Germany’s Murky Role in the Shalit Negotiations
It should be recalled that in recent years Germany has already negotiated two so-called “prisoner exchanges” between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah. In 2004, Israel released over 400 prisoners in exchange for the release of the kidnapped Israeli businessman Elchanan Tannenbaum and the repatriation of the corpses of three IDF soldiers. One of the prisoners released by Israel was Stefan Smyrek, a German Hezbollah recruit who has admitted to planning a suicide attack in Israel. Last year, Israel released five prisoners, including the infamous Lebanese Druze terrorist Samir Kuntar, in exchange for the repatriation of the corpses of IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. Prior to the exchange, it was not yet known if Regev and Goldwasser were alive or dead.
Last weekend, the German news site Spiegel-Online (SPON) published a hagiographic account of the BND’s efforts to obtain Shalit’s release. Significantly, the article appears to have thus far been published only in English — as if SPON were doing international public relations for the BND. SPON’s German-language pages contain only a much shorter and drier dispatch announcing that the BND has made a “concrete suggestion” for a prisoner exchange: namely, 450 Palestinians prisoners in exchange for Shalit. The English-language report appears under the heading “The Honest Broker from Berlin.” It includes such promotional gems as “the German government has a reputation for not pursuing its own foreign policy agenda in the Middle East” and “since the Germans began their participation, Gilad Shalit’s parents have been full of optimism again.” Both the English-language and the German-language SPON reports claim that Germany is acting “at the request” of the Israeli government. No source is given for this claim.
There is evidence, however, that the request in fact came from other quarters. Thus, citing unnamed sources in Gaza City, FAZ correspondent Hans-Christian Rößler writes:
Since the Israeli military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip at the beginning of the year, the ruling Islamists there are supposed already to have signaled their interest in German help. …
When asked about the reported German mediation efforts at a joint press conference with Angela Merkel in Berlin last week, a noticeably tight-lipped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu merely described the German activity as “well-meaning.” (See the video here, 16:40-17:04.) He did not “thank” Chancellor Merkel for the German efforts, as the SPON report suggests. By contrast, in an interview with the German wire service DPA on the same day, Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan enthusiastically acknowledged the German involvement. “We’re now waiting for the Germans to speak with the Israelis and then get back to us,” he said. The DPA report bears the revealing headline “Hamas Satisfied with German Mediators.”
On Sunday, as reported in the Jerusalem Post, Prime Minister Netanyahu advised his cabinet to ignore recent media reports on an impending release of Shalit, noting that such reports contained “exaggeration, incomplete and false information.”
I think it’s safe to assume that another thing the Islamists have never forgotten is that the Germans were always their best hope of getting rid of the Jews once and for all.
A leopard never changes the color of its spots and I have always thought that, despite their many protestations, the only thing many Germans ever really felt about the Holocaust was that they got caught before they finished the job.
Once again, leave it to the Krauts to be ignorant of past mistakes. Kristallnacht and plenty
of other stuff dished out against Jews shows that there are plenty of cultural knuckle draggers in Deutschland. They hold the Jewishness of Jews against Jews.
Well, it looks like Germans, just like Arabs, need perestroika. For where are the Germans who follow in the footsteps of Dietrich Bonhoeffer? For he, and I think Konrad Adenaeur, were the last Germans to command respect, and truly deserve to command respect.
I wouldn’t call Germans “evil” in that case, I know that Germany had/has special diplomatic abilities in Syria, May-be Iran too, EU used/uses to rely on her for dealing with these nations. whenever a problem occur.
May-be because many ME people go and learn in Germany universities
Actually, Gilad Shalit is also half French, Chirac, sarkozy have tried to active their “ties”, and it didn’t work.
The International Red Cross has not been allowed to ascertain the status of Gilad Shalit; nor have the other self proclaimed brokers of peace such as Jimmy Carter etc. So hundreds of convicted killers and terrorists are released; but can anyone be assured that Gilad is alive, and in what state?
Hamas said ready to sign Shalit deal this weekend: http://bit.ly/2WBK14
Results of the Gilad Shalit Twitter campaign:
http://ronmossad.blogspot.com/2009/08/gilad-shalit-day.html
Pretty impressive considering it was the same day Ted Kennedy dying took over the news.
I was confused by that Haaretz article. Is he (Meshaal) signing the deal with Israel, or with Fatah? As much as I want Gilad home safe and sound, the prospect of 1,000 yelling and screaming murderers being released to Megrahi-style celebrations doesn’t sit very will with me either…
President Obama will destroy Israel long before the world notices.
@7. syn:
The bad
With the eager help from the Communist Jews in the mulatto Soetero’s coterie. Next will be the USA on their plate: it’s going to be even easier thing: people here are elated at sighting this Joker, tears in their eyes, chanting adoring hymns of praise.
The good
Israelis despise him by 96% only 4% worship this Teleprompter King.
Word of caution:
armed to the teeth Europeans could not eradicate the unarmed, meek Jews over 2000 years. It’s yet to see how are going to succeed facing well armed, dedicated people who refuse to climb into the Joker’s oven. Does he have enough KAPOS for the task?
“It’s yet to see how are going to succeed facing well armed, dedicated people who refuse to climb into the Joker’s oven. Does he have enough KAPOS for the task?”
There is no need for ovens when the majority of Jewish people are gathered into one place half the size of California which can easy be eradicated by a few well placed bombs; this is enough to make Zbigniew Brzezinski, Robert Malley, Susan Rice and Samatha Power jump for joy.
And NY Liberals think that sending letters will somehow discourage President Obama and his team of well-chosen National Security Advisers from wiping Israel off the face of the planet.
Israel died the day NYC Liberals voted for their very own exterminator.
@9. syn:
You said:
“and Samatha Power jump for joy.”
You forgot to mention her HUSBAND the Jewish Cass Sunstein who:
“Cass Sunstein, President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), has advocated a policy under which the government would “presume” someone has consented to having his or her organs removed for transplantation into someone else when they die unless that person has explicitly indicated that his or her organs should not be taken.”
Everything else in you post is correct and factual.
“armed to the teeth Europeans could not eradicate the unarmed, meek Jews over 2000 years”
especially in Poland, where the left 5% of survivors meet pogroms when returning home
@11. Marie Claude:
How about Monsieur Pierre Laval, and the long list of:
“Category:French Nazi collaborators”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:French_Nazi_collaborators
Also:Pages in category “People of the Vichy regime”
Good reading for forgetful French.
mon cher Thomas, t’es un peu en retard
but thank you for reminding me that I can count you as a friend,
did you ever have friends BTW ? cuz the more I digg in your history, the more trouble I get, you never know on wich side you ought to put your chair, and not depending on the advanges you could get
check the differences :
http://kimel.net/jewpol.html
The worst offenders and collaborators were the Ukrainians, the Poles, Croats, and Lithuanians.
ce n’est pas moi qui l’écrit :
http://kimel.net/collab.html
@13. Marie Claude:
You said:
“you never know on wich side you ought to put your chair”
I already told you I am from Eastern Europe but as an erstwhile resident dans la rue Boulainvilliers, Porte de la Muette, 16eme, I know what the words “Fluctuat nec mergitur” mean, and I do know what happened in Europe: that knowledge made me an independent thinker.
I said 2000 years of persecution could not eradicate the unarmed Jews.
Your answer:
““The worst offenders and collaborators were the Ukrainians, the Poles, Croats, and Lithuanians.
has no relevance to my narrative for I am encompassing the History of Europe from Rome to present days, to wit, 2000 years.
alors you’re double traitor, each time you can, you try to paint us as the lowest in the world wide
now, please stay where you are, we don’t need persons that denigrate every possible french thing