A regrettable indifference

By Amira Hass

"....... Israel's refusal to release the Palestinians convicted of murdering and wounding Jews, as part of the Oslo Accords, is one of the factors that weakened the status of the ruling Fatah party in the eyes of its public. This refusal portrayed the senior members of the Palestinian Authority, some of whom gave orders for the acts for which their activists and underlings were sent to prison, as having abandoned the wounded at the front. This refusal has served as an effective weapon in the hands of those opposed to the agreements, mainly in Hamas, who claimed that like the confiscation of lands and the building of the settlements, the failure to release veteran prisoners proves that Israel is not interested in reconciliation.

It is regrettable that, even now, Israel refuses to discuss the essence of imprisonment of Palestinians as part of the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the struggle against it. The essence of the occupation is attacking civilians, negating their rights to the point of undermining their right to live. But the occupation apparatus also appropriates the right to decide that anyone who opposes it is a criminal.

Of course, this phenomenon is not unique to Israel: The British, the whites in South Africa, the French, also portrayed those who were active in the resistance movement to their imposed rule as bloodthirsty terrorists. They also had difficulty understanding the argument that those same criminals with blood on their hands (whom the opposing side describes as freedom fighters) have the same right to be free as do the soldiers and policemen who under the orders of the dominant country killed and wounded civilians from among the dominated population.

It is regrettable that the tragedy and pain of the Shalit family is what is likely to help Israel overcome its desire for revenge and to release al-Atabeh and his friends, before they begin their fourth decade of imprisonment."