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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Where terrorists belong

The Independence Day spectacular at Mount Herzl on Monday night was disrupted by Yoel Shalit, brother of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, and Yoel's girlfriend, who ran out into the middle of the ceremony shouting "Gilad is still alive."
Yoel Shalit, brother of abducted Israel Defense forces soldier Gilad Shalit clashed with police on Monday as he was escorted out of the official 63rd Independence Day ceremony at Mount Herzl for shouting during the speeches.

Shortly after Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin finished his speech kicking off the official celebrations, Yoel Shalit stood up from the crowd, together with his girlfriend, and raised signs reading "Gilad is still alive."

The two were forcefully removed from the crowd by police as they continued shouting.

After they were removed from the crowd Yoel Shalit clashed with the soldiers who tried to restrain him.

"I am shouting for Gilad," Shalit told reporters after they were removed from the ceremony. "He can't shout, so I have to shout for him."
The Shalit family - and Israel's mainstream media which has orchestrated a campaign for Israel to pay Hamas whatever it demands for his release - make it sound so simple. Just give Hamas what they want: 1,000 terrorists, 1,400 terrorists, whatever. While it is easy to feel sorry for the Shalit's - and I believe that all Israelis do feel sorry for them - the entire country's safety cannot be subordinated to the admittedly natural desires of one family.

As I have pointed out all too many times, released terrorists return to terrorism. Israel's government, which has to look out for the entire country's well being, and not just for that of the Shalit family, cannot 'just give in' to Hamas. And while the families of terror victims have borne the brunt of opposing the release of hundreds of terrorists in exchange for Shalit, the rest of us cannot be silent either. The issue should concern all of us.
The Israeli news media are waging a high-intensity campaign to agitate for the release of terrorist murderers in order to secure the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.

To help win our hearts and minds, journalists and politicians have focused their efforts on minimizing the pain of terror victims and questioning the motives that bring them to oppose the release of murderers.

Just a day ago, the eve of this year’s Remembrance Day, we learned that negotiations with Hamas over the release of terrorist-prisoners in return for Shalit may have progressed after months of stalemate.

Should we credit the six former high-level officials of the Shin Bet, the Mossad and the defence establishment who held a press conference two weeks ago? Their public demand that our government release every last prisoner on the Hamas list has been accorded much media attention, as has their blanket assurance:
"The State of Israel is strong enough... to deal with these murderers with blood on their hands in case they revert to their evil ways". [Source]
A careful reader might notice that all six had left their security posts more than a decade ago, before the start of the Second Intifada. No journalist or editor has pointed out that none of these "experts" ever had to contend with the sort of terrorism that has plagued Israelis throughout this past decade. Most had left the security arena for the political playing field. For instance, Alik Ron, one of the six, was Northern District Police Commander during the Arab riots of October 2000. In their wake, the Or Commission (see "Alik Ron found unfit for command duty") recommended he be barred from holding senior administrative or command roles in the security services.

With no referendum to rely on, one of quoted ex-officials even asserted that "most Israeli citizens support the release of murderers in return for Gilad Shalit." It is doubtful they do.

Are these men equipped to guide the country as it grapples with the Shalit dilemma? Are they in a position to promise security to a threatened people?
Read the whole thing.

The real question here is why the Shalit family is not demonstrating against Hamas or the International Committee of the Red Cross. Unfortunately, I think we all know the answer.

The actions of Yoel Shalit and his girlfriend are populistic. A government that listens to them is a government of fools.

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2 Comments:

At 9:58 PM, Blogger NormanF said...

The Shalit family, Israeli Far Leftists and the Israeli media who support them are useful tools of Hamas - or should it be the PA?

You have to wonder why Yoel Shalit and his girlfriend are not shouting to PA President Abu Bluff to get their relative released.

After all, the Palestinians hold him captive against his will. Why aren't they being held responsible? Last time I checked, kidnapping is a crime.

And the last thing on earth Israel should do is reward the terrorists who kidnapped Shalit.

 
At 1:57 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

MIght be appropriate time to provide for the death penalty for terrorists with blood on their hands. It is untenable to enable the Hamas policy of seizing soldiers not as POWs but as pawns to extort an exchange on their terms. Getting Shalit back this way will encourage many more Shalits, snatches followed by ransom demands.

 

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