Gilad Shalit—A Complex Problem

An Arab publicist says that the Arab world is enviously watching Israel’s determination to return Gilad Shalit safely. It contrasts with the contempt for Arab prisoners’ lives and shows up the contempt for human life in Arab society
Nezar Jaff (5/4/2007)

The author is editor of Payama-Kurd, a Kurdish cultural magazine published in Germany.

The item was published on the Elaph website (April 18 2007).

The story of captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, still resonates and captures people’s attention. What is most interesting is the perspective of the Arab media, whose coverage of the story gives it a wider, more profound dimension and shows something far larger, more important, and more sensitive than meets the eye.

A Hero With Backup

Shalit, who the Palestinians are using for a bargaining chip, has in fact become a hero in every sense. That is because of how his story is treated in the Arab media. The media have made Israel a shining example of a powerful country that has not caved to the traditional methods used against it, while the use of these methods shows the failure of the Arab regimes to deal with current needs.

Though the plight of Gilad Shalit is a top priority for Israel, which is doing its utmost to safeguard his life and rescue him from his enemies, it has not highlighted the problem and made as much of it as the Arab satellite channels through their focus on the simple question “Why doesn’t the world show as much interest in the Palestinian prisoners as it does in Gilad Shalit?” But the satellite stations haven’t tried to answer this question. Instead, they try to drum up support in the Arab street with their ridiculous shallow handling of the question, whose important and sensitive issues are not aired.

Arab Prisoners’ Lives are Worthless

When he was in the army, Gilad Shalit carried his gun with a strong sense of his own worth and his consequence because he knew very well that he was not alone on the battlefield, that he was backed by the best army and intelligence service and excellent political and media forces. But, when we look across the fence at the Arab armies, especially the divided Palestinian forces, there are questions. In the Iran-Iraq War, when the Iranian army overran an Iraqi army position and captured its soldiers, the Iraqis told their artillery to “hammer the position”. In other words, the Iraqi forces were ordered to pound the positions captured by the Iranians with the Iraqi prisoners still in them. What makes you angry and frightened about all this is that many of the Iraqi soldiers who were lucky enough to get back from the inferno had been targeted by the Iraqi artillery all along.

What happened to the Egyptian and Syrian soldiers in the war with Israel, their humiliation, and being sent like lambs to the slaughter, without anyone to save them or protect them from their unknown fate, is a story wrapped in a black cloud. This was one of the many tragedies which smote those countries. And, the dozens and hundreds of Egyptian soldiers who died in the Sinai Desert in the Six-Day-War after losing their way in the desert proves the value of the Arab citizen living under regimes that only care about subjugating their citizens to their will and blocking their ears to the citizens’ demands and rights, and even using artillery fire against them if they dare openly stand up for their rights like the city of Homs in Syria, when the Arab regimes had to silence them.

If we look at the Palestinian forces who belong to the imaginary and degenerate army, we see the value of a Palestinian fighter is less than the bullets in the gun he carries and that if he is captured “the right solutions will be found”.

Look at how the Israeli government and all its apparatus is dealing with the capture of Gilad Shalit. The humanity they show will inspire every Israeli soldier who knows that if anything happens to him, he will be treated like a hero, like Shalit, and released for a herd of Palestinian prisoners who will go back to the slaughterhouse and imaginary army which so far hasn’t been able to rid itself of the cancer of divided loyalties.

Source
English translation