Jerusalem – The relatives of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks waged a charged debate Sunday over the release of militants this week in a deal to free an Israeli soldier held by Hamas for five years.
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Several families have filed a court appeal against the deal, though it is not expected to halt the swap in which Hamas militants will release Sgt. Gilad Schalit in exchange for 1,027 Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
Among the prisoners to be released on Tuesday are militants involved in deadly bombings and other attacks targeting Israeli civilians and soldiers. In Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinians were preparing a hero’s welcome for the returning prisoners, seen as resistance fighters.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was to hold a reception for those prisoners being released to homes in the West Bank, said a chief aide, Saeb Erekat.
Ron Kehrmann, whose 17-year-old daughter, Tal, was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber in 2003, said three militants involved in the attack were slated for release. Kehrmann opposes the deal, he said, because it could result in more Israeli deaths.
“Is the blood of the next captured soldier or citizen less red than the blood of Gilad Schalit?” he asked.
But other bereaved relatives believe the price is worth paying to free the captive soldier, who has been held in Gaza for more than five years.
“To know your son is alive and not be able to hold him, this is the worst possible thing,” said Yosefa Goldstein, whose daughter Sari, 21, died in a 2002 bus bombing.
The debate over the release has led some to take the law into their own hands.
Shvuel Schijveschuurder, 27, lost his parents and three siblings in 2001 when attackers blew up a crowded pizza restaurant in Jerusalem, killing 15 people. A Palestinian woman who transported the bomber to the restaurant is among those slated for release.
On Friday, Tel Aviv police arrested Schijveschuurder for vandalizing a memorial to the assassinated Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in protest of the swap.
Last week, after the decision was announced, his 20-year-old sister, Lea Schijveschuurder, stood outside a Jerusalem protest tent where 300 supporters of the deal were celebrating. She held a sign that read, “My parents’ blood shouts from the grave.”
A Hamas leader in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, told the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot in an interview published Sunday that the swap deal for Schalit will encourage the Islamic group to capture more soldiers.
“The lessons we’ve learned by kidnapping soldiers leads us to continue the kidnappings,” the Hamas leader said. “We still have 7,000 prisoners in (Israeli) jails, and they also need to be released.”
Solution:
Entebbe.
No negotiations with terrorists. Period.
while this deal will def bring anger to some, i think both sides are right, there is no doubt that these killers will go right back to waht they do best…look at the heros welcome they will be getting!
on teh other hand there is no doubt at all that this will encourage other soldiers to be kidnapped, no doubt at all, on the other hand none of us can start to imagine what shalit has gone through, if he has indeed been told of his release he is for sure counting the minutes!!
The question remains, if they don’t do the swap, will the kidnapping and torture of soldiers stop ??????
There is no question that Gilad Schalit needs to come home. The release of these murderers is a whole new story. Once they are free, but wanted and recognized world over, on every terrorist list in every country-what kind of move can they make without detection? Israel will have to tighten security drastically. Most terrorists are unknown-thus they have succeeded by using the element of surprise. For as long as these terrorist have been in prison, every detail of their lives and habits have been observed and noted. They have extensive profiles-it will not be so simple for them to recommit an act of terror. Israel is a small country-and when they want to keep on eye on 1000-2000- or 10,000, they know what they need to do. I am sure that they have means and ways of letting these terrorists know it, too!