Gilad Shalit is a prisoner of war. Gilad has rights under a variety of global treaties. If the Palestinians want their "human rights," they should follow rules regulating captured soldiers.
Many people call him a kidnapping victim. I disagree with this label. Gilad was in uniform and captured by the military arm of an opposing government .
When someone is kidnapped they are a victim of a crime. A mugging or rape victim have no rights other than criminal courts. A prisoner of war has rights granted and enforced by global treaties. The U.N does not deal with local crime. If Gilad Shalit were defined as a prisoner of war Israel gains leverage. If they cannot bring him home, at least utilize every weapon to make his life more bearable.
Peace and Economic negotiations hinge on both sides agreeing to obey rules governing Prisoners of War and other such trust building issues.
The Palestinian government has status in the U.N. The Palestinian government has declared itself as existing as an entity.
You say you are at war. You say that living at war against a much stronger military force gives you the right to break the rules of engagement. You want your State? Earn it. Follow the rules governing Prisoners of War.
2 comments:
perhaps, but on the other hand we relate to Hamas not as a government with an army, but as to a band of terrorists.
This is why i have always been unsure how to relate to him - as having been abducted? captured? kidnapped? other?
Hamas used to be only a terrorist group. But from its inception, which Israel may or may not midwifed, their goal was to become more than. In todays world I don't see how you can relate to them as other than a government. They may use military tactics that we don't care for, but the political leaders who won elections across Gaza were all elected under the Hamas Political banner. Israel and the outside world have day-to-day interactions with Hamas as a government.
They are a government which employs terrorist tactics.
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