Opinion
Bring back the sons
Miki Goldwasser
Published: 29.06.08, 09:32
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15 Talkbacks for this article
1. Trading murderers for captives will bring more dead Jews.
Bunnie Meyer ,   Los Angeles, CA USA   (06.29.08)
2. Bring back the sons
Yhonatan ,   Jerusalem   (06.29.08)
# 1. Trading murderers for captives will bring more dead Jews. Yeh but won't we look good in the eyes of the world.
3. To everybody
(06.29.08)
What would you do if one of these boys were your son?
4. Israeli soldiers
Leah ,   Bat Yam, Israel   (06.29.08)
When an Israeli soldier is captured, his fate is sealed. He knows it and is taught to be prepared for it. My heart breaks for the Goldwasser, Regev and Schalit families, but to expect their return in exchange for terrorist murderers of Israelis is to sign the death certificates of even more Israelis. Where is the guarantee that these men are even still alive and well?
5. response to #3
ari ,   israel   (06.29.08)
i woulds not let them trade murders for my son!!! period!! it is immoral and against basic Jewish law!!!! what THEY do to him is on THEIR hands. God will punish them. by releasing murders you are punishable by death since YOU are then considered a killer. its called a TEST we all have them. Apparently most of us fail.
6. guerilla movements
marcel   (06.29.08)
there are no easy solutions.The standard military cannot real beat them , only hang on before they changes. Hizbollah and hamas have israel on the defensive especially with their isalmic and suicidal nature. We should be more careful in our critiques, and I mean me because it is very difficult. Notwithstanding, I liked sharon and preferred yaalon over barak. I aslo agree with the late shiff that olmert cannot fill sharon's shoes. Finally, Winograd was a terrible conjob as explained by dror to get olmert off the hook.
7. Will this pressure group be happy when Israelis die?
Millie ,   Israel   (06.29.08)
Now that the families will get their loved ones returned in body bags, what will they feel when more Israelis die as a consequence of their actions? It's sad when a gov't without a moral backbone caves in to such pressure. Shame on them all. The war against all Israeli civilians has been taken up a notch.
8. #3, thanks to this deal maybe next it WILL be my son
Danny   (06.29.08)
or yours. and there WILL be a next time.
9. trading dead bodies for murderers will create
daniel   (06.29.08)
more dead bodies
10. Letter to Mrs. Goldwasser
CB ,   USA   (06.30.08)
Mrs.Goldwasser:My heart goes out for your horrific situation.However, every Jew in the world is now subject to kidnapping and peril. You must understand that. The individuals who negotiated should never have made any demands on Israel in doing so. The sole responsibility rests with the barbarian Hizbollah. I do not know, how the Red Cross was unable to demand and secure evidence of their status.That is where the world should have placed pressure. Instead , even the US is now accepting Hizbollah.Other organizations and the UN exist for the reasons to pursue justice in place of war as Israel had to incur and then was forced to succumb without a decisive victory.The individuals to whom you refer were doing their jobs.There is no honor in what they have done. Did you think of the objections of the terror victims' groups? Do you realize that now a precedent has been set that individual parents can force an entire military and intelligence arm of a nation to be overridden and ,thus, placed into a diminished position ? A Nation cannot be dictated to especially in a time of war by a few parents. It is true, Olmert, Livni, and Barak utterly failed you and all Israelis in the war and with the subsequent consequences as did the UN and Bush and Rice. You say, the country would have been divided if this deal was not secured.That the rest of the world would look with disdain.To the contrary. Israel has always set the standard with its original refusal to negotiate with terrorists.Once Peres, Savir, and Rabin succumbed to Oslo, the beginning of the end of Israel's moral leadership began until ,today, millions check-in on the web daily to see if Israel is still there. It has permitted itself to be on the verge of delegitimization and to be condemned for its rights as a state to defend itself. The one question I have is how the Mother and wife of Kuntar's victims must feel? Did you think of them, Mrs. Goldwasser? Your son, at least, was able to grow up.Kuntar tortured and brutally killed her little five year old daughter, Mrs. Goldwasser.FIVE YEARS OLD! Did you demand justice for her at that time? Why don't you protest for a new government that will maintain an Israel instead of dismantling it? To hold talks outside of the government? It isn't done. To place all Jews in the world and all peoples living in democratic countries in further peril for the release of your son, whom you must have known was deceased, is morally reprehensible. If he were alive, there, at least, is a moral Jewish imperative to be argued. Now, we all have to sit back and wait to see what consequences your actions and misguided self-righteousness has brought. Are you satisfied? Do let us know from time to time how that continues to justify the consequences and murdered and tortured lives of other innocent people. After all, one might not remember ALL the deaths incurred because your country went to war to avenge your son's kidnapping. You permitted yourself to be a dupe along with others and your government for the terrorists. They won again. Olmert, Livni, Barak are now even more reviled although you want to try and spin it as strengthened and respected. Dream on. We live with the non-Jewish world.Israel once strongly guaranteed our freedoms and equality.That diminishes day by day as Israel's moral collapse continues. WE will not forget you.
11. Bone to pick with the media
Ilan ,   Ariel   (06.30.08)
Is it the role of the media to choose sides and act as publicists? If Miki Goldwasser wants to present her case to the public and try to persuade it to see as she does then does she get to set what is in "good taste". Seems that the families have been unwilling even to discuss whether their loved ones are alive, or on the possible costs for this deal. She should know that she can not just turn her back when the next kidnapping takes place. Not after what she has done to promote this. The cost of trading dead soliders for live terrorists will be that every captive will have a death sentence on his/her head.
12. what price for captives
israeli ,   israel   (06.30.08)
Nobody wants to be in these families' shoes. However, they are not the only ones to sustain losses. We all have at one point or another lost someone to war or terrorism and not all of us have graves to grieve on. So we carry the pain around in our hearts instead of putting our heart on our sleeve for all to see. It is true that Karnit's pain is hard to bear. It is true that it is hard to look Eldad Regev's beautiful blue eyes and imagine what he may gone through. Yet they are not our first victims, and unfortunately not our last. Hordes of terrorists have been released in order to secure the return of abducted soldiers. Our defeatist attitude has brought us to the point where each and every one is at risk of being abducted, murdered and negotiated. Why Mrs. Goldwasser herself may be abducted one day in order to secure the release of another mass-murdering Quntar-like creature, who is still alive because we cannot bring ourselves to visit the dealth penalty on those who have no purpose in life than to wipe us out. Because we cannot stand the anguish of kidnapped soldiers and the agony of families we are endangering our entire people. Moreover, just like in ancient Troy, we are dismantling our defenses with our own hands and are placing the entire State of Israel in great danger.
13. Risking the lives of Israeli citizens for bodies
elianna ,   Jerusalem   (06.30.08)
I know it must be hard but your son, zh"l has been killed. How will you feel Miki when guntar will again attack innocent Israeli's because we let him out of jail in order to make you feel better? How will speak to the relatives of those new victims of terrorism. And the people to be kidnapped in the future, because you showed that Israel will give in even for bodies. Why should Hamas keep Shalit alive if they can get the same for bones? We feel bad that your son was kidnapped. What have you done? You demanded we risk Israeli's future, for a sad past we cannot change. Our hearts go out to you, but you have exploited our feelingds to the demise of all of us.
14. To #1 Bunny Meyer who sits in the US and tells us what to do
David ,   Karmiel, Israel   (06.30.08)
Bunny what would you do if your kid, if you have a child or children, was held by a brutal, murderous maniacal regime? Yes, Bunny, I am sure you would say "let them kill my child" to save others. Bunny, you are a naive fool if you think that the killing of Jews will stop if we don't do the deal! Bunny, the Arabs will not stop killing Israelis until they destroy our country. As usual, you sit in LA and talk crap. If you had any guts you would get over here and look Miki Goldwasser in the eye and tell her that you want her son dead! Never forget Bunny and the others sitting all of the world and giving us advice, Udi, Eldad, Gilad and every other Israeli who serves or has served in the IDF does so in order to protect our country, our people and JEWS like you all over the world! Life is a precious thing to us and that is what makes us different to the Islamic fanatics who kill our people and yours. To Miki Goldwasser, HOLD ON, we are with you even if it is a bitter pill to swallow! To the Golwassers, the Regevs , the Shalits, the Arads, the Feldmans, the Baumels, the Katz' and Hevers, Yashiru Koah!
15. To #10: So, if we don't do the deal Jews will be safe?
David ,   Karmiel, Israel   (06.30.08)
Bloody nonsense! The Arabs don't need deals and reasons to kill Jews! Get you facts right Livni was cut out of all the decision making during the war and Barak wasn't in the Government! Amir Peretz was the Minister of Defense! About, Bush and Rice you are right but don't forget about the British!
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