Blood, Guts, and a Free Pass

It was not a smart thing to do right after lunch. I looked at a picture. A very gross picture taken in 2000 during the Ramallah lynching. You remember that don’t you? Two Jewish reservist soldiers got lost in PA territory, got arrested by Palestinian police, then literally got ripped apart. You remember the infamous picture? The Arab man, since known as the “Butcher of Ramallah,” triumphantly showing his bloody hands out a window to a cheering mob.

That’s not the gross picture I looked at. The other infamous picture that I suspect few have seen is of two other Arab men holding up their bloody hands for the crowd to see. Except in this picture their hands are still holding something from the lynching besides blood. They are holding the organs and entrails of the Jewish men whom they had beaten, stabbed, gouged their eyes out, and set on fire.

Yes, we who are civilized people hope there is a special place in hell. But in the mean time, the families of these two Jewish victims must live in a daily hell. And that hell was just intensified by the “deal” Israel made with the devil. The “Ramallah Butcher” is walking free as a part of the Shalit “deal.”

Since I already brought it up, I think I’ll stay on the bloody organ theme. What if, G-d forbid, a child needed an organ transplant? And what if the family and friends of that child prayed for 5 years that this would happen? As a matter of fact, what if they prayed for 1,941 days that this would happen? And it finally did. An organ became available for transplant and the operation was successful. Imagine the parents calling all of their family and friends with the wonderful news. The reaction is jubilant. The child will live! But then the rest of the details become known. An organ was available for transplant because the parents had done the unthinkable. They had murdered another child to save their own.

In Israel yesterday, the above immoral scenario has been shown as acceptable. In Israel yesterday, the end justified the means. In Israel yesterday, 1,027 terrorists were set on a path to freedom.

One thousand twenty seven prisoners will be freed. Including almost 280 who were serving life sentences. Including the "Ramallah Butcher." They will all walk free. Even one who was serving 64 life sentences. Even one who used a bus to run over and kill eight people. Even one who was the accomplice to the Sbarro pizza shop bombing, who says she is happy that many children were killed in the attack. Even one who planned the Dolphinarium disco bombing in Tel Aviv that killed 21 Israelis, most of them ages 14 to 18.

But hey, no big deal. Remember, as Israel has taught us, the end justifies the means.

And it’s no big deal that a prisoner swap has been done before with deadly, consequences. Just ask my friend’s son-in-law’s family how the swap of 1986 worked out for them. His uncle, father of seven children, was murdered by one of the released prisoners. As were so many other Jews. But hey, like I said, no big deal. Gilad is home and the muffled sound of cheering Israelis continues to be heard. Muffled because they come from people who have their heads buried in the sand.

And do you hear the other muffled sound? It comes from the belly of a crocodile that Sir Winston Churchill once knew. Unfortunately, this crocodile still exists. This beast has an insatiable appetite. Yet, many a foolhardy men have thought they could tame the crocodile, maybe even become friends with it.

These foolhardy men make speeches explaining the Shalit "deal;" trying to convince themselves and the public that they did the right thing. And who can argue looking at the pictures of frail Shalit finally back with his family? Just like who could argue with the parents in the above scenario who killed a child to gain an organ to put into their own child’s body, right? Oh, so there is a line not to be crossed? The end does not always justify the means?

The Israeli politicians, journalists, and much of the public can’t say enough, like a broken record, how much the Shalit "deal" proves that they value life. But does this sound hollow to anyone else but me? Hollow words ringing dull because they are coming from the belly of the beast. Israel has been swallowed whole by the crocodile of appeasement. What’s so sad is they don’t even realize it has happened. Or they are so ashamed it has happened they are pretending it did not.

From the belly of the crocodile MK Danny Danon cries, “Now we need to create deterrence and clarify to Hamas - terrorism does not pay, try to hurt us and pay for it dearly.” (Ah, yes pay dearly by being given a “Get Out of Jail Free” card.)

From the belly of the crocodile Netanyahu cries, “I would like to make it clear: We will continue to fight terrorism.” (Ah yes, by continuing to deny IDF soldiers artillery and military support when they are pseudo-fighting terrorists. By removing roadblocks and checkpoints to stop terrorists, per the demands of the US State Department. By trying to cover-up your own citizen getting killed by rock-throwing terrorists.)

Such political-spin crap posing as bravado. But I’m afraid the "bravado" is being drowned out by the laughter coming from the crocodile.

You see, the crocodile and the “Ramallah Butcher” have one thing in common, as do the other 1026 beasts being released. They love the smell, taste and feel of dead Jews. And Israel just wetted the beasts’ insatiable deadly appetite even more.

Can you imagine the uproar, the call to arms, the unified search that would immediately happen if a real crocodile escaped from a zoo and was roaming the streets of Israel? Over a thousand such beasts are "escaping." All in the name of the end justifying the means.

Yes, Gilad is home. But what has Israel unleashed that will also, G-d forbid, come home to roost?