Israel is releasing 26 prisoners convicted of murdering Israelis tonight, and the Palestinian Authority and Mahmoud Abbas are planning a huge ceremony to welcome them home.
The Israelis attempted to cut down on the celebration and its effect on the families of the Israeli victims by releasing them at midnight, but as a senior aide to Abbas said, "Israel won't spoil our celebration. We have issued invitations to the families of the prisoners to come to the [presidential compound] Mukata to welcome their sons."
The PA's unelected dictator Mahmoud Abbas will officially receive the prisoners at the PA's Muqata compound in Ramallah, and will almost certainly refer to them, as he habitually does, as 'holy martyrs.'
None of the released murderers has ever made the slightest show of remorse for what he did.
Who are these people, and what were they convicted of? My friend David Gerstman over at Legal Insurrection has a piece about that, and some of you might remember that I also had a piece on this a while ago. These are not political prisoners. One murderer who will be released at the behest of the Obama administration murdered an elderly Holocaust survivor with an axe.Just because.
It was the Obama Administration that twisted Israel's arm to release these men, and the Israeli government caved in spite of massive protests and polls showing that over 80% of Israelis opposed it.
The release of these killers and the Palestinian celebration of them as heroes merits no condemnation from the Obama Administration. In fact, our State department doesn't even have any objection to the Palestinians referring to them as 'political prisoners', 'freedom fighters', 'holy martyrs', what have you.
That's not worthy of condemnation.
You know what is? Israel building homes in its capital and on land President Obama, our State department, the UN and the EU have decided Israel has to gift to hostile Arabs whom call themselves Palestinians 'for peace', in spite of the fact it has never worked before and has only resulted in exactly the sort of atrocities these men who are now being released committed. The simple building of homes. That's what merits condemnation.
Odd indeed that these people, who toss around phrases so easily like 'human rights' and 'international law' have apparently forgotten what those terms mean, at their basic level. At least when it comes to Israel and Jews.
I saw a picture of someone in Israel carrying a sign yesterday that said, 'What do the Arabs give up for peace?'
That's actually a very revealing question.The answer is 'nothing'.
The Arabs who identify themselves as Palestinians see themselves at war with Israel, and in the minds of most of them, that war is never ending. As Yasser Arafat famously said on Jordanian television in Arabic right after signing the Oslo Accords, "Either we will push the Jews into the sea or they will push us into the sea."
That the Palestinian Authority would celebrate these murderers being freed is a given.
When you're at war with someone, and they stupidly gift you some POWs with blood on their hands while asking nothing in return, why not celebrate? When you regard every dead Jew as one less you have to kill later and your enemy returns to you men experienced at the task who can train and be role models for others, why not rejoice? Especially in the Arab culture, where any concessions from an enemy are simply regarded as a sign of weakness.
What if Mahmoud Abbas had again walked away from negotiations after the US had simply told him 'no preconditions if we're going to have talks..and the United States cannot be a party to putting pressure on Israel to free convicted murderers' ? Would anything have suffered aside from Secretary of State Kerry's inflated ego and an opportunity for President Obama to demonstrate yet again his contempt towards Israel?
Has it occurred to the president that some of the victims of those prisoners Abbas calls 'heroes' and 'Holy Martyrs' were American citizens? Apparently not. Instead, what's being embraced is the concept that some lives are simply worth more than others.
That's the context of what's going on here, and it amounts to a taking of sides.
Such decisions are not without consequences, and those consequences can have an uncomfortable way of biting back when you least expect it. When you play with rattlesnakes you can't complain if you get bitten. And in the snake's defense, you knew exactly what he was when you started fondling them and holding them close to you.
That applies to Israel as well, of course. They signed off on this, making a choice that Israeli Defense Minister Moishe Ya'alon was pretty open about characterizing as "choosing a bad option over a worse option." I have no idea what they were threatened with, but it may very well turn out that this actually was the worse option. Because whatever they think they avoided, it will be shoved in their faces again and again, for more and more concessions. There will be no end to it, unless the Israelis themselves start behaving like a sovereign nation, start saying no and drawing lines.
2 comments:
All I can say is even without the negative ramifications to America's security in being a party to encouraging Israel to release these people who are also bitter enemies of America is the position that God will take with regards to this. Given the central position of Israel and the Jewish people in the plans of the creator of the universe, it cannot end well for any nation or people who oppose Israel or the Jewish people or their interests. When I ponder what America and the American government have done to Israel and the Jewish people I tremble for America. May God have mercy and lead us to the right paths and may we be willing to change to that path. Right now we are clearly on the wrong path as a country and there is no way that it can end well for America on the current path.
"making a choice that Israeli Defense Minister Moishe Ya'alon was pretty open about characterizing as "choosing a bad option over a worse option." I have no idea what they were threatened with, but it may very well turn out that this actually was the worse option."
Regardless of the details, in principle there is only one threat the Obama administration can make. Ending American support for Israel in the UN and restricting, as much as possible, logistical support for Israel.
"whatever they think they avoided, it will be shoved in their faces again and again, for more and more concessions."
It has repeatedly been shoved in Israel's face, again and again, if perhaps unspoken, by previous administrations.
"There will be no end to it, unless the Israelis themselves start behaving like a sovereign nation, start saying no and drawing lines."
In geopolitical relations, never bluff or make a threat you're unwilling to fulfill or give an ultimatum you're unwilling to deliver. Israel "behaving like a sovereign nation", starting to say no and 'drawing lines' will inescapably result in the end of American support. American support has always been conditional upon America having 'veto power' in the relationship and an 'understanding' that if, an American administration wants something bad enough, Israel will acquiesce.
The Obama administration is using Israel's belief that it cannot survive without American support as leverage to bring Israel to the gallows.
Obama and the left are not merely unfriendly, they are as much enemies of Israel, as is Islam.
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