2005-02-22—Commentary: Prisoner Conundrum |
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Prominent among the problems that Israel
faces is, what to do with the thousands of Palestinian
prisoners, many of them with "blood on their hands" as a result of
killing Israelis, or being involved in the planning of violence against
Israelis.
For the Palestinians, these are fighters being held as
prisoners of war, who should be released now that the war is over.
Let's take an intellectual risk and assume that the war is
over. We are not there yet. We may not get there, but let's assume it for the
sake of argument.
At least some, and perhaps many of these prisoners are
impressive individuals. That is apparent from the comments they make when
being interviewed on Israeli media. It is also apparent from my conversations
with students who have dealt with them while they served as ranking
officials in military and civilian prisons.
Among the prisoners are individuals with considerable intelligence as well as dedication to the cause of Palestine. They risked their lives for what they thought were commendable national goals. They represent a human resource that could make an important contribution to the development of Palestine. Many of them have learned Hebrew while in prison. At least some of them have also learned that Israelis are not monsters, but offer values that should be recognized and incorporated into Palestine.
So why not release them?
On the other side is the realization that these individuals
used their intelligence to plan or execute acts of violence, usually against
civilians. To use a problematic word, they are terrorists. Can we count on
them to use their skills and values in order to build a Palestine that will
live at peace alongside Israel? Or will they revert to violence at the first
feelings of frustration that Palestine is not going well, and accept the easy
explanation that Israel is responsible for its failures?
We know from previous experience in releasing prisoners is that
some return to violent gangs at the first opportunity. Others are more likely
to avoid violence, either because they have matured in Israeli prisons and
their inclination to violence has declined naturally with age. Or that they
have actually adopted perspectives that are more political than violent.
We must also remember that Israelis have been through the Oslo
experience. We would like to believe that Mahmoud Abbas is different from Yasser
Arafat, but we are reluctant to accept his assurances, or risk our security
for the convenience of European and American politicians who want to be known
as having brought peace to the Holy Land. Lest we forgot for a moment,
the family members of the dead and injured will remind us.
I have no idea what the outcome will be. Perhaps we will
release some prisoners with blood on their hands, but not as many as the
Palestinians want, and not all of those on their list of priorities.
This is not simply a problem for conjecture, but is one of the
key tests of Israeli-Palestinian relations. The Palestinians will not get
everything they want with respect to prisoners. Will they take less than a
perfect deal in order not to spoil a good deal? That will tell us if they have
learned the ways of politics. If they respond in a political way (for example
by seeking benefits on some other issue), we will know how to respond. If they
respond by threatening or employing violence, we also know how to respond.
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