(Jerusalem Post) - David Forman The international community, concerned with strengthening the position of Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen, is urging Israel to release Palestinians who have murdered Israelis, to send back to Gaza and Jenin members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two groups most of the world has defined as terrorist organizations. Were Iraqi gunmen to kidnap American soldiers, could anyone imagine the U.S. agreeing to a prisoner exchange? Could anyone envision the U.S. setting free even one individual tangentially associated with felling the Twin Towers? Is Israel really expected to free a Palestinian terrorist who walked into a Jewish home and shot two children to death in their beds? Has the world gone mad? What is being demanded is not even an imbalanced exchange of prisoners but an outright amnesty. For what? A teetering hudna that will leave the military might of Hamas and Islamic Jihad intact? A nonreciprocal release of Palestinian prisoners on Israel's part makes a mockery of common sense, fair play, and moral decency. The writer is chairman of Rabbis for Human Rights.
2003-07-15 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive