“The Palestinians’ real tragedy is that they have not been able to produce a Nelson Mandela. Every single day, Muslims are killed by Muslims. You do not see a single Muslim leader get up and say, ‘Enough is enough.' It’s nearly as if we live in a world where if Christians kill Muslims, it’s a crusade. If Jews kill Muslims, it’s a massacre. And when Muslims kill Muslims, it’s the Weather Channel. Nobody cares.”

Read these and other quotes from Dan Gillerman, outgoing Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, on Elder of Ziyon.

Breaking news in the Israeli mainstream news and blogosphere reports that a man driving a bulldozer ploughed down the streets of Jerusalem in a mad rampage, mimicking the tractor attack of 20 days past.

An estimated 24 people were wounded and three killed when armed civilian Yaakov Asael and border guard Amal Ganem shot the driver dead, ending the assault. The murderer is reportedly a Palestinian from East Jerusalem in possession of an Israeli identity card.

While a gag order has been placed on the mainstream news media in releasing an identity, the blogosphere reports the attacker's name as Ghasam Abu-Tir. His name was released with initial news of the attack and widely publicized on the radio, but is now being hidden by official news sources.

The Israeli Blogosphere Reacts–

A Soldier's Mother writes in This is Israel an entry entitled, “It's Happened Again”:

Yet again, a bulldozer has been used as a terrorist weapon to hurt innocent civilians. Today's terrorist has been identified as Ghasam Abu-Tir, a relative of Hamas lawmaker Muhammad Abu-Tir… The terrorist was 22 years old and a resident of an Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem… What Israel will do as a result of this latest attack…no one knows. Stay tuned and pray for the wounded.

Brian Blum of This Normal Life recounts his day in Jerusalem:

Amir and I were downtown when the police cars and ambulances started zooming past us, their sirens blaring. We had just finished an ice coffee at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and were waiting at a bus stop to go home. One after another, the police sped down Jaffa Road. There must have been at least 100 vehicles in just a few minutes. The reason was clear: there had been a terror attack. But we didn’t know what or where…

Was it a suicide bomber on a bus? An explosion at a cafe? The police all seemed to be heading in the direction of the King David Hotel. Wasn’t British Prime Minister Gordon Brown staying there? Had U.S. Democratic candidate Barack Obama already arrived. About that time, my cell phone died, leaving us incommunicado.

He continues:

The bulldozer driver had apparently been working just around the corner in nearby Yemin Moshe, one of Jerusalem’s most fashionable and expensive neighborhoods. Two accomplices fled and the police were sealing off any possible escape routes. Immediately after the attack, politicians began calling for a ban in the employment of East Jerusalem Arabs as construction workers in the city. But how? Jerusalem these days is one big construction zone. Bulldozers abound. Do we need to fear walking past a new building going up like we once avoided cafes and buses? What means will the terrorists use next?

…In another hour we have guests coming from overseas for a pizza party. Tonight I have a conference call with the States. Just another day in Jerusalem. Life goes on. But a normal life? Never.

Izzy Bee of Israelity Bites was also having an average day until she encountered “Massive Weapons of Construction”:

Today, I was coming back from my dentist appointment and took a shortcut through the YMCA carpark (It's across the street from the King David Hotel, where British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife had just left and Barack Obama is due to check in tonight.) Timing is everything, they say. Just ten minutes later, chaos broke out.

Once again a Palestinian construction worker –aren't they all?—let loose against the traffic in the heat of a Jerusalem afternoon. After he rammed a bus and passing cars with his bulldozer, armed civilians shot him dead. One car driver was seriously hurt, and at least ten other people were injured, including a scuffed up little baby.

David Bogner of Treppenwitz comments:

Guns don't kill people… apparently tractors kill people.

Another heavy equipment terror attack just occured on Jerusalem's crowded streets. Another Arab terrorist is off to meet his 72 virgins. I can only pray that they are all male… and none too tender about their first time.

I really have nothing constructive to say about this.

Jameel of The Muqata posts about the incident including photos and videos, as well as updated news about the attack. He explains:

Once again, civilians keep the streets of Jerusalem safer. The responsible person for shooting and killing the terrorist was a civilian. A Border policeman apparently also took part. There are 5 wounded, 2 of them in serious condition and one of the wounded is an infant. [Note: these numbers are now outdated] 2 cars and a bus were damaged by the tractor. The attack took place near the King David hotel.

Dion Nissenbaum of Checkpoint Jerusalem asks:

Since this attack comes about two weeks after the first bizarre construction vehicle rampage in Jerusalem, it is certain to stoke the debate here about whether this is a new strategy being used by Palestinians - and what can be done to stop these attacks.

Since the first attacker acted alone and had no known ties to militant groups, it was thought that the rampage might be a strange anomaly.

But, as newspaper editors always tell us, it only takes three to call something a trend.

Now we have two.

In “Race of Suffering,” Lirun of East Med Sea Peace adds questions of her own:

Another psycho attacker has struck innocent pedestrians in jerusalem… i wonder who will suffer the most.. will it be israelis.. the wounded.. our economy.. world image? will it be the palestinians.. their farmers.. the residents of jerusalem or their world image? how many new roadblocks will be set up?

In a post entitled, “Using Technology to Tell You I Am OK,” Israluv of Sabra at Heart reassures:

Another terrorist bulldozer attack near my neighborhood and it means I need to change my status on Facebook, MSN Messenger, Gtalk and twitter to let everyone know I am ok. It makes life a bit easier to share the news via the web and lucky for me most of the people I know use one of the many different services listed above.

Changing my status online doesnt stop the influx of “are you ok” phone calls but it definitely helps me share the news with those who don't live in Jerusalem or even in this region with my status. My parents are still in New York and since we are 7 hours ahead I have to notify them before they even awake that I am ok…

Looking forward to the day my status online no longer needs to be updated to tell people that I am ok.

Possible Implications–

Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski reacted to today's attack saying, “You throw terrorists out the door, they climb through the window with all kinds of means and ideas. Every working tool becomes a means of terror and we must rethink how we employ those working here.”

A Note to My Readers–

At this time, I'd also like to add a personal note to my Global Voices Online readers, who I know to be intelligent and critical media consumers. As you are reading news of this incident, please take into consideration the tone and words that different news sources use in describing it and how it reflects the content of the article. Does the headline mention people or objects? Who does it hold responsible for what happened? How does the author view the attack in light of the larger situation in Israel and Palestine?

Compare these sampling of headlines:

• “Sixteen wounded in copycat bulldozer attack in Jerusalem” (Jerusalem Post, Israel)
• “Second Palestinian bulldozer rampage injures 29 on Jerusalem main street” (DebkaFile, Israel)
• “Israel terror: Three killed, 44 hurt as Palestinian runs amok with bulldozer in street” (Guardian, UK)
• “Palestinian in construction truck rams cars” (Yahoo! News)
• “Israel Bulldozer Driver Shot Dead” (BBC News, UK)
• “Bulldozer attack: Israel threatens military action” (France 24)
• “Bulldozer attack hits Jerusalem” (Al Jazeera, English version)
• “Attack injures 5 near Obama's Jerusalem hotel” (CNN)
• “Attack with bulldozer near where Obama to stay” (New York Times via Reuters)

Have Your Say–

What is your country saying? Do bloggers' headlines differ from those of the mainstream news? Please add your own findings in the comments section. Let's compare.

Desertpeace repeats the popular headline in today's news, “Heavy machinery attack injures 2 near Obama’s Jerusalem hotel,” then asks:

THIS ONE still hasn’t been reported…. and it happened almost a month ago.

Israelis Assault Award Winning IPS Journalist

~~~ WHY??? ~~~

KABOBfest is perplexed at the focus on Obama's whereabouts:

The New York Times and world press covered today’s bulldozer attack in Jerusalem, the second in a month. The frame was typical: enraged Palestinian used construction equipment to attack Israeli civilians. The extra spice in the article is that it occurred “near” where Obama will be staying soon. Wow, what a news hook!

The blogger then remarks:

Pundits were alarmed by the last bulldozer attack, saying Palestinians were finding new ways to try to destroy Israel – yet Palestinians are in the stone age compared to Israel’s advanced killing technology. The bulldozer is now the Palestinian Merkava.

An anonymous commenter on the post showed concern:

A few more attacks like this and they will purge Palestinians from construction duties and replace them with Filipinos. Same quality of work, no political baggage. Construction is the last industry in Israel that still relies on Palestinian labor, but not nearly as much as it once did. If you go to Netanya, the entire city was built by Palestinian labor in the 1970s. A lot of Palestinians are going to lose their jobs over this.

Another commenter, uday, was alarmed at Obama's response to the incident:

Speaking at a news conference in Amman, Obama said “Today's bulldozer attack is a reminder of what Israelis have courageously lived with on a daily basis for far too long.”

What colonialist Israelis have “lived with”?! And what about the helpless Palestinians being crushed daily by the Zionist Boot?! Are they not courageous? Is 60 years of occupation, humiliation and oppression not long enough for Obama to notice?!

Following the bulldozer attack, it was reported by the Jerusalem Post that a group of angry yeshiva students attempted to lynch two Palestinians. Of this story, blogger Chet points out:

Dear friends,

Here is the other event in Jerusalem today that your media will most likely ignore. Guess how this would be covered if the roles were reversed.

Times are tense.

This madness is man-made,
Sam

For more on this story, read Maya Norton's coverage of the Israeli blogosphere on Global Voices.

Mohmmad Ali Abtahi, a former Iranian Vice President and blogger, says that everybody who knows about world politics and is a little bit honest, will acknowledge Hezbollah's and Sayed Hasan Nasrallah’s great victories in last two years. Abtahi adds:

Western media claims that Nasrallah is under the influence of Iranian officials, who are in the charge of country’s [Lebanon] foreign affairs. I guess these are empty words because if our diplomacy could act for Iran’s interests as did Hezbollah for its own interests, Iran could achieve great victories. With such victories that Sayed Hasan got, we just could wish he would Iran’s diplomacy’s adviser.

Furogh2007 says that Iran's national (state) media celebrated this exchange between Hezbollah and Israel. The blogger adds:

“There are several Iranian security agents have been taken as hostages in south Lebanon but the Iranian Government refuses negotiation. Why is the Iranian Government rejoicing about the exchange of prisoners in Lebanon but refuses such an act to save Iranian citizens.”

Tobi begs to differ[Fa] and says:

Iranian officials are wrong when they say this exchange was a humiliating defeat for Israel. Israel showed it considers their dead people with great value.

LJ user dolboeb - Anton Nossik, a Moscow-based Israeli citizen (RUS), widely known as a “Social Media Evangelist at SUP,” the online media company that owns LiveJournal.com - posted this comment (RUS) on his blog on July 17:

Israel: Capitulation

Israelis today have exchanged [Samir Kuntar] for the remains of two soldiers who died in 2006.

The shame and disgust which I feel because of this deal are impossible to describe in words.

And for once, I don’t even have the moral right to reproach the nasty journalist of the International Herald Tribune who wrote this in his piece about Kuntar:

Samir Kuntar, will return to a hero's welcome when he crosses into Lebanon this week, 29 years after he left its shores in a rubber dinghy to kidnap Israelis from the coastal town of Nahariya.

That raid went horribly wrong, leaving five people dead, a community terrorized and a nation traumatized. Two Israeli children and their father were among those killed.

The straightforward message here is that the journalist does not see anything horribly wrong about the actual idea of kidnapping [Nahariya] residents by the terrorists, and that no tragedy would have occurred had Kuntar and his associates managed to kidnap this same family and take it away to Lebanon.

But how can we have a grudge against the American journo when both president [Shimon Peres] (who pardoned Kuntar) and prime minister [Ehud Olmert] (who secured a triumphal return to his [Hizbullah] comrades-in-arms for him) see nothing horribly wrong with how everything turned out to be in Nahariya 29 years ago.

In this connection, it seems relevant to mention that in 1985, Palestinian terrorists hijacked a whole ship, [Achille Lauro], with 400 passengers on board, also demanding freedom for Samir Kuntar. But 23 years ago, Israeli leadership had the balls. The ship was liberated and the terrorists captured. And this kept Palestinian militants from taking hostages again for a long time. Now, everything’s changed. And I’m afraid that the price that the whole Israel will have to pay for the shameful Samir Kuntar deal may turn out to be higher than what’s been paid for all the past adventures of Olmert and Peres.

This post has generated 344 comments. Below are bits of a discussion that, among other things, highlights the possible implications of the prisoner exchange deal for Gilad Shalit, a 21-year-old Israeli soldier who has been held hostage by Hamas since June 25, 2006:

igrok2:

Does it have to do with religion? That is, are the soldiers’ remains so valuable only from a religious point of view?

[…]

rjiyxapb:

First of all, they are priceless for the relatives of the killed ones, IMHO…

jerusalea:

Not really. In the Torah, there is even a prohibition to pay ransom for those who are alive if this is likely to lead to new kidnappings of Jews. It’s not about religion. At least, not about Judaism. And I can’t explain what kind of nonsense this is. My [LJ friends’ blogs] are full of a communal howling that this is just idiotic behavior. And two thirds of my [mutual LJ friends] are religious Jews. And everyone is ashamed and disgusted.

[…]

haraz_bey:

No, [it’s not about religion]. It’s just that no one knew for sure whether they were dead or alive - for Israel, this has been a blind exchange. If they had known for sure that there’d be dead bodies, they most likely would have canceled the exchange.

[…]

dolboeb:

I don’t know about everyone. But I knew that the deal was about the remains [of the soldiers]. I learned it from the open-access press. From the Russian press. I don’t believe that Olmert and Peres did not know.

haraz_bey:

Perhaps, Olmert and Peres don’t read the Russian press :) [That they were dead] was, of course, the most obvious assumption, and the press is always putting forward the gloomiest forecasts. But as long as their fate was unknown, there remained a chance that they would be alive.

[…]

yakov_sirotkin:

Actually, according to the Christian tradition, for example, to pardon criminals is not considered impossible. Nonetheless, I think that bandits should always be called bandits, even the pardoned ones, but I do not see any confirmation that the Israeli leadership is clearing the bandits of their guilt.

It’s sad to read comments with suggestions to kill someone - this will only result in a non-stop cycle of violence and terrorism.

As for the exchange of live human beings for the dead ones, the very fact of trade in corpses seems [barbarous].

dolboeb:

[…]

You’re looking in the wrong direction.

The problem isn’t in paying ransom for the corpses. The problem is in admission that we are ready to pay the same price for a live prisoner in the form of a corpse as what we would have paid had he been alive.

After such an admission, not a single reason remains to keep him alive. After such an admission, the price of [Gilad Shalit’s] life equals the daily cost of feeding him.

[…]

anreality:

IMHO, all this noise isn’t worth […] the time wasted on it. A huge pile of [feces] has been taken out of my country, where it was being kept on my money, too, and the animal was being fed, educated and kept safe, instead of quietly rotting somewhere.

And no matter how you look at it, by announcing to the whole world that this creature is a hero, Hizbullah is not likely to draw more sympathizers, and even the current ones may possibly think twice.

And to return the soldiers by exchanging them for [feces] is good in any case.

And nothing but annihilation will take away their taste for taking hostages.

dolboeb:

It would be very good if you were there instead of Gilad Shalit.

But, unfortunately, this isn’t so.

In Gilad Shalit’s place is Gilad Shalit, a corporal of the Israel Defense Forces. And you are in the place of someone who is ready to pay for [Gilad Shalit’s] body as much as for a live soldier. Judging by how categorically you sound, you must be a [draft dodger].

It really would have been better the other way around.

[…]

anglofilka:

Somehow it seems to me that the Israelis are not done with this Kuntar story yet. One quiet summer night he’d just be shot somewhere, without any noise. This step, crazy from the perspective of sane people, has given Israel a huge advantage in the international political arena. And it has taken away many points from Hizbullah. Now it’s possible to bargain with America, there’s a moral right to strike Iran, etc. - everything will be tolerated. But, unfortunately, the life of Shalit is nothing but an exchangeable coin.

Brazilian of Arab descent or bloggers interested in all things Middle Eastern talk about the Israel-Lebanon Prisoner Exchange. Considering that Brazil is the country that arguably holds the largest Arab population outside the Middle East, there are very passionate points of views both for and against the deal, and as much tears as cheers:

Groove is in the Rahal [pt], in a post called “I feel so sorry”, felt the need to express his feelings towards the Arab people:

Difícil falar sobre os conflitos no Oriente Médio. Por mais que eu estude, nunca é suficiente. Mas sei o necessário para dizer que sinto muito pelo sofrimento do povo palestino, libanês, árabes em geral.
Para quem me conhece e sabe da minha descendência e forte ligação com a história das arábias, pode achar tendenciosa a minha posição. Não culpo o povo israelense, que também sofre com conflitos sequenciais, mas a tendência aqui parte de um princípio básico: a corda sempre arrebenta do lado mais fraco. Sim, árabes são poderosos, mas nesse caso estão em desvantagem.
Infelizmente o extremismo, o radicalismo xiita cai bem em um contexto assim…

It is hard to talk about the conflicts in the Middle East. Regardless how much I study, it is never enough. But I know what it is necessary to say that I feel very sorry for the suffering of the Palestinian, Lebanese, and Arab people in general.
For those who know me and know of my descent and strong links with the history of the Arabic world, you may think my position is biased. I do not blame the Israeli people, who also suffer from sequential conflicts, but the trend here derives from a basic principle: the chain is no stronger than its weakest link. Yes, Arabs are powerful, but in this case they are at a disadvantage.
Unfortunately, extremism, shi'ite radicalism serves well in such a context…

Brazilian living in Germany, Felix Dhimmi [pt] had hopes that at least one of the prisoners would be handed back alive and he was very disappointed to learn that only coffins arrived:

Honrar compromissos com inimigos sem honra é atitude válida quando ela conduz à paz, e a atitude do Hezbullah mostra uma intenção oposta à esta, a intenção é a de humilhar, pisar e alimentar o ego dos árabes tribalistas, insuflá-los com orgulho sem sentido, orgulho baseado em nenhuma realização senão a morte de inocentes, como os pequenos mortos pela ação da besta Kuntar e de seus cúmplices, um ato que deságua no objetivo final deste grupo que é a eliminação de Israel e seu povo, com criminosos assim as regras civilizadas não contam.

Honoring commitments to not honorable enemies is a valid attitude when it leads to peace, and the Hezbullah's attitude shows an intention opposed to this, its intention is to humiliate, despise and massage Arab tribes egos, inflate them with senseless pride, a pride based not achievements but on the death of innocents, such as the little ones dead by the action of Kuntar the beast and his accomplices, an act that leads to this this group's ultimate goal, which is the elimination of Israel and its people, with criminals like these the civilized rules are nothing.

Anwar Assi [pt] believes the release could not have happened on more symbolic date, exactly when the Lebanese people celebrate the second anniversary of victory over Israel in the 2006 war.

A libertação dos combatentes libaneses é sem dúvida nenhuma uma grande vitória da Resistência Islâmica, comandada pelo Hezbollah, que não poupou esforços para colocar fim a um dos piores dramas causados pela ocupação isralense do território libanês: a questão dos prisioneiros em cárceres judaicos. […] O Hezbollah já prometeu que não vai poupar esforços para colocar um fim a estas agressões. Quando o Hezbollah promete, cumpre. No caso dos prisioneiros, a promessa sincera de libertá-los foi cumprida.

The release of Lebanese fighters is without doubt a great victory of the Islamic Resistance, led by Hezbollah, which spared no effort to put an end to the worst tragedies caused by Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory: the issue of Jewish prisoners in jails. […] The Hezbollah has promised spared no efforts to put an end to these attacks. When Hezbollah makes a promise, it keeps it. In the case of the prisoners, the sincere promise to release them was met.

Pedro Dória [pt], who has been a national reference for his coverage of Middle East [pt] for a long time, questions the deal's goals, considering that “these kidnappings were the excuse for the war which put an end to the Lebanese government's morale”:

Perguntar não custa: de que adiantou botar o Líbano abaixo se, no fim, o governo de Israel terminaria por capitular perante o Hizbolá? […] Era melhor ter feito a negociação pela troca antes, quando soldados e vítimas libanesas da guerra estavam vivos e o governo libanês ainda tinha alguma força perante o Hizbolá. Guerra estúpida – coberta por este Weblog – para resultados piores ainda.

It doesn't hurt to ask: What was bringing Lebanon down worth in the end, if the government of Israel was to capitulate to Hezbollah? […] It was better to have negotiated the exchange before, when soldiers and Lebanese victims of war were alive and the Lebanese government still had some strength before the Hezbullah. A stupid war - covered by this Weblog - with even worse results.

To finish off, one of the many political cartoons by Brazilian artist Carlos Latuff, a supporter of Palestine and Lebanon against Israel.

The Arabic people have deep roots in the Brazilian cultural melting pot. It is estimated that 70,000 Arabic immigrants (notably Lebanese and Syrian but also from Jordan, Palestine, and Iraq) landed in Brazil in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, forming today's population of full or partial Arabic descent of about 10 million people. Arab Brazilians are considered the largest Arab population outside the Middle East, according to the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.

In his post Tell us the Truth, Daniel Bloch blames the Israeli government for hiding the truth from the public:

The argument over the price that was paid for the Hezbollah deal is legitimate. The problem is that we were not told the truth in time, in order to balance between our minds and our emotions. It is clear now that the government's security department knew several hours after Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser's kidnap that they are not alive - this after a chase in which several of our soldiers died. Did the government know this when it decided to start the war? From the end of the war until today, a campaign which comprised various elements of hiding truth from the families and the general public. Is there someone in the security council who believes that Ron Arad is alive? I want to see what these beliefs are based upon.

In the situation that was formed, there was no choice but to complete the deal. But had we known the full truth, was it necessary for us to reach the current state? Perhaps a brave and trustworthy leadership should have initially stated: “there is no deal unless we have clear information about the soldier's fate!”

Below is a part of an interview with Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, posted on You Tube. In it, he talks about the reasoning behind Israel's decision to swap live prisoners for dead soldiers:

The government held two special cabinet meetings just on this topic.
We as Israelis attach an extremely high premium to every single one of our service men and women. To them and to their families. And every Israeli serviceman has to know that if he or she are taken hostage and held hostage behind enemy lines, we as a society will do utmost to bring about their release. That's not weakness, that's part of our national strength. We place an extremely high priority on every single one of our people.

Yonatan Raz writes about the lack of certainty with the government's statements prior to the Hezbollah deal: It was not clear if they were alive or dead.

In my opinion, the most worrysome question regarding the prisoner swap relates to how uncertain the Israeli security council and Prime Minister were in regards to the fate of the abducted soldiers. I am afraid that they all knew the soldiers were dead. All knew and said that 99% chance the soldiers were dead. All knew, but no leader - from the Prime Minister, Defense Minister to the IDF and Intelligence heads - had neither courage nor responsibility to say to the publid: “It is unfortunate, but they are dead. The answer is clear from the information in our hands.” This should be the starting point of the negotiations, and how Israel should estimate a valid compensation for the deal.
…
The decision not to take responsibility and not to clearly state Udi and Eldad's fate, is yet another show of the bad nature of this current government, who has one goal: to survive… Healing from the mediocrity and lack of authority will be most challenging for the next government.

A prominent assumption notes that Israel is making an effort clear all open issues with Lebanon in order to sign a legitimate peace agreement. The Shebaa Farms is a small area of land with disputed ownership located on the border between Lebanon and the Israeli controlled, disputed Golan Heights. Even after the recent (2000) Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon, Hezbullah cites what it sees as continued Israeli occupation of the disputed Shebaa Farms as partial justification for attacks upon Israeli concerns. Pinhas Inbari describes the prisoner swap an an Israeli attempt to close all “open files” with Hezbollah, who on their side, have rejected Israeli attempts for normalization, and have sent a clear message that the Shebaa farms is only one clause in a general list over the Galil:

Israel returned all Lebanese prisoners it had, and emptied out its cemetery holding enemy fighters. This move was a “case closer”, through which Israel signals to Hezbollah its intent on clearing the table from all points of disagreement and friction. Israel aims to bring normalization or a sort of ‘hudna' in the northern border. In addition, the diplomatic attempts behind the scenes to hand over the Shebaa farms to the UN should be noted.

Hezbollah received the Israeli messages, yet their people show up at the Ras Al-Nakura border crossing in their full uniform, violating resolution 1701. Palestinian flags were raised everywhere, in addition to photos of Marwan Barghouti. Some even wore the Palestinian Kafiah around their neck. The clear message behind all this is that Hezbollah formally adopts the Palestinian problem. This message was also prominent in the different speeches, including Nasrallah's. One of Hezbollah's websites defined Bint Jabal as the “pearl of the Galil”. Hezbollah signals that the Galil is a part of Lebanon, continuing its request to get back villages in the Galil. In other words, even if Israel gives the Shebaa farms to Lebanon, there will not be a general cleanup of all the problems with Hezbollah, but new files will open up.

A lot of grief fills the Israeli blogosphere - grief over the death of these soldiers, and the crushed hopes for their condition. It does not help that Israeli media is highlighting the celebrations across Lebanon and Palestine. Israel Harel writes:

The doubts, for those who had, have been crushed. And the heart, as it has been this whole time, beats with the families. But as a nation, we have no reason to be proud of what happened yesterday. Not like this, in such a disrespectful manner, should we have fulfilled our duties towards our sons. Not like this, when a terrorist organization deceives us until the last second, should we have returned our sons to their homeland. But the State of Israel, almost in any field, does not act as a sovereign state. And it agreed, as Hezbollah foresaw, to this humiliating deal.

We are a moral society, hence we will always pay higher prices.
But a moral society does not let terrorists abuse it. A moral society does not surrender to immoral extortion and does not pay a price that jeopardizes the future of its soldiers and citizens and seeds future abductions. A moral society teaches the abductees a lesson and makes them reach a conclusion that abductions are not worthwhile.

May both soldiers rest in peace.

Jews Sans Frontiers refutes the allegations and says that Kuntar did not smash the skull of an Israeli four year old:

“Why no mention of forensic evidence regarding the distance from which Danny Haran was shot? And why would Quntar, under fire, for whom the hostages represent his best chance to survive, kill them? And how did BOTH he AND his mate find the time, while police was closing in upon him with guns ablaze, to hit the girl repeatedly, and in few view of the police? And finally why were the police shooting in the direction of Quntar, knowing that he had or might have had hostages with him?… In the end, it comes down to Kuntar's word against the word of unidentified police officers and a physician who works for the Israeli government. Quntar seems to have had no reason to lie. The police who botched their mission and might have been responsible for the death of the hostages did have a reason to lie. He was then convicted in an Israeli kangaroo court that makes the Guantanamo justice system look good in comparison, and the whole trial was so convincing that it was made “top secret.” This looks so far as a tale spun out of facile assumptions, potential lies, and blatant lies–and of course the willful credulity of journalists and commentators… Whatever Quntar did however, Israel has no moral authority to judge him. Killing children is effectively legal in Israel as long as the child is Palestinian.”

American Palestinian Terry Scot draws attention to more unbalanced reporting.

While Nahariya, Israel, reports that “Thousands of Israelis prayed and cried at funerals Thursday for two soldiers whose return from Lebanon in black coffins touched off a nationwide wave of anguish,” Terry Scot points out the unabashed irony of it all:

“My heart breaks for that nation of sensitive souls that is so anguished over the dead bodies of state soldier-terrorists “Udi and Eldad”. What noble cherishing of human life, what sensitivity and empathy that the entire world must be made to watch the drama of this funeral while just a few kilometers down the road an entire nation is systematically brutalized and massacred. Alas, you never hear the first names of “Palestinian Terrorists” in Gaza, Nablus, Jenin or the rest of occupied Palestine. The cronnies at AP and other new agencies continue to validate the bitter reality that an Israeli life is worth more than a thousand Arab lives by placing such phoney news as front page stories on the AP wire. Where are those truth-seeking journalists and editors when it comes time to documenting the coffins of slain Palestinians (please, let's just call them non-Jews, because being an Israeli is not sufficient for exalted status, you have to be a Jew).”

Terry Scot then links us to the website Cross Cultural Understanding to remind us of the death of Ayah Al Najjar, the eight year old Palestinian girl that was killed by an Israeli Air land Rocket:

“The body of 8-year-old Aya al-Najjar was mutilated on Thursday afternoon by a rocket fired from an Israeli airplane while she was playing in the garden outside her house in the village of Khuza'a in the southern Gaza Strip. The little girl had just finished her school exams and went home eager to play as she had no more revision to do. She asked her mother if it was ok for her to play in the garden and the mother agreed. An apache helicopter hovered over the place, Aya looked at it and carried on playing. Neither her nor her mother expected to be the target of a rocket fired from the apache. It seems, however, that Zionist hate for everything Palestinian has no limits as Aya was hit directly with the rocket causing her young body to be shredded into little pieces. Aya was not the first Palestinian child to be targeted by the IOF and will not be the last; Muhammad al-Dora, Iman al-Hams and Iman Hijjo are but three names, of Palestinian children killed by the IOF, in a list of about 1000 Palestinian children killed by the IOF since the start of the Aqsa intifada out of a total of 5000 Palestinians killed during the same period. Earlier, Palestinian resistance fighters fired a home made missile at an Israeli colony in retaliation to an IOF incursion into the Gaza Strip during which the troops bulldozed tracts of land and uprooted trees. The attack resulted in the death of one Israeli settler and the wounding of three others, according to Israeli sources.”

Terry Scot finally states the obvious when he writes:

“I challenge the brave journalists of the free and not-so-free press to be equitable in their reporting of the news of deaths of Arab and Jew alike.”

Tunisian blogger Sami ben Gharbia hails the fighters, killed in the 80s and mid-90s, as martyrs, saying they deserve to be buried in Tunisia. He writes:

تزامن خبر تحرير الأسرى اللبنانيين الخمسة وعلى رأسهم عميد الأسرى العرب سمير القنطار و الذي جاء نتيجة أخر عملية تبادل مع الكيان الصهيوني التي صار يتقنها حزب الله اللبناني مع النداء باسترجاع رفات ثمانية شهداء تونسيين لقوا نحبهمه في جبهات الجنوب الللبناني المقاوم

News of the liberation of the five Lebanese prisoners of war, led by the dean of Arab prisoners Samir Kuntar came as a result of the latest prisoner swap with the Zionist regime, which the Lebanese Hizbullah has now perfected, and coincided with a call for the return of the remains of the eight Tunisian martyrs, who were killed on the battle fields of resistance in Southern Lebanon.

Ben Gharbia also links to a page which has the names and photographs of the Tunisian fighters here.

Annaqued [Ar] joins his colleague in calling for a state funeral for the eight Tunisians. He writes:

لم لا عودة رفات ابطالنا الثمانية الى تونس … بمراسم رسمية؟؟؟

Why haven't the remains of our eight heroes been returned to Tunisia .. in a state ceremony?

Commenting on this post, Al-Hallège writes:

هذا أبسط ما يكرم به الشهيد..و الأمة التي لا تحترم شهداءها هي أمة الى زوال

This is the least we can do to honour our martyrs .. and a nation which doesn't respect its martyrs is one which will be destroyed soon.

Another commentator, Abunadem adds:

فعلا هدا هو الحد الادنى لحق المواطنة في اي دولة وهو الاعتراف بالانسان حيا او ميتا .انظر مادا يفعل الصهاينة حين يفقد او يموت لهم انسان ؟؟يطالبون به حتى وا كلفهم التنازل عن الكثير اما نحن فلا يهتز لنا جفن ؟؟؟
لمادا لم تتحدث تلفزتنا الوطنية عن هؤلاء على الاقل ؟؟؟

It is true. The least a citizen deserves in any country is recognising that he is a human being, whether he is dead or alive. See what the Zionists do when the lose one of their sons or one of them dies. They demand their bodies even when that forces them to sacrifice a lot. As for us, no one cares. Why aren't our national television stations talking about those people at least???

Writing at Nocturnal Thoughts, blogger Tarek [Ar] reviews Tunisian newspapers and wonders why the story of the eight Tunisian fighters were not covered more prominently.

And last but not least, blogger Chiheb praises Hizbullah for humiliating Israel. He says:

خلال عمليّة تبادل الأسرى اللّبنانيّين {…} أثبت حزب اللّه قدرته على تركيع أسطورة الكيان الصّهيوني،وحرّك مشاعر العرب التّي تعاني المرارة من المحيط إلى الخليج ،ويعلن إنتصار المقاومة من جديد بعد حرب 2006

During the Lebanese prisoner swap, Hizbullah proved its ability to humiliate the Zionist regime and move the emotions of Arabs, who suffer from bitterness from the Ocean to the Gulf, and announce the victory of the resistance once again after the 2006 war.