Jonathan Pollard fumes over Israeli efforts to free Schalit | Op-Ed Contributors | Jerusalem Post

A passport issued in 1996 by then-interior minister Haim Ramon for Jonathan Pollard, when he was granted Israeli citizenship.

Photo: Brian Hendler

Why is the life of one Israeli captive deemed so precious that Israel’s leaders are willing to dispense with all logic and morality in order to redeem him? Why is the life of another Israeli captive dismissed as if it were worthless?

Why is the life of one captive such an urgent national priority that the safety and security of every single Israeli citizen must be put at risk? Why is the life of the other captive so inconsequential – after decades of captivity – that negotiations for his release have never been undertaken?

Are we, the People of Israel, so incompetent, so bereft of will, talent, imagination and faith in God that we really believe the only way to secure the release of the former captive is at a price so exorbitant that it beggars the imagination? Do we really believe that the wholesale release of terrorists and murderers is a rational response? Are we, the People of Israel, so bereft of vision that we cannot grasp that burying one captive alive while we pray for the release of the other drives the blessing away and brings shame and dishonor upon us all?

Are we, the People of Israel, so politically brainwashed that we cannot see that, in both cases, mere expediency reigns supreme in a morally-bankrupt government? This is not fulfillment of the mitzva of pidyon shvuyim!

AS LONG as Israeli leaders demonstrate a unanimous will to exploit the value of rescuing one captive because it suits their political ends, while simultaneously ignoring another captive, there can be no national honor, nor national self-respect. There is only political expediency. Self-serving, opportunistic, political expediency.

Those who are willing to close their eyes to the truth and follow lockstep with Israel’s “leaders” in support of this unconscionable plan to unleash the forces of evil by allowing the architects of mass murder to pour forth from Israeli jails are placing their own lives at risk as well as the lives of their loved ones.

Those who fail to speak out and protest Israel’s lopsided, immoral policy of selective rescue – damning one captive while saving the other and simultaneously putting the lives of all citizens in jeopardy – must know that they are complicit in this criminal deed.

It is painfully clear that Israel’s mainstream media has stymied all rational debate on this issue, just as it has, for its own self-serving reasons, lent its support to the government’s cowardly abandonment of the latter captive.

Nevertheless, moral conscience does not permit us to remain silent.

If our words are not heard today, so be it. A time will come when they will be heard. We hope that by then, it will not be too late.

Jonathan Pollard is an American-born Israeli citizen currently in the 25th year of his life sentence in an American prison for his activities on behalf of the security of the State of Israel.
Esther Pollard is his wife.

via jpost.com

Posted via web from noahdavidsimon’s posterous

Doc’s Talk: Prisoner Swap Deal Stalled Over One Detainee

By Saleh al Naeimi and Nazer Majli
Asharq Alawsat

Gaza, Tel Aviv, Asharq Al-Awsat- The prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel hinges upon one prisoner that Hamas insists is added to the hundreds of other Palestinian prisoners who will be released in exchange for the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Asharq Al Awsat has learned. Reliable sources also informed Asharq Al-Awsat that the German mediator is currently exerting considerable effort to achieve a breakthrough on this issue with both the Israeli and Hamas delegation present in Cairo. The source confirmed that he expects the conclusion of these negotiations – which first began two years ago – to be announced within the next two days. The sources also refused to identify the prisoner who is the cause of these crucial negotiations.

Sources confirmed that the Hamas delegation is made up of senior leaders who will decide on the proposals made by the German mediator. The German mediator is meeting with the Israeli and Hamas delegations at the headquarters of Egyptian intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman.

In the first credible sign that the prisoner exchange deal may be reaching a successful conclusion, Asharq Al-Awsat learn that the Israeli Prison Service has already assembled a large number of detainees in three Israeli prisoners in order to facilitate the release process. Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli prisons said that the Israeli authorities had on Sunday begun the process of gathering the hundreds of prisoners [set for release as part of the agreement] at the three [Israeli] prisons. Palestinian prisoners also stressed that these prisoners are optimistic [of release], and are bidding their fellow prisoners farewell.

Despite the extreme secrecy of the Hamas and Israeli representatives, all indications point to the prisoner exchange deal being concluded in no less than a week. It is also expected that Israel will release all of the [imprisoned] commanders of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigade. The Al Qassam Brigade is the military wing of Hamas, and its commanders that are imprisoned in Israel have all been convicted by Israeli courts in the deaths of hundreds of Israeli soldiers and citizens during the Second Intifada.

Ibrahim Hamad, the commander of the Al Qassam Brigade in the West Bank is expected to be among the Hamas prisoners set to be released. Israel has accused him of ordering suicide bombings in Israel and West Bank that resulted in the deaths of dozens of Israeli soldiers and settlers.

The prisoner exchange deal is also expected to include the release of Abbas al-Sayed, the commander of the Al Qassam Brigade in Tulkarm, who is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted of planning the March 2002 Netanya Park Hotel suicide bombing, which resulted in the death of 30 Israeli citizens. This terrorist operation led to the Israeli army occupying the West Bank and imposing a blockade on late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

It is also widely expected that the Israeli – Hamas prisoner exchange will include the release of Abdullah Barghouti, who is serving life imprisonment after being convicted of manufacturing explosive devices that have been used in a number of operations against Israel.

On the other hand, while informed Israel sources confirmed the news about the possibility of the prisoner exchange deal being concluded, they said that this is unlikely to take place before the Islamic religious festival of Eid [27 November]. The Israeli sources said that this deal would most likely be concluded shortly after Eid as there are still a number of issues that must first be finalized, including legal issues, and [Israeli] internal political affairs.

Israel has issued strict instructions for silence to all those involved in the negotiations with Hamas amidst an intensifying split in public opinion between those who support the prisoner exchange deal and those who oppose. Haifa University published on Monday a poll revealing that 62 percent of Israelis support the deal. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fears that should this deal be presented for vote to his government it will be rejected as the majority of the ministers oppose it. He is therefore looking for legal ways to take this decision unilaterally.

Noam Shalit, father of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, visited the Israeli Ministry of Defense on Monday in order to meet with Hagai Hadas, the Israeli negotiator who is dealing with the prisoner exchange negotiations, in order to hear the latest developments. Following this, Noam Shalit visited the Knesset, to meet with government ministers and attempt to persuade them to vote for the deal, should it be put before them.

An Israeli source also revealed that the progress on the prisoner exchange deal included Hamas reversing their decision on the release of 70 prisoners that Israel refused to accept, instead nominating 70 alternatives. Hamas also went back on their demand regarding the release of Israeli-Arab prisoners, with only a token number of them being agreed for release [by Israel].

In addition to this, Asharq Al-Awsat learnt that effort is being exerted to include the prisoner exchange deal with a broader comprehensive deal that includes a truce between Israel and resistance factions in the Gaza Strip [including Hamas] and the border crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel being reopened. Informed sources revealed that Amos Gilad, the Director of Policy and Political-Military Affairs at the Israeli Ministry of Defense is in contact with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman on this issue.

The sources also said that it is unlikely that the recent announcement by Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hamad on the agreement to cease rocket fire into Israel came within the frameworks of the comprehensive deal. It is worth mentioning that while this agreement bans any acts of resistance against Israeli with regards to rocket fire, this agreement does not include retaliatory attacks in response to Israeli attacks or invasion.

via docstalk.blogspot.com

Hamas offers cash for more Gilad Shalit’s

With Israel and Hamas on the verge of agreeing to exchange 1,000 terrorists for kidnapped IDF corporal Gilad Shalit, Jihad Watch discovers the unsurprising next step in Hamas’ plan.

(ANSAmed) – GAZA, NOVEMBER 24 – While the exchange of prisoners with Israel and the release from Gaza of Corporal Ghilad Shalit seem to be on the way to a solution – after three and a half years of indirect negotiations -, Hamas is already thinking ahead and is planning to kidnap more Israeli troops. “Our strategy is simple,” a member of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, told ANSA. “We offer money to anyone who manages to capture an enemy soldier”. The movement offers one million Jordanian dinars per prisoner, the equivalent of USD 400 thousand, enough for an entire family to live a very comfortable life.

via israelmatzav.blogspot.com