Yesterday was the 1724 day Gilad Shalit, Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas in 2006, is in captivity. The Israeli public stopped, at 11 a.m., for five minutes, each minute representing one year, showing their identification and I would say, or would like to say, in protest.
In an excellent article published in Haaretz, Yosi Sarid shows us again the hypocrisy of the Israeli leadership (Sarid - Haaretz Daily Newspaper). From the President through the members of parliament including the Minister of Defense all participated in the demonstration, trying, and in some way succeeding, to transform the act exclusively into an expression of empathy. In the words of Sarid: "…making the call to "Free Gilad Shalit" without acknowledging the necessary price is evasive, cowardly and misleading..." We cannot say in the same sentence "free Gilad" and "don't liberate terrorists or negotiate with Hamas." This was what most politicians did without understanding or understanding too well that yesterday's act was not a demonstration of empathy but an act of protest.
I am grateful that I am not the Prime Minister or the Minister of Defense and I have to decide if I accept Hamas' demands and free Gilad Shalit or I refuse and allow this terrorist organization keep Shalit.
More than once reality makes myths in which society stands play against it. In this case, the myth that Israel does not leave nobody behind, that the army prefers to risk its soldiers' lives in order to bring back a fellow soldier, or that the State will save no effort in liberating all soldier; not only is proving wrong but it is also playing against the State. It is true that Israel more than once made extreme efforts to liberate prisoners, from Entebbe to the Jibril accord, Israel risked and paid a huge price for its people. Notwithstanding, soldiers have been left behind, this is the cruel reality of war and while we continue being at war, this will continue to be the reality.
Does this means that the myth must be eliminated and society must understand that Israel cannot pay any price for liberating its soldiers? My answer is no. Part of the Israeli social fiber is on the army and the myths that surround it, especially the one that says that no one is left behind. Today, when social cleavages are growing and important sectors of the population question central elements of society, breaking the myth by leaving Gilad Shalit behind will have an enormous social cost. Israel cannot, as the US does, put the burden of defending the State in the hands of minorities. The challenges Israel is facing and will face need that the Zionist secular sectors continue to believe in the army and continue participating in it. Breaking the pact by not freeing Shalit can generate a rupture with a very high cost.
Does this justify freeing hundreds of Hamas terrorists? My answer is yes. Like it or not, in this battle Hamas already won. Unless a military mission liberates Shalit, Hamas will win this battle. In exchange of Shalit we will have to free terrorists, there is no way out. Israel has done this in the past and will have to do it again. The argument of the former government and especially of the actual government that liberating terrorists will increase terrorism and Hamas' will in kidnapping soldiers is weak.
Hamas recruitment and training capabilities unfortunately continue to exist and will continue to increase if the peace process does not advance. Their will to kidnap soldiers always existed and will continue to exist, regardless of Gilad sweep. Capturing prisoners is part of war and Hamas knows too well that kidnapping soldiers is a huge blow against Israel and they will continue trying. The way of fighting this is politic and has one direction, renewing the peace process. An agreement with the Palestinians will not eliminate Hamas or their will to continue with terror, but it will make their task much more difficult. The argument that liberating terrorists will risk Israel's security or Fatah's control of the West Bank does not convince me. The real danger for Israel's security and Fatah's control is the stagnation of the negotiations.
When in 1997 Netanyahu made the terrible mistake in sending a Mosad mission to kill Haled Mashal in Jordan and failed, he did not hesitate that much in liberating Ahmed Yassin. He not only freed Hamas' main leader but also transform a grey Mashal into a hero and into its actual leader. This time, Gilad Shalit's capture was not his fault nor it happened during his duty, but it is Netanyahu who must bring Gilad home.
Yesterday at 11 a.m. I with other thousands stopped not only showing our empathy with Shalit family but as sign of protest. Yesterday we said and today we say: pay the price and free Gilad. Let us all stop again for five minutes and do not allow the actual leadership eliminate the real content of the protest. And please do not make us stop for six minutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment