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Frimet Roth is a New York-born Israeli whose daughter Malki, 15, was murdered by Palestinian Arab terrorists in the massacre at the Sbarro restaurant on August 9, 2001.
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By Frimet Roth
December 12, 2005
While they would probably agree with Shakespeare's "That which we call a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet", some Israelis believe that calling a murderer by another name clears him of guilt. And they are determined to convince the rest of us too.
Voices within the Israeli government and media are doggedly whittling away at a long-standing cornerstone of Israeli policy: No pardons for Palestinian murderers.
Their gospel of forgiving and forgetting is meeting only faint opposition from those who cherish justice and worry about future terror attacks.
At times the campaign to wipe the slate clean for the murderers is subtle. Israel's Minister of Treasury, Ehud Olmert, did his small bit for the cause when he smilingly shook the hand of Mahmoud Abbas only hours after the Palestinian Prime Minister had delivered a speech celebrating the re-opening of the Rafah crossing. In it, Abbas attributed that achievement "first and foremost to the martyrs, wounded, prisoners and all the Palestinians who have sacrificed plenty in this struggle."
Olmert, along with most Israeli news services, chose to ignore the comment.
On the same day as that warm encounter another terrorist, Marwan Barghouti, was also in the headlines. His overwhelming victory in the Palestinian parliamentary primaries drew disconcerting reactions.
Politicians and journalists alike glossed over his conviction in 2004 for masterminding the murders of five innocent Israelis in terrorist attacks. He was a new man now "a political figure", a "popular politician", a "political prisoner", someone with "leadership potential" -- these were some of the titles the media bestowed on him.
Other Israeli politicians were more outspoken in their efforts to re-educate the public. In an article in the New York weekly, "The Forward", opposition MK, Yossi Beilin, predicted that Israel has no choice. It must and will release Barghouti and the sooner it does so, he added, the better.
Later that week, Channel Ten's morning news program hosted Zakariya al Zubaidi, leader of the Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade, the terrorist group affiliated with the "moderate" Mahmoud Abbas' PA and responsible for dozens of Israeli murders. He was invited to spew several minutes of uninterrupted anti-Israel venom in reaction to the Jewish Al-Aqsa sympathizer, Tali Fahima's conviction and sentence. To his credit, the show's host, Avri Gilad, commented afterwards that he'd been opposed to hosting Zubaidi and felt uncomfortable conducting the telephone interview.
It is difficult to imagine an Israeli news program granting such a platform to a known terrorist one year ago. But, once again, a campaign is underway. The ground is being prepared for further releases of prisoners, including those with blood on their hands.
Come January, dozens of jailed candidates will have been elected to the Palestinian parliament. The United States in turn will begin applying intense heat to pardon those "democratically elected politicians".
The name Marwan Barghouti is sure to appear at the top of that list of prisoners. In a new public opinion poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, subjects were offered a choice of 8 candidates for the office of vice president. Barghouti came first with 30% of the vote, up from 24% in a September poll.
Advocates of Bargouti's release, sporting rose-colored glasses, see a reformed Palestinian public flocking to a reformed leader. Reality squarely contradicts them. Nobody, not even his staunchest defenders, can produce evidence that Barghouti has quenched his blood-thirst. Throughout his incarceration he has refrained from any expression of remorse and has declared his continued commitment to "the liberation of all of Palestine".
Even Yossi Beilin touted him as nothing but the "most popular leader" who excels at "law and order and standing up to Hamas". Is that supposed to reassure the Israeli public? It would be suicidal to release a convicted and avowed terrorist who is a strong and capable leader to boot.
Nevertheless this is clearly what Prime Minister Sharon intends to do. His lackey, MK Meir Shetreet, was quoted shortly after Barghouti's victory as saying : "In politics you should never say never. If a permanent peace deal is reached with the Palestinians? a pardon could
be envisaged."
But Shetreet and all of Barghouti's Israeli advocates are confused. The fate of a convicted murderer does not reside in the realm of "politics". It is an issue of practicality: Is it in our interests to free a dangerous prisoner? Is the risk of recidivism a real one?
The same week that Barghouti won his sweeping primaries victory was the week of my daughter, Malki's, birthday. She would have turned twenty, no longer a teen but a woman. Her two years of post high-school national service would have ended. I imagine she'd either have begun some academic course or postponed that to devote a year to higher Jewish learning. She might even have had a boyfriend and been contemplating marrying and starting her own family as some of her friends already have done.
But these are just fantasies. Malki was murdered four years ago in the bombing of Jerusalem's Sbarro restaurant. A total of fifteen innocent Israelis, among them 8 children, perished in that bloody attack. Their deaths mean nothing to those who clamor for Barghouti's release.
It is my hope that those of us who do still remember and grieve for our losses, will not sit silent. Those who have not yet joined Sharon on his suicidal slide down the slippery dip of unrequited concessions must block this impending move. We who know what the toll of Barghouti's recidivism would be, must make our protests heard.
If we do not, then this slick campaign will achieve its goal -- and releasing convicted murderers will be child's play.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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