No one wants to leave the remains of their servicemen in hostile soil. People want the closure of laying their loved ones to rest. But really, Israel, was this worth it?
From the Guardian. All emphases mine.
Qantar gets hero’s welcome on return to Lebanon
Samir Qantar was given a hero’s welcome by thousands of ecstatic supporters in southern Beirut yesterday, a homecoming that prompted Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to emerge for his first public appearance in a year.
“The era of defeats had ended and now we embark on an era of victories,” said Nasrallah, who has become a revered leader – in a region beset by corrupt and ineffectual politicians – since Hizbullah fighters drove out Israeli forces from Lebanon in 2000.
An overwhelmed looking Qantar told the crowd he had “returned from Palestine, only to return back to Palestine” and said he looked forward to the destruction of Israel.
In return for two dead bodies, Israel gave this toddler-murderer and four Hizbullah fighters the freedom to restart their quest for Israel’s annihilation.
Qantar, a Lebanese Druze who fought for the Palestine Liberation Front, was convicted by an Israeli court of killing three Israelis, one a four-year-old girl, during a 1979 raid on the coastal town of Nahariya. He was sentenced to multiple life terms.
And what have these “noble freedom-fighters” learned?
“This shows the success of kidnapping Israeli soldiers. Lebanon is the land of jihad,” said Nabil Qaouk, Hizbullah’s commander in south Lebanon, his voice cracking with emotion as he welcomed the freed prisoners home across the Naquora border post.
…
“This sends a very dangerous message that Israel only makes concessions if you use violence against it,” said Amal Saad Ghorayeb, an expert on Hizbullah. “The exchange has also laid bare that, in Lebanon at least, national power is not in the hands of the state, but of a non-state actor.”
Live terrorists ready to resume their “good” work and a very bad precedent in exchange for two dead bodies. Hardly a fair trade.
Filed under: "Palestine", Idiocy, Islam, Israel, Justice, Middle East, Terrorism | Tagged: Amal Saad Ghorayeb, Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbullah, Israel, Jihad, Lebanon, Palestine Liberation Front, Samir Qantar, Terrorists
