No To The Freeing Of Hundreds Of MurderersIt is easy to be silent when faced with a moral dilemma, taking no position and reserving the ability to complain later on. But, as Jewish tradition teaches, silence in those circumstances is acquiescence.
Gilad Shalit's family and the Israeli media have framed the question over negotiations with Hamas as a simple one: Will the Olmert government do everything possible to secure Shalit's release?
Shalit's family can hardly be condemned. Their son, as a direct result of serving his country, is enduring his third year in Hamas captivity. Their efforts to achieve his freedom are completely understandable, and their lobbying is well within the bounds of legitimate democratic means.
But the media's whitewash of reality is a disgrace. Nowhere is it mentioned that Israel would be sending home those who bombed buses throughout the country, the Park Hotel during the Seder, pizza stores like Sbarro, and cafes like Moment Cafe and Cafe Hillel.
The murderers of Alisa Flatow, of Malki Roth and Michal Raziel, of Shoshana Greenbaum, of the five members of the Schijveschuuder family, of Dr. David and Naava Applebaum, of the Hatuel family, of Chezi Goldberg, of Goldie Taubenfeld and her 3 month old son, Shmuel, of Noam Apter, of Yoni Jesner, of Marla Bennett, of Shiri Negari, of Rachel Levy, of Koby Mandell and Yosef Ish-Ran.
Those are just a few of the names.
The Jewish people now have a powerful sovereign state, whose price for these murders evidently is a few years in jail, and as for those soldiers who died or were wounded apprehending the mass murderers, well, that's the way it goes. And the future price to be paid in the erosion of deterrence, in encouraging more kidnapping, and in making mass murderers understand that they'll be back home soon enough is not even worthy of discussion.
There was a time when it wasn't this way. A time before Oslo, when Israel suddenly decided that those who murdered athletes in Munich, schoolchildren in Ma'alot, and babies in Nahariya were suitable partners for peace.
Those of us who protested Oslo were derided as enemies of peace. Those of us who protest now surely know that our protests are worth very little, and it isn't easy appearing - even if falsely - to be on the side of keeping a young IDF soldier in a living hell with no end in sight.
Speaking out for what is right - and against what is wrong - sometimes comes at a price. Ultimately, that price is well worth paying.
posted on 3/16/2009
