World
PRISONER SWAP AFTERMATH
Hezbollah's 'Inhumanity'
I
sraeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and
Eldad Regev were killed in an ille-
gal cross-border kidnapping — a
Hezbollah terrorist attack — which precipi-
tated the outbreak of war between Israel and
Hezbollah in July 2006. The Red Cross and
the anguished soldiers'
families were illegally
denied information about
them for the past two
years. Their bodies were
returned to Israel on
July 16 in a negotiated
exchange.
Simultaneously,
Todd Mendel
Lebanese prisoners
— whose conditions were regularly moni-
tored by the Red Cross as Israel allows with
all prisoners — were released, including
Sarni Kuntar, a terrorist who in 1979 bru-
tally smashed a 4-yaer-old Israeli girl's skull
against a rock, killing her after forcing her to
first witness the murder of her father.
The Jewish community continues to be
'Red Carpet' For Killer
shocked by the inhumanity of Hezbollah
and bewildered by the celebrations in
Lebanon being held upon the release of
murderers.
We mourn with the Regev and
Goldwasser families and with all of Israel.
Israel mourns as it trades humanely treat-
ed prisoners for dead soldiers and sketchy
information about hostages. The important
point that is incomprehensible to Hezbollah
and much of the Arab world is the noble
gesture and sacrifice made by the State of
Israel to honor its own dead citizens.
The value placed by Israel on the life and
even the bodies of its dead citizens is unfor-
tunately a weakness in Israel's rough neigh-
borhood, where Israel's enemies celebrate
the release of a prisoner that every civilized
country on the planet would consider a
murderer.
Todd Mendel, president
Jewish Community Relations Council
of Metropolitan Detroit
Bloomfield Township
O
n July 16, Lebanon rolled out the
red carpet and declared a national
holiday because Samir Kuntar
was released from an Israeli prison after 29
years. That Kuntar is hero of Hezbollah tells
us much about the terrorist group and its
supporters.
In 1979, Kuntar and
three other members of
the Palestine Liberation
Front came from
Lebanon by dinghy to
the Israeli port city of
Nahariya, where he killed
a policeman. He then
Donald Cohen
entered the apartment of
Danny and Smadar Haran and their daugh-
ters, Einat, 4, and Yael, 2. After encountering
resistance, he fled to the beach with Danny
and Einat and shot Danny in the head in
front of his daughter before crushing Einat's
skull with the butt of his rifle against a rock.
Meanwhile Smadar, who had been hiding
in a crawlspace above her bedroom with a
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neighbor and Yael, accidentally smothered
her baby while trying to keep her quiet.
Sentenced to five life terms plus 47 years
in prison, Kuntar has lived in an Israeli
prison with access to the Red Cross and
Israeli courts, has received letters from his
family and gotten married to an Israeli
woman who receives special government
support because her husband is a prisoner.
He even completed a bachelor's degree in
social studies and the humanities from an
Israeli college.
At the same time, in violation of all
international agreements and morality,
Hezbollah has never allowed a Red Cross
visit to an Israeli prisoner — soldier or
civilian — and consistently refuses to pro-
vide information about their condition.
The hopes of the Regev and Goldwasser
families that their family members were
alive were dashed when their loved ones
were returned in caskets in the deal for
Kuntar's release. Hezbollah has still not
provided detailed information on Israeli
soldiers taken decades ago.
So when you see the celebrations in
Lebanon and elsewhere, realize what is
being celebrated and by whom. Though I
value life above death, in this case, I'd rather
be among the mourners than among those
who celebrate someone like Kuntar and
what he stands for.
Answering
Israel's Critics
The Charge
Syrian President Bashar Assad warned
earlier this month that Israel, the U.S.
and the entire world would pay a heavy
price if Iran is attacked. "The problem
is that when one side begins such an
operation in the Middle East, it won't
be possible to control the consequences
which will likely influence the region
for many years to come he said.
The Answer
Assad's remarks are typical one-sided
propaganda — only Israel is at fault.
There is no mention of the Iranian
regime's anti-Semitism, Holocaust
denial or quest for nuclear weaponry.
- Allan Gale, Jewish Community Relations
Council
of Metropolitan Detroit
0 Jewish Renaissance Media, July 24, 2008
A26
July 24 • 2008