There is a lot of talk about asymmetric warfare lately. How (if at all) could a regular army win a war against a guerilla movement, what are the pitfalls, respective strengths and weaknesses of each side. Less attention is given to the asymmetric treatment of the prisoners of the same warfare.
The headline in the Time Online Hezbollah wants to swap soldiers for child killer caught my attention briefly. The subject is being bandied for some time already, and the waters are murky. One thing for sure: the statement in the article “Qantar’s role in the attack on the coastal town of Nahariya 27 years ago would make this an especially bitter pill for Israelis to swallow.” is shared by all Israelis. The article reminds also what Samir Qantar is and what is his crime: “Danny Haran, 28, was shot at close range in front of his terrified four-year-old daughter Einat, whose head was then smashed with a rifle butt.”
I have decided to compare the fate of this murderer with the fate of Ron Arad – the navigator and weapons system officer of IAF captured by Lebanese Shi’ite militia Amal in 1986.
Samir Qantar is alive and healthy. Nothing is known about Ron Arad since (approximately) 1987.
Samir Qantar is jailed in Israeli jail in known location. Ron Arad’s location is unknown.
Samir Qantar is being visited, even by political “luminaries” like MK Dehamshe (who decided to present the murderer as an innocent lamb being incarcerated by Zionists). Who vistied Ron Arad (or the Israeli soldiers kidnapped lately) ever?
Samir Qantar is receiving medical assistance and food like any other prisoner. Nothing is known regarding Ron Arad in this aspect, but the conditions “enjoyed” by people kidnapped by various Muslim militias are well known.
To top this comparison: looking at the site of the Lebanese saint, I have discovered that he is actually a successful graduate student of “one of the Tel Aviv colleges” in sociology. The slime, you see, “always thought of education to be one of the most powerful tools in war” and “After a lot of efforts and a whole lot of years, finally Samir won his education battle and was registered in one of the colleges in Tel Aviv in 1992.“… Interesting to know what kind of degrees are on offer to Israeli and Western kidnapped soldiers and citizens?
Yes, we are paying a stiff price of being a democracy and of adherence to the Western code of conduct with our prisoners. I know. But sometimes I wonder…
Cross-posted on SimplyJews
Bravo to the Times for a clear, honest headline (and a decent article).
It would be very hard not to agree to Kuntar’s release if that meant that Goldwasser and Regev were left captive to Hezbollah, but it’s too high a price. The thought of Kuntar being feted as a hero across the Arab world makes you want to vomit, and we all know by now that the rest of the media won’t be as frank about who he is as the Times.
I still think Israel should make a public offer to let Kuntar serve the remainder of his four life sentences in some trustworthy third country—I’m voting for Australia (because I can’t think of many other countries I trust), preferably one of the more desolate bits—and draw the line there.
From what I understand, it is modus operandi of the Palestinians to occasionally offer swaps for Arad, Baumel, and all of the other MIA Israeli soldiers and airmen. To my knowledge, there have been no confirmable proofs of life for any of these men. There has only been hopes raised and then razed for their families. Hence, Israel should consider a new policy, and the USA should emulate it when and if it becomes necessary. Execute those convicted of terrorism – especially those requested by the terrorists who proffer swaps.
chsw
You need to expand the realm of the possible. Agree to the exchange. And arrange to strike at those you release as soon as you get your hands on your own.
You’ve bargained before for prisoners you were led to believe were still alive, but were returned to you dead.
It’s time to repay the favour. But don’t kill them prior to the exchange, get them at the exchange point. And do it for the cameras, because you just know al jazeera will be on hand. Your enemies need to be reminded that they trifle with Israelis at their peril.
Exchange them, and at the exchange site, arrange for your Air Force to pay a little visit. Get them all.
And the other thing, you guys need to start staging some snatch operations in Iran and Syria. If your enemy slips across your borders to grab people. Then you do likewise. And make sure those you grab are connected to the ruling regime.
Ever since the conclusion of Netanyahu’s stewardship, there can be discerned a want of grit in Israeli foreign policy.
Two things have been noted in Israeli foreign policy since the creation of the state, and those two characteristics have gone a long way towards securing the warm regard of the American people. They are grit and flair.
We’re not seeing too much of either of late.
You’re dealing with pirates, not soldiers, not states who subscribe to international norms.
And lastly, Israel needs to desperately rethink the death penalty. The entire basis against the death penalty is that life imprisonment is a fair punishment. But if that punishment is not served, wherefore the morality of sparing profoundly evil people.
Moreover, you have reason to know now that muslims are likely to be sought for purposes of exchange. So these people won’t even come close to serving their full sentences. Thus the sentences become increasingly nothing but legal fictions.