Sunday, February 06, 2005

Ramon Has It Backwards

In the New York Times of February 4, there was a report on negotiation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Israeli Minister Haim Ramon, who supports a prisoner release, said, "The issue which most preoccupies the Palestinians...is the prisoner issue," ("Israel Agrees to Release 900 Prisoners; Palestinians Want More").

His motivation, he explained is that the interest of Israel is "to strengthen public support for Abu Mazen." But Ramon has it backwards.

Israel's need is for a peaceful and pacified enemy, a society that realizes that violence is wrong and that it doesn't pay. Schoolbooks full of hate and airwaves loaded with incitement must be eliminated. It was this education and indoctrination which contributed to these prisoners being were they are by encouraging them with religious hero-worship compensation.

Ever since the 1980s, when Israel first released terrorists en masse, they have consistently returned to the making of war. When a major change in Palestinian society has been achieved, only then should prisoners who aided and engaged in attacks on civilians be released.

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