The Twisted Symbolism Of the Palestinian Prisoner Release
While the Palestinians take pride in the release of prisoners, the Israeli government is taking pride in its decision to build houses.
The Israeli government is nervous. Its July 28 decision to release Palestinian prisoners wasn’t an easy one to make. The Supreme Court also had its reservations (or at least pretended to) before rejecting, quite predictably, a petition by the victims’ families opposing the release.
“We thought about the murderers, who will be released to a hero’s welcome at a special session of the Palestinian Assembly, as if they had committed some act of grave national importance by slaughtering innocents who had done nothing to harm them. Woe to the ears that hear of such a thing,” wrote Justice Elyakim Rubinstein in his decision. But anyone who bothered to listen to the joyous cheers late that night when the prisoners were released would learn that it sounded quite sweet to the Palestinian ear. This may be easy to understand when considering the prisoners’ families, especially those relatives who are particularly close to them. It is much harder to understand the reaction of the Palestinian public and government.
Apparently, the Palestinian Authority had no reservations. It demanded a "win” before it would return to the negotiating table. The victory it managed to get out of the Israelis and that it's bragging about in front of crowds, the victory it's presenting as “correcting a historic injustice,” is the release of murderers from prison — murderers who set out to slaughter innocent civilians, who stabbed their employers, who desecrated a corpse, who took the life of a tourist sitting in a restaurant. They are the heroes.
The Israeli government also felt the need to present a “victory” that would ease the harshness of these murderers' release, a victory that would somehow reassure the right-wing voters grumbling about excessive concessions by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and send the Europeans a message of determination. It decided to release tenders to construct 1,200 new housing units in Jerusalem and the West Bank area of Judea and Samaria. Of course, it is certainly possible to argue that this move was necessary, and if it does in fact serve Israeli policy. Minister of Finance Yair Lapid called the decision “sticks inserted between the spokes of the peace talks’ wheels.” I tend to think that he’s right. It would have been better to hold back a bit.
