On Releasing Terrorists

Today, it was revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to release all 104 pre-Oslo terrorists in Israeli jails. Bibi has accomplished the rare feat of bringing unity to the Jewish people. One would think that something this controversial would be polarizing, but it will not be, as everyone in this country will hate it.

I am not here to harp on Netanyahu’s decision, but to speak about the concept of such an act.

Despite the reputation Israel has of “never negotiating with terrorists”, it almost always negotiates with terrorists. Every Israeli leader has released and exchanged prisoners. Whether it is in exchange for Israeli POWs, kidnapped soldiers, dead bodies, intelligence or an illusive peace, Israel has given back to the world perpetrators of some of the most heinous acts imaginable. For a history, please read this: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/pows.html

Historically, the biggest reason why Israel was hesitant to return prisoners was due to concerns of security. Often, the returned prisoners would rejoin whatever activities they were arrested for in the first place. The biggest example of this took place in 1985 when Israel exchanged over 1000 terrorists in exchange for three POWs – many of these terrorists played prominent roles in the First Intifada.

The prisoners being released now do not constitute a security threat.  They have all served at least 20 years of their sentence and most much more. They will not be allowed to return to Gaza or the West Bank and they will be meticulously monitored by Israel security services.

With that said, every single one of the people Israel is releasing has done despicable things and does not deserve to enjoy a free life. Here is a list of some of the terrorists being released and their crimes: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6MI3kBIeqzZV3doV0dHNEFqUVU/edit

Looking at this list is nauseating, but that is not the difficult part to swallow. The difficult part to swallow is that the release of these sickening individuals will be celebrated. Each terrorist will be treated as a hero while Palestinians bask in their “glory”.  As Palestinians celebrate their “great” accomplishment, it prompts an important question.

What part of celebrating terrorism encourages peace? To me, it seems as if glorifying terrorism would hinder the chances of peace. Not just the fact that these individuals will be revered, but that the Palestinians viewed their release as a necessary precondition for just entering negotiations for “peace” is sickening, but also extremely illuminating.

Palestinians constantly advertise to the world how badly they want a state and how necessary it is. In light of how time after time, they have attempted to add new roadblocks and preconditions to avoid negotiations; this becomes very hard to believe. With that said, the release of prisoners does not benefit a potential Palestinian state, or the Palestinian people one iota. Why do they demand the release of terrorists as a precondition to enter negotiations for the chance of achieving peace?

I do not blame Netanyahu for releasing these terrorists, but everything about this is rotten.  From the Palestinian rejectionism to their glorification of terrorism, to the American acquiescence and eventually encouragement of this ludicrous demand; everything about this is rotten.