The Left Hand of Darkness - the Other side of the Shalit Deal

As has been noted here, I am in favor of the Shalit deal. As a parent, I can only approach this as Noam Shalit did. He wanted his son home... I can respect and understand that. ALSO.... The Shin Bet, IDF and Israeli Cabinet all approved of the deal so who am I to question that. I am neither Israeli nor am I currently in Israel. It is their decision and I trust that they made the right one for their soldiers and for their citizens.

Additionally, the fact that the Israelis care so much about their own, that they would trade 1,000 people just to secure one individual is AMAZING. It also says a lot about Israel's opponents that they make that same valuation about their own people. They won't trade One for One but will trade 1,000 for One. Interesting is one word that comes to mind.

SO along with Sgt. Shalit (he has been promoted) coming home this does speak to the fact that Israel and Hamas were and have been negotiating contrary to the claims of both polities. AND with all the bombast and rhetoric that flys about, the two sides were able to come to a deal.

Now onto the immediate fallout (since we have no idea of the long term ramifications of this deal).....

First we have the obvious gain of Hamas in the Palestinian Polity. There is no doubt that this will revive the flagging political hopes of Hamas within the Polity itself. AND Hamas is playing this up to end. Ismail Haniyeh is quoted as saying:

“This is a strategic turning point in our struggle against the Zionist enemy,” Haniyeh said at a celebration in Gaza on Tuesday evening, adding “it was thanks to our resistance that we were able to release the land and the people.”

“First of all, the Palestinians released were from all Palestinian groups and factions, and secondly, the prisoners were from all parts of Palestine,” Haniyeh said.

Maan News further reports that:

Yehya Al-Sinwar, a top Hamas security strategist who spent 23 years in jail and is now tipped for a top post in the Hamas leadership, was cheered by the rally and mobbed on stage.

"I call on all the leaders of the Palestinian resistance factions and foremost the Izz el-Deen Al-Qassam to shoulder the responsibility for liberating the remaining prisoners in the shortest time possible," he said.

"This must be turned immediately into a practical plan."

Not to be left out of the proceedings Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had this to say:

We thank God for your return and your safety," Abbas said, greeting the prisoners. "You are freedom fighters and holy warriors for the sake of God and the homeland." He also said that Israel had promised him to free more prisoners following the two-stage swap. It was the first mention of such a release.

"We hope soon to see [Marwan] Barghouti and [Ahmed] Saadat, as well as every prisoner freed,"

Amongst the hoopla of the release of the Palestinian 1000 (some of whom are unrepentant terrorists) Hamas, is claiming total victory and telling anyone who will listen that their way of negotiating (terror strikes, total resistance, kidnapping) is the only way to go. They say "Well, look what we got from this stand and look what you got from all your negotiations". Of course, this is foolhardy concerning anything else like peace or land deals but that is what they claim.

Furthermore, by getting 1,000 prisoners released from all across the Palestinian Polity, they can claim that they are truly the ones looking out for ALL Palestinians, not just those folks in Gaza. They are so confident of their postion that they are summoning P.A. President Abbas to Cairo with the following message:

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Hamas leader in exile Khaled Mashaal alled on President Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday to hold a meeting next week in Cairo to implement a reconciliation deal signed in May.

Speaking at a news conference after celebrating the prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel, Mashaal urged Abbas to meet with him in order to review the "policy of negotiation" with Israel.

He urged Abbas take note of Hamas' strategy of negotiations, adding that "whoever goes to negotiations without strong cards" is not likely to succeed. Mashaal was apparently referring to the swap deal compared to a decade of Palestinian negotiations which have produced little.

How will this bode for the peace process.... Well, honestly, this kind of rhetoric is the dream of the Israeli Right. When the Palestinian people chant: "We need another Gilad Shalit" and the Popular Resistance Committee claims that now they need to take more Israelis captive obviously one has to wonder. The Rightists however will have a field day with this saying "Look, we cannot deal with these people. What kind of peace deal can we expect with this?" It will then allow them to continue on with their policies of expansion into the occupied territories and all but making a Two State Solution close to impossible.

Of course the Palestinians are not adverse to this notion of conflict. Not much else seems to be going their way and politically President Abbas simply cannot give into the demands of PM Benyamin Netanyahu to give up Palestinian RoR and declare recognition of Israel as the Nathonal Homeland and State of the Jewish people. The second he did that, his term as President would be over as would his life.  The second intifada was a disaster for the Palestinians the whys of a sudden change in the leadership would be taking Hamas' path rear their head.

For today though, Hamas has revived itself and with it the darkside of the Palestinian Polity. Now it is up to the Palestinians to pick their path. Hamas may have had this success but it's leadership has been an unmitigated failure in creating a better life for Palestinians. How long will they be able to "ride this wave" and what that means for Israel or the P.A is yet to be seen.