POW soldier or kidnapped youngster?

There are many ways to confuse any issue, but the cheapest and the most effective is, as usual, talk. Ynet prepared a good sampler of the Arab press on the subject of Gilad Shalit and the usual righteous grievances of Palestinians.

The editor of Egypt's most mainstream newspaper, Usama Sariya, wrote: "What Israel needs to understand, after the tunnel operation and the abduction of the Israeli soldier, is that this operation answers all the criteria of a military operation; it has all the moral justifications and isn't a suicide attack aimed at civilians."

While the main statement is right (and without going into the issue of justification of the military operation as opposite to, say, trying to establish good neighborhood relationships), the above quote is trying to hide a lie behind the truth. I just have to repeat myself:

The capture of Corporal Gilad Shalit, being by itself an act of war, ceased to be such immediately after the soldier was hidden in a concealed location. Had Hamas wanted to acquire some semblance of legitimacy, it would have declared Gilad a POW, allow ICRC access to him to establish that he is alive and to report on his health, in short - demonstrate behavior expected of a polity. Such behavior would have allowed negotiations on exchange of prisoners (although most of the prisoners kept in Israeli jails could hardly claim the status of POW, but I am sure a way could have been found). Instead, everything that happened since the capture clearly shows that Hamas cannot liberate itself from the behavior pattern of a terrorist gang. Now the capture of Gilad Shalit became a kidnapping, and any demands issued by Hamas are no more than blackmail by a kidnapper.

Ynet continues:

Most of the opinions expressed in the Arab world regarding the kidnapping provide plenty of explanations in support of future kidnappings. "While the Palestinians took just one soldier captive, Israel is holding 10,000 Palestinians captive, whom no one is speaking up for",said Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a speech Friday.

It was frequently claimed in the Arab media that Israel in general and the IDF in particular were international war criminals, as they kidnapped parliament members and ministers in violation of international law...

If kidnapping becomes a frequent occurrence it will be a completely different ballgame. Whatever Arab media claims, Hamas is still a terrorist organization, and its ministers are still fair game. It's no use putting the gloss of respectability on the ugly face of a terrorist gang that considers kidnapping a legitimate tool in its arsenal.

And blind support provided by Arab press is causing only more damage to Palestinians.

Cross-posted on Yourish.com