Nasrallah |

EDITORIAL COMMENT

“We will not forgive nor will we forget” – President Shimon Peres

JULY 20, 2008 – We received the following outpouring of frustration from one of our Israeli readers. We want to share his thoughts with you.

“The agreement with the Hezbollah infuriates me, because we are giving back alive an animal that shot two men to death, and kicked to death the four year old child of one of them, in the head, until she died. We must be off our heads. I hope somebody shoots that bloody animal, and let them celebrate with a dead body too. As far as Ron Arad is concerned, they have given photos of him taken 22 years ago, but claim they know no more. Once again we are left with nothing to bargain if they do eventually admit to his whereabouts.

I cannot believe how stupid this government is. Even the Mossad is against this whole swap taking place.

It is just after 7 a.m., approx 2 hours before the prisoner swap, and I am fuming more than ever. So many political personalities and people in the limelight have been interviewed and said how disappointed they are in the government for displaying such weakness. On the other hand, you have the families who cannot wait to see their loved ones, alive or dead. And you see on the TV, the Red Cross examining the four terrorists being returned, looking strapping and well fed, and the f*ing Hezbollah is so powerful that they, two hours before, still keep the fate of the two soldiers a deadly secret.

One father said, that if that is what Nasrallah needs to show power, let it be. It shows who they are. And I add – and the whole world criticizes Israel. And it is not the first time. Last time, the only person returned alive was a drug dealer. The celebrations planned in Lebanon for today are tremendous, to declare a blatant murderer a hero, whereas, in Israel the team to identify the bodies, in case they are dead, is standing by. What a crazy world this is!

I have been watching the proceedings of the swap and must tell you, that if the world press does not do something to condemn the Hezbollah, then they must eat the consequences. The Hezbollah have set up a stage, with band and all, and the fellow Hezbollah made a speech and even then would not reveal if they were dead or alive. Seconds later, the cameras revealed two coffins being unloaded. Thank God, our press are refusing to show Kontar, the murderer on Israeli soil. Shimon Peres, as President, had to sign the release papers for Kontar. He wrote “We will not forgive nor will we forget.” I could not watch any more. Thank God the families were asked not to be present. Fancy expecting to see your child and being presented with a coffin.

On the radio they interviewed somebody that had met Kontar in jail. They described him as a big overweight man, speaks a perfect Hebrew and even managed to get a BA degree through the open university. I must say, that was the only time I heard that. Anyway, 30 years ago he came on this terror attack not as a Hezbollah member. However, after crossing the border, he changed into a Hezbollah uniform and was appointed official spokesman for the Hezbollah.

Even in the Gaza strip the celebrations are at full swing, distributing sweets in the streets etc. Now the Hamas are claiming, that their terms for the return of Gilad Shalit are far too small, because Gilad Shalit is alive. Incidentally, they got 99 coffins as well. The agreement was 100, but the body of a female terrorist could not be found. We saw no tears on the Lebanese side, which makes one think just how different they are. Here the attitude is, that every single body is of prime importance, and no price can be too high. What happened with Ron Arad? – 20 plus years, we know he landed alive, but since then, nothing.”

Ed. Note: This weekend Lebanon’s The Daily Star reported that, “Kontar voiced a hint of admiration for Israel during an interview with Hizbullah’s Al-Manar television on Thursday, saying that ‘we envy’ the Jewish state’s ‘care for their hostages. ‘To tell you the truth, we envy our enemies, the way they care for a body and will go to the end of the world to recover it.’ “