Prison swaps are dirty business

Gilad Shalit has been released at last. International relations are often a catalyst for disputed prisoner trades.

Mozafer Rajabali

The Silhouette

Prisoner swaps have been at the center of many political ploys – none more exaggerated than the one between Israel and Palestine. Late Friday evening, the political group of Hamas, which currently runs the Gaza strip, will release a number of Palestinians in what is dubbed “phase one” of two phases that will take place this year. In it, 477 prisoners who are illegally prisoned within Israeli borders will be either sent to Gaza, kept in Jerusalem or will be sent abroad.

Of course, Palestinians are joyful to finally receive some sort of compensation from the Israeli authorities. Israel, on the other hand, after much political pressure, will in exchange receive their much loved, though unsung hero, Gilad Shalit.

Shalit was captured in the summer of 2006 by Hamas militants (or soldiers, depending on which side you’re on) and has been held by Hamas in an unknown location ever since. U.S. president Obama, Isreal’s prime minister Netanyahu and French president Sarkozy can use his name repeatedly in speeches, going on about a young, oppressed individual who was wrongfully kidnapped. But, at the end of the day, they tend to forget those hundreds if not thousands of people stuck in Israeli prisons. Then again, politics is a dirty game.

The young Israeli-French soldier was either captured for illegally trespassing, as Hamas will tell you, or was sincerely fulfilling his national rights, as Israel will tell you. Whatever the case, he will be seeing his people again. And to think that he was bait for 477 Palestinians, he probably is making his country proud.

A while back, at the United Nations Security Council, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas stressed the issue of prisoners that were illegally caught and held in Israel. The issue has come to the forefront, with agencies like Amnesty International showing that not only are they illegally held, but they are also treated badly. Only a few weeks ago, Palestinians in Israel were under a hunger strike – something that stirred a lot of emotions. The hunger strike seems to have borne fruit and will soon reunite families.

However, with all the good that will be brought about by the prisoner exchange, Hamas’ authorities are not fully satisfied, as they were hoping to retrieve back some of their top brass. It seems as though Israel has only agreed to release one senior Hamas official.

This could be a peace offering – though knowing Netanyahu and Israel, it seems unlikely they are willing to settle with this. What is probably occurring is that the immense political pressure felt by Israel after events in recent months, the tide is finally beginning to turn. How far this tide goes and who benefits from it is up to the players in the game – not to mention the masses coming out in the Middle East right now. The people’s voices might just be heard.