Abbas to Olmert: Release Terrorists, Even if Caught in Act of Murdering Jews

Weekly Commentary: Palestinian Demands to Free Terrorists – the Failed Litmus Test, by Dr. Aaron Lerner (IMRA)

Full Text;

If a Palestinian gunman was captured tonight as he was murdering an Israeli family what would “moderate” Mahmoud Abbas like Israel to with him?

Release him.

That’s right.

This is a fundamental problem.

Because when Palestinian “moderates” want Israel to release all Palestinian terrorists regardless of when they committed their crimes, they are effectively saying that no Palestinian commitment is binding. – including the very anchor commitment of Oslo to abandon violence.

In the heady early days of Oslo when some leading Israeli Leftists argued for the release of terrorists with “blood on their hands”, the debate was over murderers serving time for pre-Oslo crimes. Post Oslo crime was just that: crime.

But not in the eyes of the Palestinian “moderates”.

For these Palestinians, terrorists aren’t guilty of murder – at most they are guilty of bad PR for the cause.

When, then, do the “moderates” think Israel will have the right to punish terrorists?

After all Palestinian demands are satisfied in a final status arrangement.

Maybe.