The Palestinian Authority Minister of Detainees said Monday that Israel's decision to release the first group of Palestinian prisoners was an important step for promoting peace.You see that? Releasing murderers is a step towards "peace"!
"President Abu Mazen has succeeded in putting the issue of prisoners as a political and national priority and saved it from unfair conditions imposed by Israel," Issa Qaraqe said.
The first stage of the prisoner release is a strategic step to toward the liberation of all Palestinian detainees, he added.
Abbas Zaki, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, also welcomed the prisoner release, saying freeing all Palestinian detainees was a key priority.
Israeli attempts to use the issue of prisoners as a bargaining chip is doomed to fail, he added.
Orwell lives!
In Arabic, the word "peace" isn't mentioned. Abbas Zaki in fact mentioned that this was a reminder of the first lopsided prisoner release to the PLO, a 1983 swap of 4700 Lebanese and Palestinian Arabs for 6 Israeli soldiers.
Also in Arabic the Palestinian leaders are complaining about the release of prisoners, saying that some of them would have been released soon anyway, and that 16 of them were unjustly sentenced to begin with (they were only "accomplices.") These were also not the most senior prisoners, nor the ones that have become "symbols." They are literally saying that this release is an insult and a "stab in the back" and the list is "childish" and an attempt to thwart negotiations. Furthermore, they are complaining that some of the prisoners are being released to Gaza instead of the West Bank.
Ma'an has a list of the prisoners being released, but of course nothing about the victims.