Is the release of one thousand Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one young Israeli soldier kidnapped in 2006 a good deal?
Under the circumstances, and in the long run, maybe. Superficially though, one would have thought it looked a leedle, – how you say? – disproportionate. Never mind. We’ll soon be hearing the outcry about that from the BBC. Or not.
So the imminent swap – Gilad Shalit for Marwan Barghouti and nine hundred and ninety nine others– is good news. We want Shalit to be safe more than we mind returning one thousand criminals who are hell-bent on harming Israel.
The World This Weekend (hat tip Craig) featured a rather splendid profile of Barghouti, straight out of the school of journalism that regards certain terrorist atrocities as audacious, and euphamises certain terrorists as militants. So, to establish some weird sort of moral equivalence, three of Barghouti’s admirers were brought in to sing his praises; Ghada Karmi from the University of Exeter with its Saudi-funded Islamic studies dept., BBC’s useful Arabist Alistair Crooke, and Richard Burden M.P. Britain-Palestine all-Party group. Oh yes, and for balance, Devorah Chen chief prosecutor in Barghouti’s trial.
I forgot to mention that Barghouti was convicted of murdering several Israelis. –But that’s a mere detail of no consequence; in fact it’s quite an asset.
The man’s a hero, clean, honest and a patriot, some say he’s a bit like Nelson Mandela, and an ideal replacement for Mahmoud Abbas. He might unify quarreling Palestinian factions.
All Hamas wants is a little stake in power, yet it is treated as a pariah says Ms. Karmi. How fair is that? Poor Hamas. A pariah.
Brought to you by Brian Hanrahanrahan of the Britain-Palestine let’s all have a party Broadcasting Corporation.
Craig’s bias coefficient analysis thingy:
Ghada Karmi (pro-Barghouti): 2 minutes 9 seconds
Devorah Chan (anti-Barghouti): 42 seconds
Alistair Crooke (pro-Barghouti): 17 seconds
Richard Burden (pro-Barghouti): 1 minutes 3 seconds
Or
Pro-Barghouti: 3 minutes 29 seconds
Anti-Barghouti: 42 seconds
Quite sickening, Sue, They love Barghouti. A true hero to the BBC drones.
I heard the phrase “Palestinain Mandela” in the introduction to TWTW this afternoon and that was enough for me. Off button.
“Terrorists thrive on publicity. They need recognition and sympathy for their cause. They are blind, agitated, frustrated and are the worst misguided lot. Don’t give them the publicity they crave for. Shut out all news about terrorists’ activities. Even if a thousand innocent persons are killed in a mad terrorists attack, just put a blanket ban on any kind of news being published. Not a word should be uttered in any media, Radio, news paper, or on the Internet. There will be lot of rumors. Quench it with an iron hand by punishing rumor mongers.
If the world is sincere in eliminating terrorism just follow one golden rule: Don’t give a damn for the temporary loss of a few thousand innocent persons. After all in any major natural calamity like Tsunami even lakhs of people die. The terrorists will die pulling each other’s tongues. And don’t talk about this either. Wait for six months. At the end of a year no single terrorist would remain. All of them would have died because no one cares or shows he cares or is scared. How long can the terrorists madly hold on when they are simply totally ignored? They will yield and commit suicide.”
http://www.karmayog.org/communalharmony/communalharmony_22989.htm
One point of view – which I don’t share – but the Dr has a valid point.
The BBc give not only life to the terrorist but act as a PR agent for them. Killing inocent people deliberatley to terrorise the public can never be justified.
The BBc are happy to report and scorn any attack by the US or UK on “wedding parties” in the remote mountains of Afghanistan. But when a terrorists kills westerners or Isrealis, the terrorists are immediatly wheeled into the BBC studios to justify their carnage.
We don’t need the BBC, they are part of the problem.
While it is perhaps partially true that terrorists crave publicity Hamas sees killing Jews and infidels as an independent goal. Barghouti no more wants peace with Israel than does Khaled Mashal. His approach to Hamas will be “let’s kill Jews now and argue doctrine later”.
Wish BBC released a transcript.
When the second and more violent intifada started (~23 mins) WTF The BBC has bought into the Gandhi myth. The 1st intifada mixed traditional Ghandian tactics in addition but not replacing violence.
But he and his Israeli accusers were shouting past each other. (~24.30) This was a trial for murder not a campfire sing along. Bargoutti attempted, at least partially successfully, to win a propaganda victory. I wonder how the New York court will stop Khalid Sheikh Mohammed doing the same?
There the release of a man convicted of murder is highly controversial. (~28) Duh. And tieing this story with the previous one on Scottish independence – the release of the Lockerbie bomber Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi barely raised a ripple of controversy?