors to this blog will need no reminding of the transparent nonsense spouted by the Americans and the Palestinian Arabs alike about how it happens that 104 committed terrorists, every last one of them a convicted murderer, are being let loose from their Israeli prisons. For other readers, here's some background from a week-ago post: "5-Dec-13: Welcome to Jerusalem, Mr Kerry. A moment of your time please."

With all the speeches, threats, summit meetings and back-slapping press conferences, notice (again) how frequently the innocent victims (and their families) of the killers are even mentioned in the public conversation about this abominable transaction.

The cynical process of extorting the release of pathetic, small-time killers of unarmed civilians to advance this political agenda or that (is there anyone who believes this is contributing to peace?) does absolutely no credit to any of the public figures involved. Leaving aside the way each side exploits it to exclusively advance his own mutually-incompatible argument, their shared indifference to the injustice of the scheme they are executing ought to make them utterly ashamed of themselves.

Then we remind ourselves they're politicians.

4 comments:

S H Cohen said...

makes one wonder and question the peace process…the two Islamist fellows currently being on trial in England for the cowardly and brutal murder of a young English soldier on an English street…will certainly be sentenced to lengthy imprisonment…hard to imagine that the English government will free them into the future…on behalf of some deal…to the people who spawned them in the first place….S H Cohen3582

This Ongoing War said...

So any thoughts you care to share with us about why it's being done in the present context? What is it about Palestinian Arab terrorists that makes a host of parties (at least the US government, the Palestinian Arab leadership and the inner cabinet of the government of Israel) so open to the idea?

S H Cohen said...

Unfortunately there will be no change until there is a mindset change in the Arab population. This has been stated by many people many times. But this change does not appear likely anywhere in the near future. Changing the mindset of these people would be a Herculean task. Probably not possible in this generation. Obama is naive…but probably believes that a peace deal between the Palestinians and Israel will promote a more positive mindset in the future. Wish I could be more positive. The early Byzantine monastic settlers in the Sinai were horrified at the brutal savagery of their new Arab neighbours. The Australian Light Horse experienced much the same thing. Long history of savage behaviour. Incest is prevalent in the Arab population. There is arguably a correlation here between this practice and the quality of 'being easily led' or increased susceptibility to ‘brainwashing.’ Again wish I could be more positive. S H Cohen

Sabra said...

S H Cohen, how can you be "more positive" about such a totally disheartening, depressing, negative situation. What's happening between Israel and its neighbors is a farce, what's happening between Israel and the rest of the world is worse than that, it's scary.