Know Your Enemy - Samir Kuntar

And see him for what he is...that's probably the first rule of warfare...and the one that Israelis too often are forced to ignore. Our enemy can be summed up in the prisoner exchange we are about to implement, now that the Cabinet has approved it.

We will release Samir Kuntar. He will go back to Lebanon, healthy and whole. He's been well fed over the years, his medical needs addressed. He likely had a television to watch, at least part of the time, and the Red Cross to come and bring him messages of hope and love from his family.

In exchange, while Lebanon dances, Israel will mourn. Few in Israel, even the Goldwasser and Regev families themselves, really believe deep down that their sons and husband still live. Soon, the horrible waiting period, the agony of not knowing, will be over for them. But with that knowledge will come the pain that all they did couldn't have changed the bitter reality. They, like all of Israel, has been played and manipulated. The government does not want the same anger that accompanied the last time we exchanged hundreds of prisoners for three dead bodies and a drug dealer. So, we are being prepared, ever so gently, so that it will come as a shock to none.

As we release this child-killer, this murderer, this person who showed the ultimate cruelty to a young and innocent child, let us know our enemy. Kuntar is the face and the heart of Nasrallah and those who seek to destroy us.

According to Palestinian Media Watch:

According to the Palestinian Authority leadership, Samir Quntar epitomizes the ideal Palestinian prisoner. Quntar, who crushed the head of four-year-old Eynat Haran with his rifle, is serving four life sentences for murder in an Israeli prison, but is almost certain to be freed in a prisoner swap with Hizbullah this week. On one hand, Quntar embodies what the PA considers the "heroism" of terrorists fighting Israel. On the other hand, he's the ultimate symbol of all terrorist prisoners who have murdered Israelis and will eventually be freed as a result of future kidnappings or through some other means.

PA TV, controlled by Mahmoud Abbas, broadcast the following picture honoring
Quntar. He is depicted beside a map of Israel completely covered by the Palestinian flag.

[PATV, 23-25 June 2008]

Following are several recent quotes from PA leaders since April 2008, describing Quntar:

• "Samir Quntar, the warrior from Lebanon."
• "The brave warrior, Samir Quntar."
• "The Palestinian people and the Palestinian leadership are standing behind you (Quntar)."
• "You (Quntar) are an inseparable part of the action to free our homeland."
• Your (Quntar) patience and strength are a lesson for us."

Besides bludgeoning Eynat Haran to death with rocks and his rifle, Quntar killed her father and was responsible for the death of her infant sister. He also killed two policemen in the 1979 attack in Naharia. The Israeli cabinet today approved a prisoner exchange that would free Quntar and several other prisoners in exchange for Israeli soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, who were kidnapped by Hizbullah in 2006. The exchange could happen within the next few days.