Arutz Sheva August 6, 2003

Israel released 339 Palestinian Authority prisoners - including terrorists and security administrative detainees - this afternoon.

Of these, 182 were in prison for terrorist activity, although they did not actually harm anyone directly. The other 157 are administrative detainees. Another 99 common criminals and illegal aliens will be freed next week.

In preparation for today’s release, the terrorists were filmed as they signed a document promising not to return to terrorist activity. Several busloads of prisoners left from the Ketziot Prison in the Negev, where most of the 339 were incarcerated, and others departed from other jails around the country. The buses dropped off the prisoners at various checkpoints in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. Israeli officials were on hand to explain Israel’s position to the waiting reporters and cameramen from around the world. They explained that the release of prisoners is not required by the Road Map, and is rather a gesture of good will that it expects will be repaid in the form of genuine efforts by the Palestinian Authority to fight and uproot terrorism.

Family members of terrorist victims protested at several of the checkpoints against the release of the terrorists. They say that the only difference between terrorists with blood on their hands and those being released today is that the latter “missed - but will try again.”

Yifat Alon, whose mother Noa and 5-year-old niece Gal Eisenmann were murdered in a terror attack in Jerusalem last year, said that the protest is primarily an ethical statement: “I am not able to grasp how a peace agreement jibes with the release of terrorists and attempted murderers who express no regret over their actions. The only thing that I can do - as a concerned citizen, and not because I am a terror victim’s relative - is to cry out my pain at the fact that our country has reached this point. My personal pain is something that no one can share with me, or even understand, as I am realizing more and more; but these protests are something that everyone can and should do, for all of our sakes, and in order to prevent more terrorism in the future… “The worst thing that we can do is to be silent at what is happening. The whole world will be watching, and if we simply stand by and do nothing, this will be a terrible message. We must stand and shout out the truth, and the world may be able to appreciate that.”

Yifat said she believes that her grandmother and niece were killed as the result of a failed “Israeli concession” attempt, in that the attack occurred “the second day after they opened up the closure of Ramallah - and then [after the attack,] they closed it again.” She said that Israeli gestures like that one and the release of prisoners are “experimenting with people’s lives.”

Forty MKs have signed a petition saying that the continued incarceration of Jewish security prisoners while hundreds of Arab terrorists are released is an “injustice and an unfair double standard.” They call on the Prime Minister to correct this.

The Justice Ministry canceled the release of two terrorists yesterday, at the behest of the Terror Victims Association. One of the two, Rami Azat Barghouti, tortured Arabs he believed had cooperated with Israel. Arutz-7 has learned that a representative of the Arabs turned to the TVA and asked for its help in preventing Barghouti’s release. The government’s position is not to release terrorists who caused physical harm to people. Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein also agreed with the TVA regarding another terrorist, Mazen al-Aziz, who hid top terrorists in his home - and was in fact not released today.

The TVA also asked the Attorney-General what crimes are included in “activity on behalf of a terror organization,” of which eight released prisoners are accused. The eight terrorists were serving sentences of between 3-15 years, and TVA wants to know, “What type of ‘activity’ lands someone in jail for 15 years - and yet is not severe enough for him to remain in prison today?”

Other crimes the released terrorists are accused of include weapons dealing, paying terrorists, shooting, and more. Some 6,500 Palestinian Authority prisoners still remain in Israeli jails.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 7th, 2003 and is filed under hotnews.