Israel agrees to free convicted and unrepentant child murderer in exchange for Regev/Goldwasser/Arad's dead bodies

This is the most sickening thing I have read in a long time. Israel agreed yesterday to free Samir Kuntar and at least a dozen others in exchange for the dead bodies of Regev/Goldwasser/Arad. I have to ask; why should a terror group who kidnaps a Jew/Israeli keep said person alive? There is no incentive at this point, given the trade. Kuntar was convicted for having infiltrated Israel, murdering a police officer, and then invading a home, taking a father and son captive, murdering the father in front of the son (so this was the last image the four year old saw), and then beat the four year old's head against a rock with a rifle butt. While this happened, the mother of the boy was holding her little daughter to herself in a closet, hiding from Kuntar and his gunmen, and smothered the daughter to death accidentally.

This is one of the most cold blooded and vicious murders in Israel's history. Kuntar has publicly said he has no regrets, and wants to kill more Jews. And Israel is willing to free this monster in exchange for dead bodies. This is utterly shocking. Hizballah says this shows their strength. I say that this says the officials in the Israeli government value the credo of 'no soldier left behind' even when such a credo threatens the safety and security of Jews around the world. Given Israel exists in part to protect Jews around the world, this cuts to the very heart of the values of the nation.

This will only cause terrorists to be emboldened, and try to kidnap more Jews/Israelis wherever they can. They know they will be able to extract a high price for the kidnappings, whether the person in question is dead or alive.

This is a sad day.

On Short-Term Haitus

Lots of work combined with lack of sleep is going to result in a short-term hiatus... wish me luck for this afteroon!  Be back soon. :)

Todays Starred Stories

Here are today's starred stories, organised by topic:

Creeping Dhimmitude

The Telegraph

A police community support officer ordered two Christian preachers to stop handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham

The evangelists say they were threatened with arrest for committing a "hate crime" and were told they risked being beaten up if they returned. The incident will fuel fears that "no-go areas" for Christians are emerging in British towns and cities, as the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed in The Sunday Telegraph this year.

Intolerance / Hate Culture

Elder of Ziyon, IsraelMatzav, Israel National News, Yourish

The Algerian government has arranged for 14 Iraqi children to receive surgery in Algeria so that they would not have to go to Israel as previously planned. The children’s mothers expressed relief, with one saying the “nightmare” of seeking help in Israel had been removed.

The children were going to receive medical care with help from the Israeli group Save a Child’s Heart, which provides free heart surgery in Israel to children in need from several countries around the world. Members of the Christian group Brothers Together (Shevet Achim), which works with Save a Child’s Heart and has offices in Iraq, expressed concern that Algerian doctors may not be adequately prepared to deal with some of the children’s complicated medical conditions.

JPost

Kuwaiti MPs stage walk out in protest of bareheaded female Cabinet members

Iran and Hezbollah

Smooth Stone, Soundbites, Solomonia, Israel Matzav, YNet, Yourish

Because We Value Life and They Value Death... Israel Receives Body Parts in Exchange for Spy.

Israel made a 'gesture' to Hezbollah today by 'deporting' convicted Hezbollah spy Nassim Nisr to Lebanon after six years in an Israeli jail.

In return (or maybe not in return) Hezbollah returned 'body parts' of Israeli soldiers that it had been holding since the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006.

As far as that wider exchange goes, Israelis overwhelmingly support trading the murderer Kuntar for Goldwasser and Regev - but only if Goldwasser and Regev are alive. If they are not alive, most Israelis oppose the trade. So far, Hezbollah has refused to say which it is.

Beirut Spring

5 points summing up Iranian tactics in the Middle East...

Principle No. 1: Always seek “control without responsibility.” In Lebanon, Gaza and Iraq, Iran & Friends have veto power over the politics, without being held fully responsible for the electricity. America’s allies, by contrast, tend to have “responsibility without control.”

Principle No. 5: Cast yourself as the “resistance” to Israel and America, so any opposition to you is equal to support for Israel and America and so no matter how badly you are defeated the mere fact that you “resisted” means you didn’t really lose.

IRNA

Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Mohammad-Reza Baqeri in a meeting with his Japanese counterpart on Saturday agreed to expand mutual cooperation.

History

BokerTov

The tomb of the Prophet Ezekiel in Kifl, south of Baghdad, used to be a pilgrimage site for Jews. It is one of few traces that remain of a once-vibrant Jewish community in Iraq. A pogrom in 1941 and other traumas led to a sharp decline in the Jewish population.

Weapons Manufacturing / Smuggling

Israel Matzav

Egyptian police disclosed today that they discovered a massive weapons cache inside a mountain in the Sinai desert.

They can figure out how to smuggle anti-aircraft missiles and hand grenades into Gaza, but not sugar and flour. Some 'blockade.'

"There's no doubt that the appearance of these weapons represents a very significant change," said Yoram Schweitzer, director of the Program on Terrorism and Low Intensity Conflict at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya.

"Air force helicopters fly low over Gaza, and if they are downed the significance of that would be enormous. The air force has to make preparations, and take these weapons into account," Schweitzer said.

IMRA

Ten members of a family from the Abu Sha'ban clan were injured, including 4 women and 3 children, when an explosive device detonated inside their house.

Obama & Hillary... Combined?

I haven't heard much discussion about the recent news that Obama and Hillary may join forces...

Hillary Clinton will be offered a dignified exit from the presidential race and the prospect of a place in Barack Obama's cabinet under plans for a "negotiated surrender" of her White House ambitions being drawn up by Senator Obama's aides.

I am not supportive of the Democratic candidacy this year, however I think that this move could give the Democrats a great advantage over the Republicans.

What do you think this could mean for the presidential race between the Democrats and Republicans?

- Written by Steven