A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Shalit Release

Amidst all the celebrations by Israelis of Gilad Shalit's release and by Palestinians of the release of prisoners in the exchange deal, there are the usual questions about the wisdom of such exchanges. At the moment it seems to me that one should congratulate Shalit on his freedom and save the recriminations for later; this is neither the first Israeli exchange deal nor, probably, the last. In the meantime, Shalit is free.

3 comments:

Jonathan said...

Yes, and what about congratulating the Palestinian prisoners on their freedom? Or should I assume you go along with the prevalent US view that they are faceless and irrelevant.

Michael Collins Dunn said...

I think if you read the archive even a little you'll see that they aren't faceless to me, or to anyone who has walked in the camps in Gaza. If I didn't make that clear, I think later posts in the next few days will.

Michael Collins Dunn said...

See ny later post.