The Measure of a People

"I always believed that the day would come that I would be released. I will be happy for them to be released (Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons) if they don't return to fight us. I very much hope that this deal will advance peace and not lead to war." Gilad Shalit

Weak and malnourished, he was paraded on Egyptian television, questioned by an interviewer while Hamas terrorists stood nearby. This was Egypt glorifying itself on the world stage. The agreement may have been carefully scripted by the German Foreign Ministry over a period of dedicated years, but the up-front manoeuvring was Egypt's triumph, with Turkey lingering on the sidelines.

"I don't feel so good from this whole event ... to see so many people after such a long time ... after not having seen people for such a long time, I am on edge" he said in Hebrew during that Egyptian television 'interview'. Held in isolation, sensory-deprived, malnourished, his health deteriorating, no medical attention to his wounds, he survived five years, a huge vacuum in a young man's life.

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"We are going to capture another soldier and cleanse all the Israeli jails of our prisoners", exulted a masked Hamas spokesman. The Qassam Brigades, black-masked, were there as an honour guard, to welcome the released Palestinian prisoners. They honoured the prisoners released as heroes of the 'occupation', and presented with Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

"We will not give up until [Israel's] prisons are shut down", boasted a masked spokesman. Needless to say, Israel would be happily obliging in shutting down the prisons should Palestinians ever put a stop to the 'armed resistance' to the 'occupation'. Who wants to 'occupy' land meant for others in any event?

Had the others accepted that land at Partition, the two countries would long since have grown accustomed to being neighbours without rancour toward one another.

In Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority - which they are prepared to abandon for Jerusalem - Mahmoud Abbas addressed the crowds at the welcoming ceremonies for the released prisoners: "You are freedom fighters and holy warriors for the sake of God and the homeland." These are the national heroes, those who murdered Israeli civilians in terror attacks.

In Egypt, the rejoicing had a similar foul odour: "Negotiation based on power forces the enemy to pay the price. We defeated the Israelis", boasted Khaled Meshaal, Hamas's Supreme Leader. And in Gaza, the night sky was punctuated with repeated bursts of celebratory gunfire.

Palestinian men defiantly victorious, determined to return to the obsession of slaughter whose commission brought them to Israeli prisons to begin with. Speaking of further abductions of IDF personnel, the crowds roaring their approval. Israel prepared to surrender thousands of Palestinian prisoners for the release of a few of their own - alive or dead.

And Palestinian women? One of whom was interviewed for a television program, and asked if she felt regret at her part in the murder of Israeli civilians. "No. Why should I feel sorry?" Asked if she would repeat the performance, the response was equally curt and candid: "Yes".

Negotiate? With whom?