Israel Matzav: 'Palestinians' see terrorist release as insignificant

Monday, August 05, 2013

'Palestinians' see terrorist release as insignificant

Here in Israel, there has been a lot of agonizing over the decision to release 104 'Palestinian' terrorists. But Khaled Abu Toameh points out that the 'Palestinians' regard the release as insignificant and as something they had coming to them anyway.

As Saeb Erekat, the chief PLO negotiator, explained: "This Israeli cabinet decision is an overdue step towards the implementation of the Sharm Sheikh agreement of 1999, whereby Israel committed to release all the pre-Oslo prisoners. We welcome this decision 14 years later."

So unlike the US and other Western governments, the Palestinian Authority does not see the release of prisoners as a conciliatory move on the part of the Israeli government.

Moreover, Palestinian Authority representatives do not believe there is a link between the release of prisoners and progress toward achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Many of the prisoners who are scheduled to be released do not even belong to Abbas's Fatah faction.

...

Some Palestinians, including Abbas loyalists, see the release of a few dozen prisoners as a "bribe" offered by US Secretary of State John Kerry to the Palestinian Authority president to entice him to return to the talks.

These Palestinians point out that in return for this "bribe," Abbas was forced to drop his two other preconditions for resuming the peace talks: a full cessation of settlement construction and Israeli acceptance of the pre-1967 lines as the basis for a two-state solution.

There are also Palestinians who see the release of about 100 prisoners as a "minor" achievement for Abbas, especially in comparison to Hamas's success in securing the release of more than 1000 inmates in return for kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Schalit.

"Israel is not doing anyone a favor by releasing 100 prisoners," said a Fatah official in Ramallah. "While we welcome this decision, we do not see how it could help the peace process, particularly in light of the fact that there are more than 5,000 Palestinians who are still in prison."

So while most Palestinians are expected to rejoice over the release of the prisoners, it is naïve to think that they will take to the streets to celebrate the resumption of peace talks with Israel.

The prisoner release could benefit Abbas in the short-term. But in the long-term, many Palestinians will continue to see it as part of an Israeli-American scheme to extract concessions from Abbas and the Palestinian Authority leadership.

Imagine that you bought a present for your child. The child wasn't appreciative, but you need him to do something, so you buy him another present. The child still looks with disdain, but you really want him to behave, so you buy him another one. Get the picture?

At some point, every psychologist will tell you that you should try to find another way to deal with that child. But Israel's government doesn't listen to psychologists or to anyone else. We know better.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Middle East peace process, Palestinian terrorists, terror victims