The Blockade and the Prisoner Swap
I have been wondering for the last few hours why Israel is keeping up the Naval blockade of Lebanon. Carol Herman in the comments to Lebanon's Cash Flow Problems points out that the goods bound for Lebanon are going through the Syrian port of Tripoli and then into Lebanon. Meaning that the graft is going to Syria not Lebanon. Why would that be in Israel's interest?
And then I read this bit of news:Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said Thursday that a prisoner swap with Israel was being considered by his government but "nothing has materialized."
So maybe this is Israel's way of putting a lot of pressure on the Lebanese Government which is controlled by the March 14th Movement which is opposed to Syria and Hizballah. If Israel can get this done in the next month or two it will be a severe blow to the prestiege of Hizballah. Of course he is not going to get all the Lebanese prisoners (all four of them). One fellow (Samir Kuntar) who smashed the skull of a four year old with the butt of a rifle after making her watch her father being shot to death is definitely not going back. However, consider this as Saniora's opening bid. He will settle for less.
Fuad Saniora said Lebanon was "continuing the contacts" with Israel about a possible swap in which two Israeli soldiers would be released in exchange for all Lebanese detainees in Israeli prisons.Saniora said Lebanon was interested in seeing the return of all detainees, "in other words the abducted soldiers as well as the Lebanese detainees that have been in Israeli prisons for over 28 years."
Its the blockade. Lebanon survived for 20 years with others in control of south Lebanon. So it is unlikely that the Israeli troops there are a problem.
"I hope the Israeli government will respond to the call of reason so that we can finish with this and everybody will return to his home," he said.Israeli military officials have said Israel is holding 13 Hizbullah prisoners and the bodies of dozens of guerrillas that it could swap for the two captive soldiers.
The reward for Hizballah? Forcing Israel into direct indirect negotiations. i.e. you have to deal with us on our terms but only through third parties because we do not recognize your right to exist.
Earlier, a senior Israeli political official said that Israel would agree to conduct negotiations over the release of the soldiers kidnapped by Hizbullah, if they were handed over to the Lebanese government.
The official told Army Radio that if the talks are conducted with the Beirut leadership the move will not be perceived as a reward for Hizbullah.The proposal will be submitted to Nasralla's associates and the Lebanese government via UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Veteran civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson who are visiting the region.
Kofi and Jesse. What a pair. My guess is that they are doing their usual. When the Arabs need to publicly accept some political or war time defeat they call Jesse to do the job. I think this news increases the probability of the soldiers return.
Jackson reiterated his claim on Thursday that the three kidnapped soldiers, captured by Hizbullah and Hamas, were alive.
Update: 01 Sept '06 0655z
Free Samir Kuntar?CNSNews.com) - The Arab prisoner that Hizballah wants Israel to release in exchange for two abducted Israeli soldiers, is serving multiple life sentences for killing a four-year-old girl with a rifle butt.
The mother of Einat and Yael speaks:
Samir Kuntar is one of only two or three Lebanese prisoners still held by Israel, and Hizballah said its July 12 assault is aimed at winning his freedom. As police began to arrive, the terrorists took Danny and Einat down to the beach. There, according to eyewitnesses, one of them shot Danny in front of Einat so that his death would be the last sight she would ever see. Then he smashed my little girl's skull in against a rock with his rifle butt. That terrorist was Samir Kuntar.
I do not think Samir will be part of any exchange until he dies. Maybe not even then.
By the time we were rescued from the crawl space, hours later, Yael, too, was dead. In trying to save all our lives, I had smothered her.
Update: 01 Sept '06 1031z
Corrected text so the stories of murder by Samir agree.
Update: 01 Sept '06 1427z
Captain's Quarter's discusses Assad's promise not to re-arm Hizballah.
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2 comments:
FROM CAROL HERMAN
How nice of you to mention me, Mr. Simon.
And, here I think I'm one of the few people who see the BRILLIANCE in prisoner exchange. So, let me explain.
The Jewish world is so small; there are many people who hate Jews, who have never met this. This is true in the Mideast, as well. Where a lot of wealth was gathered up from Jews who lived in the arab countries. You want those who profited to say nice things? NEVER, EVER GONNA HAPPEN.
But just like school is a place that forces kids INTO it, so, too, do the Israeli prisons WORK WONDERS.
In other words, (and, Ulysses S. Grant memorialized this into Amerian Military Training) ... YOU'RE BRUTAL IN YOUR FIGHTING. You hold nothing back. But when someone surrenders to you; the expect the worst. YOU GIVE THEM THE BEST.
In WW2, all those germans, and poles, FEARED THE USSR! They knew the Russian soldiers were brutes. (So were the Germans.) So you take the very population that can help you, when you WIN the war, and you turn them into enemies that last long after you're gone.) As a Pole today what they think of the soviets. (While, now, they haven't got those troubles with the defeated germans. The difference? The germans got defeated. But in rewarding Stalin with such prizes after WW2, the Iron Curtain came down. And, has done more to teach the world to dread Marx, than anything we can do just by preaching.)
While in Israel, FOR THE FIRST TIME, a lot of arab kids wake up to CLEAN BEDS. Medical care. Visits from home. Korans, schmoorans. Respect for their dietary habits. AND, ones that can, AND WHO WANT TO, can get textbooks from Israel's best schools. They learn HEBREW. And, they learn SKILLS. If you think this keeps them hating Jews, the answer is "only sometimes."
And, Israel doesn't return it's worst ones. And, then, the better prisoners are not turned into sex mates of the pyschotic inmates. Again, people are given choices. Many figure this out. And, for this reason SURRENDING TO JEWISH SOLDIERS IS NOT HARD.
Grant understood this, too. In warfare everybody's afraid. But if your enemy is basically more afraid, and then they are not afraid to surrender; all you have to do is encourage them to give up.
Among the ways you reduce the strengh of your opposition is to treat your prisoners, especially political prisoners, KINDLY. And, not "tit-for-tat" with the logic, "well the arabs are animals."
Israel doesn't treat her prisoners, as I said, like animals.
And, when busloads of prisoners go back, even if it seems "asymetrical," Israel is sending them back ALIVE. And, the bonuses come that sometimes people tell the truth. And, those, by the way, for a lot of those arabs, are the only Jews they meet in life.
Sometimes, you change minds, one mind at a time.
I hope the prisoners come back, okay.
I'll gather that the Lebanese want their trade back. So, yes, it's a great bargaining chip to do something short term ... forcing a little inconvenience on the shipping companies; but a real tide turner in how the skimming of profits goes into the hands of Assad friendly, syria. All on the Q.T., of course.
Ahead? It all depends. Arabs love to do deals that take a long time. Where most Americans want to sew things up ONE, TWO,THREE.
Olmert's experienced in politics. So here we are in his strong suit. And, Amir Peretz? Ya know what? Ronald Reagan, before he became President, and, yes, governor of California, too. And, after his career as a movie star started to fade, HE PUT ON THE HAT OF THE ACTOR'S GUILD. A fancy union for talent. I mention this. Because Amir Peretz wears the same hat.
And, Amir Peretz can sit in a chair longer than almost any other man, alive. He can talk a situation "to death" ... or to wherever he wants it to go. So, while I make fun of his "inexperience," he's about as "inexperienced" as Ronald Reagan was. Back in the days most actors couldn't sit in a chair without a script. And, wait for deals to gel.
Never underestimate people just because you're tempted to do so.
If these soldiers are not alive, however, expect Plan B. And, in the interim, also notice nasrallah is afraid to come out of his bunker. And, in gazoo. Palestinian snakes keep losing their heads. (Just like that bomb maker in Ramallah. This isn't talent the arabs grow again. Very few of them are actual scientists.) So, if it's UNDER THE RADAR, it is all in play.
"THE REAL REASON FOR THE 2006 SUMMER WAR
BETWEEN HEZBOLLAH AND ISRAEL."
Courtesy of: http://SamirKuntar.net/
Samir Kuntar
سمير القنطار
CONFESSED CHILD KILLER!
On July 12, 2006 Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists crossed the border with Israel in an operation dubbed "Operation Truthful Promise," which was aimed at nabbing Israeli soldiers in exchange for Lebanese prisoners. Hezbollah succeeded in the operation and successfully took hostage two Israeli soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. During the operation, eight Israeli soldiers were killed. This ignited the sequence of events which led to the Israel/Lebanon summer war.
The story goes further back than July of 2006. It really began in April 1979! On Sabbath day, April 22, 1979, Danny and Smadar Haran met up with a monster named Samir Kuntar.
Danny and Smadar were a loving Israeli couple. They had everything they could ever hope for... love, marriage and two precious daughters, Einat, 4 and Yael, 2. That day Smadar was home anticipating Danny's return from work and preparing for the Sabbath. She had just picked up their two toddlers from day care. Danny, on the other hand, was looking forward to nothing more than getting home and spending time with his wife and his two young daughters.
Traditionally, the Sabbath is the most special day of the week, the day the family gets to spend time together and celebrate their bond to Judaism. It was especially important for Danny who, as a young father, had to work extra hard in order to provide for his wife and young children. Little did Smadar know that this would be the last Sabbath she would celebrate with her family because of a man named Samir Kuntar. Around midnight the nightmare began!
Who is Samir Kuntar?
Samir Kuntar is one of three Lebanese prisoners still serving time in Israeli jails. Kuntar, a Lebanese Druze born on July 20, 1962 in the Lebanese mountain village of Aabey currently holds the dubious distinction of being the longest held Lebanese prisoner in Israeli jails! He was a member of Abu Abbas' notorious PLF (Palestine Liberation Front) which committed despicable acts of terror against Israeli, Jewish, and American targets worldwide throughout the 1970's and 1980's. Kuntar was convicted and sentenced to a 534 years prison sentence by the state of Israel. Israel even almost tried to pass a bill to have him executed! What did he do? What was his crime?
The Nasser Operation
The crime he committed was the most horrific crime ever committed on Israeli soil! On April 22, 1979 Samir Kuntar along with a gang of three other PLF terrorists (Abed Majeed Asslan, Ahmed Al-Abras, and Mhanna Salim Al- Muyaed) departed from the southern Lebanese seashore city of Tyre on a 55-horsepowered rubber motor boat. Their destination was the Israeli coastal city of Naharyia, about 10 km south of the Lebanese border, the target of their operation was a residential apartment building. This operation was dubbed "Nasser Operation" and its aim was the killing and terrorizing of Israel's Jewish civilians.
The terrorists made landfall in the Israeli coastal city of Naharyia at around midnight, undetected under the cover of darkness. As they made their way along the shore, they were intercepted by an Israeli police officer whom they shot dead. In Naharya the terrorists broke into a building as other Israeli police officers arrived on the scene. The terrorists then broke into Danny and Smadar Haran's apartment, fired their weapons and threw grenades. Smadar managed to find a crawl space into which she, her younger daughter, 2 year old Yael, and a neighbor all hid. To prevent Yael from crying and giving away their hiding place, Smadar covered the child's mouth with her hand.
According to Smadar "They held Danny and Einat while they searched for me and Yael, knowing there were more people in the apartment. I will never forget the joy and the hatred in their voices as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades. I knew that if Yael cried out, the terrorists would toss a grenade into the crawl space and we would be killed. So I kept my hand over her mouth, hoping she could breathe. As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. 'This is just like what happened to my mother,' I thought."
Sadly, Smadar's attempt to muffle her daughter's whimpering proved fatal. Yael was accidentally suffocated and died within the hiding space.
According to Smadar Haran, her last memories of Danny and Einat, that day, were when they were being led away at gun point by Kuntar. She could hear from her closet space Danny telling Einat, "Don't be scared, my baby, it will be alright" and Einat replied to him in her little voice, "Dad, where is Mommy? I want Mommy." Smadar's last memory of her 2-year-old daughter, Yael, was when her little daughter was taken to the apartment hiding space. Right before Yael had her mouth covered by her mother, she asked her mother "Where is my little pacifier." There was no time to search for the pacifier. Minutes later Smadar covered Yael's mouth to keep her from revealing the hiding space. Smadar soon felt her daughter's tiny tongue licks and lip sucking on the palm of her hand. She didn't know what to make of it at first but hours later was told by doctors and paramedics that the reason Yael was licking her palm while she covered her mouth was because she was gasping for air.
After taking Danny and four-year old Einat hostage, Kuntar and his group took them down to the beach. Samir Kuntar quickly shot Danny in the back and then drowned him in the Mediterranean Sea to ensure his death. While Kuntar drowned Danny, he forced terrified Einat to watch and cry. According to eyewitnesses, "Danny was murdered in front of Einat so that his death would be the last sight she would ever see." Little Einat would not have that horrible memory in her head for long. Kuntar, the brave Lebanese freedom fighter, crushed Einat's skull over and over upon the rocks with the butt of his rifle until she was dead.
During the ensuing shootout between Kuntar's terror group and Israeli police, two policeman were killed along with two of the Arab terrorists. Kuntar and the fourth participant, Ahmed Al-Abrass, were captured. Ahmed Al-Abrass was later free by the Israeli authorities in the infamous May 1985 Ahmed Jibril prisoner exchange deal in which 1,150 Arab prisoners (some of whom had blood on their hands) were exchanged for three Israeli soldiers. Kuntar was not included in the deal.
The Israeli government determined at first to make a decision to execute Kuntar, for his horrific crime, especially for the fact that he tortured and beat to death the 4-year old toddler. Israeli Prime Minister at that time, Menachem Beagin , proposed a draft resolution to the Security and Foreign Affairs Committee in the Israeli Keenest on April 24, 1979. He demanded to eliminate a previous resolution stipulated by the Israeli cabinet, which said no execution should be implemented against terrorists as the international law prohibits it. The Israeli Foreign Minister Izer Weizman and Transportation Minister Hayeem Landau supported Beagin’s draft resolution. Abraham Sharer, who was the head of the Likude parliamentary bloc also, called for Kuntar’s execution. Isaac Shamir issued a statement on April 25, 1979 also calling for his execution.
Kuntar flashing the victory sign while being sentenced
by an Israeli court. File photo from Israeli newspaper
The Israelis tried to implement the execution sentence on Samir Kuntar and the whole parliament agreed on them. The only dilemma they were having was the Israeli law that doesn’t allow execution except for the Nazis of the World War II and to those found guilty of betrayal to their country. Furthermore, they did not want the international community on their backs; also, they wanted to improve their relationship with Egypt after the peace process. As a consequence, the Israeli central court in Haifa sentenced Kuntar to 5 life sentences plus 47 years to come up with the total of 542 years. During the trial, Kuntar was waving victory signs, and called himself a hero.
Samir Kuntar has confessed proudly to his murder of the little girl and never once showed one ounce of remorse for his crime. Even while serving his prison term, he has bragged repeatedly during interviews about how proud he was for murdering the 4-year-old Israeli child. While in prison Kuntar got married and even receives conjugal visits. Below he stands proudly alongside other convicted Arab murderer, Marwan Barghouti.
Several months later, the PLF seized the Achille Lauro, an Italian cruise ship, and demanded that Israel release Kuntar along with a list of 50 other Palestinian prisoners. Ironically out of the 50 Arab Palestinian prisoners that were demanded, Kuntar was the ONLY one that was "actually" named on that list. The hijackers killed a wheelchair-bound American Jewish passenger, Leon Klinghoffer, and threw him overboard into the Mediterranean Sea. Kuntar was not released, but his supporters would not give up. In 2004 Israel release ALL Lebanese prisoners except for Kuntar and two other Lebanese (Nissim Nasser and Yehya Sakaf). In fact Kuntar, as well, was almost released by Israel during that infamous Israel Hezbollah Prisoner Exchange of 2004, BUT in the last second Hezbollah violated the agreement and Kuntar remained behind bars!
War: July 12, 2006
On July 12, 2006 per orders of Hezbollah leader, Sheik Hasssan Nasrallah, Hezbollah terrorists crossed the northern Israeli border. They attacked two Israeli military vehicles with anti tank missiles, killed four soldiers, kidnapped two others and demanded the immediate unconditional release of Samir Kuntar in exchange for the two abducted soldiers. Hezbollah originally named this operation "Operation Freedom for Samir Al-Kuntar," but on the days leading up to the July 12 attack it was shortened to "Operation Truthful Promise." The latter referred to the "true promise" Nasrallah had made to the Kuntar family that the cross-border kidnapping of IDF soldiers to force the release of Samir Kuntar.
In subsequent interviews on Al-Manar TV station Dr Mohamad Jawad Khalifeh, the Lebanese Minster of Health, congratulated Hezbollah for "its great actions" and said that "Lebanon has the right to regain its prisoners and liberate them." Ali Ammar, an Hezbollah member of the Lebanese Parliament, stated his opinion that "particularly at this basic stage in the history of the homeland and the nation, this government should have expressed solidarity with its people and let Samir Quntar feel that he is a Lebanese par excellence."
As expected, the Israeli government was not interested in negotiating with terrorists. They sent a small number of troops into southern Lebanon in an attempt to quickly find and free their two soldiers. Soon Hezbollah began shelling Israel's northern communities with Katuysha rockets in an attempt to kill as many innocent men, women and children as possible and to pressure the Israeli government to take the prisoner exchange demand. Israel had no choice but to escalate their response. Both Hezbollah, their supporters and Lebanon's civil infrastructure all suffered the consequences. Even though Israel defeated Hezbollah during this war, it still didn't manage to get its soldiers back.
During the fighting Israel captured a Hezbollah terrorist by the name of Ali Hassan Saliman. In the interviews/interrogations following his capture, Saliman said that the main objective of Hezbollah's corss-border kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers was to secure the release of Samir Kuntar. Also, that Nasrallah had made a promise to the Kuntar family that Samir would be released. The Hezbollah operation was first and foremost aimed at releasing Kuntar. Everything else was secondary.
Israel's track record of going against it's previous policy of not releasing Arab prisoners with blood on their hands in exchange for IDF soldiers has come home to roost. Arab terrorist groups have been encouraged to kidnap Israelis in the hope (and often the expectation) that these soldiers will become bargaining chips for the release of Arab prisoners. This softening of Israel's formerly strict policy of never negotiating with terrorists has merely added fuel to the fire. Israeli soldiers are supposed to protect the children of Israel, not to facilitate the release of child murderers, such as the monster, Samir Kuntar.
Neither Israelis individually nor their military intentionally targets children or any non-combatant, for that matter. When children die, it is nearly always because they are caught in the crossfire or when they are "set up" by their fellow Arab-terrorists to score propaganda points. But NEVER would manner of the killing be so pre-planned nor would the act itself be so glorified, such as that as Samir Kuntar.
Smadar Haran has since remarried and is raising a new family. She hopes that Samir Kuntar will stay behind bars until his dying day. "I don't believe that the terrorist will be released now, and I don't believe that the Israeli government will accept this request, after it promised not to release terrorists with blood on their hands."
We at SamirKuntar.net concur with Smadar Haran. We will do whatever we can to see that Samir Kuntar rots in Israeli prisons. We would also urge the Israeli government and courts to reverse the long-standing policy of not allowing for the administration of the death sentence. After all, Samir Kuntar and other Samir Kuntars like him never thought twice about administrating the death sentence to little Einat Haran and other Einat Harans just like her!
CONCLUSION
Kuntar was not the reason Israel chose to go to war with Lebanon but he was the reason Hezbollah kidnapped the two soldiers which set the war process in motion.
POSTSCRIPT
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah doubt that Kuntar murdered Danny and Einat Haran. The only difference is that Israel sees him as the cold-blooded murderer he is. Hezbollah and their supporters glorify him as a freedom fighter and hero!
There is another point worth mentioning. Hezbollah has never claimed that Kuntar was innocent or that he may have been framed. They only demand his release as if he were being held unlawfully and that Israel had no right to imprison him. Once again it's all about Israel never doing any right and Arabs incapable of doing any wrong!
A Sad Gruesome Reality.....
After drowning Danny in the sea in front of little Einat, Kuntar, the brave Lebanese freedom fighter, then turned his attention towards the frightened little 4-year old. He took his rifle and then swung it across the little toddler's head, knocking her to the ground. As little Einat was knocked to the ground, she was screaming and crying hysterically "mommy daddy help me," while thrashing her little legs around in the sand. But unfortunately Einat was alone, and no one was there to save her. Kuntar then dragged the little toddler a couple of feet to the closest rock he could find, this was while she was begging him not to hurt her. Kuntar, then laid her head down on a rock, with the intention of crushing it with the butt of his rifle. Einat, instinctively covered her head with her little arms, Kuntar struggled with the little toddler until he finally managed to clear her arms out of the way so that he could aim for the head, and then he proceeded on beating her over and over with the butt of his rifle until blood rushed out of her ears and her little cries faded away as she was knocked into unconsciousness. Then, to ensure she was dead, Kuntar continued on beating her over the head, as hard as he could, several more times until her skull was crushed and she was dead.
ARTICLES AND REFERENCES
Israel moots Kuntar prisoner swap
(AL-JAZEERA 9/17/2006)
Free the monster Samir Kuntar
(Haaretz article 09/04/2006)
Plot to free terrorist (Kuntar) may have led to fight
(Washington Times 8/8/2006)
Nasrallah says no deal without Samir
(9/12/2006 BBC article "Nasrallah Demands Militant Free")
"Hizballah Wants Israel to Free Child-Killer"
(Cybercast News Service, 7/18/2006)
More than 25 years later, militant still atop Hezbollah's list for swap
(Seattle Times 8/16/2006)
Why Hezbollah Attacked Israel
(Mens News Daily 8/09/2006)
Samir Kuntar to be released very soon
The Jerusalem Post 1/6/2007
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