Muslim Lawmakers Appeal For Israeli Soldier Gilad Shalit's Release

High_Gravity

Belligerent Drunk
Nov 19, 2010
40,157
7,096
260
Richmond VA
Muslim Lawmakers Appeal For Israeli Soldier Gilad Shalit's Release

r-MUSLIMS-SAY-RELEASE-GILAD-SHALIT-large570.jpg


WASHINGTON (RNS) Two Muslim congressmen and other prominent Muslims have urged Hamas to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured in a cross-border raid five years ago and has been held ever since in the Gaza Strip.



Their hope is that Shalit's release will spark more goodwill gestures between the militant Palestinian group and Israel, and remove Shalit's imprisonment as an obstacle to substantive peace talks.

"It's a shot in the dark," said Akbar Ahmed, a former Pakistani ambassador to Great Britain who now teaches at American University, and one of 11 Muslim leaders who signed the letter. "But if one side can make a gesture purely on the basis of compassion, it might have an impact on the other side."

The letter was timed to the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims are called upon to be particularly compassionate.

"We believe Hamas' harsh treatment and five-year detention of Shalit is wrong," said the letter, which was also signed by U.S. Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and Andre Carson, D-Ind., and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who spearheaded efforts to build a Muslim community center near Ground Zero.

Hamas has not allowed Shalit's family or the International Red Cross to visit him.

The letter acknowledges Hamas' complaints against Israel, but reminds that the Prophet Muhammad taught his followers to "repel the evil deed with one that is better."

Muslim Lawmakers Appeal For Israeli Soldier Gilad Shalit's Release
 
British Muslims For Israel
Here at BMFI, we do not believe the Arab-Israeli conflict is a war over land or religion, but it is a clash of ideas. Israel, as a Western liberal democracy, extends equal rights to all of its citizens, regardless of religion or race. Muslims have more rights in Israel than in any other country in the Middle East.

While Egypt guns down Sudanese refugees fleeing the murderous oppression of their government, Israel gives them home and shelter; while Lebanon denies Palestinian refugees access to healthcare, Israel provides emergency treatment for the residents of the West Bank and Gaza strip; while Syria keeps the Palestinians in refugee camps and sporadically slaughters them, Israel offered full citizenship to all its Palestinians after the Arab states attempted to destroy Israel and slaughter its Holocaust survivors in 1948.

British Muslims for Israel
 
Personally, I think it would be a good idea. It would be a good PR move for Hamas.

I can't picture, however, Israel reciprocating one iota.
 
Personally, I think it would be a good idea. It would be a good PR move for Hamas.

I can't picture, however, Israel reciprocating one iota.

Hamas Constitution...
Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it. Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its Constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.

The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).

Israeli Declaration of Independence
THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

Dr. Wafa Sultan, Time magazine's 100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming our world: Israel virtuous. Muslims evil

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLOicfZ_bAI]Arabs for Israel - Muslims for Israel - Wafa Sultan - YouTube[/ame]
 
The concept was a great idea, acknowledging Hamas' complaints against Israel can be taken two ways.
One is that many hardline Israeli supporters will call that to be supporting a terrorist group, appeasing the enemy or that the acknowledgment shouldn't have been included. Or some others will say that acknowledging Hamas' complaints is dealing with real live, because Israel has used some very questionable decisions against the Palestinians.
Overall, I see the letter as a positive management approach. Butter them up and then tell them what you want.
 
Last edited:
Israel has used some very questionable decisions against the Palestinians.

Is that why Pallies want to be Israeli citizens?

Washington Post: Why Palestinians Want To Be Israelis
One of the givens of the Middle East peace process is that Palestinians are eager to be free of rule by Israel and to live in a state of their own. That's why a new poll of the Arabs of East Jerusalem is striking: It shows that more of those people actually would prefer to be citizens of Israel than of a Palestinian state.

The awkward fact is that the 270,000 Arabs who live in East Jerusalem may not be very enthusiastic about joining Palestine. The survey, which was designed and supervised by former State Department Middle East researcher David Pollock, found that only 30 percent said they would prefer to be citizens of Palestine in a two-state solution, while 35 percent said they would choose Israeli citizenship. (The rest said they didn't know or refused to answer.) Forty percent said they would consider moving to another neighborhood in order to become a citizen of Israel rather than Palestine, and 54 percent said that if their neighborhood were assigned to Israel, they would not move to Palestine.

The reasons for these attitudes are pretty understandable, even healthy. Arabs say they prefer Israel's jobs, schools, health care and welfare benefits to those of a Palestinian state -- and their nationalism is not strong enough for them to set aside these advantages in order to live in an Arab country.
PostPartisan - Why Palestinians want to be Israeli citizens
 
Israel has used some very questionable decisions against the Palestinians.

Is that why Pallies want to be Israeli citizens?

Washington Post: Why Palestinians Want To Be Israelis
One of the givens of the Middle East peace process is that Palestinians are eager to be free of rule by Israel and to live in a state of their own. That's why a new poll of the Arabs of East Jerusalem is striking: It shows that more of those people actually would prefer to be citizens of Israel than of a Palestinian state.

The awkward fact is that the 270,000 Arabs who live in East Jerusalem may not be very enthusiastic about joining Palestine. The survey, which was designed and supervised by former State Department Middle East researcher David Pollock, found that only 30 percent said they would prefer to be citizens of Palestine in a two-state solution, while 35 percent said they would choose Israeli citizenship. (The rest said they didn't know or refused to answer.) Forty percent said they would consider moving to another neighborhood in order to become a citizen of Israel rather than Palestine, and 54 percent said that if their neighborhood were assigned to Israel, they would not move to Palestine.

The reasons for these attitudes are pretty understandable, even healthy. Arabs say they prefer Israel's jobs, schools, health care and welfare benefits to those of a Palestinian state -- and their nationalism is not strong enough for them to set aside these advantages in order to live in an Arab country.
PostPartisan - Why Palestinians want to be Israeli citizens

Well, that would level the playing field more for those Palestinians, wouldn't it.
 
Israel has used some very questionable decisions against the Palestinians.

Is that why Pallies want to be Israeli citizens?

Washington Post: Why Palestinians Want To Be Israelis
One of the givens of the Middle East peace process is that Palestinians are eager to be free of rule by Israel and to live in a state of their own. That's why a new poll of the Arabs of East Jerusalem is striking: It shows that more of those people actually would prefer to be citizens of Israel than of a Palestinian state.

The awkward fact is that the 270,000 Arabs who live in East Jerusalem may not be very enthusiastic about joining Palestine. The survey, which was designed and supervised by former State Department Middle East researcher David Pollock, found that only 30 percent said they would prefer to be citizens of Palestine in a two-state solution, while 35 percent said they would choose Israeli citizenship. (The rest said they didn't know or refused to answer.) Forty percent said they would consider moving to another neighborhood in order to become a citizen of Israel rather than Palestine, and 54 percent said that if their neighborhood were assigned to Israel, they would not move to Palestine.

The reasons for these attitudes are pretty understandable, even healthy. Arabs say they prefer Israel's jobs, schools, health care and welfare benefits to those of a Palestinian state -- and their nationalism is not strong enough for them to set aside these advantages in order to live in an Arab country.
PostPartisan - Why Palestinians want to be Israeli citizens

Well, that would level the playing field more for those Palestinians, wouldn't it.

Granting American citizenship to al Qaeda would level the playing field, too
 
What happens if Shalit is released and Israel does not change its policies?

Israel's policiies of democracy, human rights and civil liberties for all Israeli citizens.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton...
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I am delighted to send best wishes to the people of Israel on your 63rd National Day this May 10 – a young nation, but a rich history that holds deep meaning for so many. Your achievements are a testament to your hardworking citizens, innovative economy, and commitment to democratic institutions. Israel has been a beacon of hope and freedom for so many around the world.

Sixty-three years ago the United States was the first country to recognize Israel's independence, and that spirit of kinship continues to guide us today. Our two countries are united by a deep, unshakable friendship and bond. We are bound together by our shared values and history pursuing freedom, equality and democracy. And this relationship is deepening every day. Whether it’s our security partnerships or the expanding economic and trade collaborations – our work together is securing a brighter future for all our people.

As you celebrate your independence, the Middle East is experiencing rapid change. This is a moment of uncertainty, but also of opportunity. The security of Israel is - and will remain - a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy, and we will continue to strive for a comprehensive peace between Israel and all of its neighbors.

Israel's National Day



.
 
Then what would be the point of releasing him if Israel shows no appreciation?

Appreciation should be shown to Muslim terrorists? I don't think so, jackass.

And that is why he has not been released.

This is why Shalit has not been released...

Historian Paul Johnson---
The lack of symmetry between the risks taken by Arabs and by Israelis is one result of a different view of the sanctity of human life. The Jewish faith was the first religion to preach this sanctity and to magnify the value of each individual human being in the eyes of his Creator — hence, equally, in other human beings. This is the main reason that Mosaic law differs so markedly in humanity and reason from all the other fiercely retributive codes of the ancient Near East. The value placed on human life by Jews has steadily increased over the centuries, as a response to persecution and, above all, to the Nazi attempt at extermination of the entire people. Israel itself was created as a refuge and fortress in which Jewish lives would be safe from annihilation. It is thus the physical embodiment of the principle that individual life is sacred.

By contrast, the Islamic-Arab concept of "the war of the martyrs" places no value on human life except as a sacrifice in the holy war. A warrior gains infinitely more by losing his life than by preserving it, for then he gains eternal life, and his status as a martyr is enhanced by the number of dead Israelis — "sons and daughters of Satan" — whom he takes with him.
 
Appreciation should be shown to Muslim terrorists? I don't think so, jackass.

And that is why he has not been released.

This is why Shalit has not been released...

Historian Paul Johnson---
The lack of symmetry between the risks taken by Arabs and by Israelis is one result of a different view of the sanctity of human life. The Jewish faith was the first religion to preach this sanctity and to magnify the value of each individual human being in the eyes of his Creator — hence, equally, in other human beings. This is the main reason that Mosaic law differs so markedly in humanity and reason from all the other fiercely retributive codes of the ancient Near East. The value placed on human life by Jews has steadily increased over the centuries, as a response to persecution and, above all, to the Nazi attempt at extermination of the entire people. Israel itself was created as a refuge and fortress in which Jewish lives would be safe from annihilation. It is thus the physical embodiment of the principle that individual life is sacred.

By contrast, the Islamic-Arab concept of "the war of the martyrs" places no value on human life except as a sacrifice in the holy war. A warrior gains infinitely more by losing his life than by preserving it, for then he gains eternal life, and his status as a martyr is enhanced by the number of dead Israelis — "sons and daughters of Satan" — whom he takes with him.

Load of crap.
 
What happens if Shalit is released and Israel does not change its policies?

Israel is not going to change anything even if he is not, let the poor man go.:evil:

Then what would be the point of releasing him if Israel shows no appreciation?

If Hamas wants to start being taken seriously as a political organization and not a bunch of rabid foaming at the mouth terrorists they need to release him.
 

Forum List

Back
Top