Israel's Bargaining Tools

By Manal Alafrangi,
Staff Writer
Published: December 08, 2007, 00:12
GulfNews

Prisoner exchanges or releases between Arab governments and Israel date back to 1948, the year the first war between them broke out. During the early 1980s, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Israel exchanged prisoners, the most famous instance being in May 1985, when in exchange for 3 of its soldiers held by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Israel released 1,150 Palestinian political prisoners.

The process has always been political and Israel has shown that any release it announces always brings benefits (mainly in the form of Palestinian concessions on crucial points of conflict). In other words, for Israel, these prisoners are nothing but bargaining tools.

Such releases have been extensively covered in the media, portraying Israel as the caring and forgiving state. But the reality is different.

Last week excited relatives greeted 429 Palestinian prisoners after Israel released them in a "peace gesture". These prisoners were due to be released in a few months anyway.

Unsurprisingly, none of those freed on Monday had been held for direct involvement in killings of Israelis. Which begs the question: why were they imprisoned in the first place?

Israel boasts this is the largest number of prisoners released by the Jewish state in a single batch in nearly three years. But the fact remains that there are an estimated 11,000 Palestinians currently being held in Israeli jails (including over 100 women and nearly 400 children).

The vast majority of the freed men are supporters of the Fatah faction led by President Mahmoud Abbas. In other words, Palestinians who are not Fatah members are being imprisoned and punished for their personal choice of party affiliation and for not supporting Fatah. This explains why they were sent to the West Bank.

It is worth noting that while the release was intended to demonstrate Israel's commitment to the peace process, the Israeli army has arrested more than 1,800 Palestinians since Annapolis was announced in July.

Deepening The Rift

The politics of prisoner release have become acceptable to Fatah, which welcomes anything that will give Abbas a boost in his struggle with Hamas in Gaza. That his party is willing to embrace such a "gesture" which is aimed at further deepening the rift between the two main Palestinian political factions is in itself detrimental to the cause. Political affiliations should not play a role when it comes to freeing Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

For years, Palestinians have tried to highlight the injustices committed against them in Israeli jails. It is said that 90 per cent of prisoners are currently not allowed visits from family members because of Israel's "security concerns". This ridiculous and inhumane reasoning has become Israel's permanent response.

One look at the conditions in these jails and it becomes immediately clear that Israel has ruled out applying any internationally accepted standards. In fact, in most cases, Israel doesn't allow anyone to enter or even observe them- despite the many complaints voiced by present and former prisoners.

Israel's imprisonment as well as detention of Palestinians demonstrates its failure to abide by international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention (under this law, imprisonment without due process is illegal).

Palestinian prisoners have complained that Israel uses violence and forms of terrorism against them, which go against human rights. This is why from time to time, prisoners go on hunger strikes to highlight their plight.

Far worse, Israel has imprisoned many Palestinians without trial. Most of the time, lawyers of the accused do not even know what the accusations against their clients are. This is why analysts believe the majority of the 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails are political prisoners.

The vast majority are held without trial and according to Amnesty International, when the trials do take place, they fall short of international fair trial standards.

The question is, why is Israel doing this? It continues to arrest Palestinian civilians only to release them when the political need arises. Does the Jewish state believe it is above the law? And most crucially, why is the international community not acting against this?

The sad reality is, the vast majority of Palestinians today have been directly or indirectly affected by Israel's policy of arrests and subsequent imprisonment.

With that in mind, news that 429 Palestinians have been released serves as a strong reminder that Israel still holds a huge number of Palestinians in its prisons who at this point, would be grateful for any form of attention.