The Good Old Days - Spirit of Entebbe

Michael Freund, writing in the Jerusalem Post about how Israel used to deal with terrorists that took Jews hostage as bargaining chips.
IT WAS 31 years ago today, on June 27, 1976, that armed gunmen from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, together with some German accomplices, hijacked Air France flight 139, diverting it to Libya and then on to the city of Entebbe, in Idi Amin's Uganda. As the world looked on, the terrorists proceeded to separate out the Jewish and Israeli passengers, threatening to kill them if Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails were not set free.

Back then, however, Israel was not yet in the habit of yielding to terrorist demands. No international summits were convened at Sharm e-Sheikh, no "gestures" were made to the terrorists, nor were any tax receipts transferred into their coffers. Instead, Israel reacted precisely as it should have, by launching a stunning military raid on July 4, 1976, freeing virtually all the captives and bringing the situation to a sudden and dramatic end.

In one fell swoop, Israel had underlined its role as the sovereign defender of Jews everywhere. An entire generation was inspired to believe that the Jewish people were determined to defend themselves whatever the consequences might be.
That was 31 years ago, The Spirit of Entebbe, but that spirit has been replaced by the spirit of leftist ideology, appeasement of the enemy, consensus and concessions and appealing to global public opinion. Has anyone ever stopped to think that the global public, have little idea of what is going on in Israel, apart from swallowing the lazy and biased news that is fed to them by the media. Do they know or care that it’s just a few elitists, sipping lattes and sucking on lemons safe and sound in western countries, whining noisily every time someone does something around the world.
After agreeing to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars to the Abbas-led regime, and to strengthen the armed Fatah gangs loyal to him, the premier presented his Palestinian counterpart with an unexpected parting gift. "As a gesture of goodwill to the Palestinians," Olmert declared, "I decided today that I'll bring to the Israeli government at its next meeting a recommendation to release 250 prisoners from Fatah without blood on their hands."

Then, in what passes for Israeli resolve and determination these days, the premier insisted that the Fatah terrorists would be freed, but only if "they sign commitments not to become involved again in terrorism." Phew. And I thought they would be let go for nothing. Apparently, it didn't dawn on the Prime Minister to link the release of Palestinian terrorists with freedom for Gilad Schalit, or to condition any further movement on the diplomatic front with progress towards his return home.

Instead, the fact that a young Israeli Jew serving his country was abducted 12 months ago by a group of thugs was treated as if it was a pesky and tiresome nuisance, rather than a substantive and fundamental matter of principle.
Yeah make all the concessions Olmert, we’ll all sit around sipping lattes far away from you folks in Israel dodging Kassams and Katyushas, avoiding buses and cafes and nod our heads. Sure, what a good fellow that Olmert is, he is so accommodating to those misunderstood terrorists, such a nice fellow, where is that online opinion poll again, big tick to Israel for their kind nature from us.

Just remember there is a price to pay for appeasement and when that time comes, I’ll bet Olmert and his band of merry friends won’t be around to help out, oh and by the way that global opinion that you think was so favorable of you back then won’t be around to help you fight for your lives either.

1 comment:

All comments containing Chinese characters will not be published as I do not understand them