Hostage Agreement Says Human Rights Are Dirt

Not the Path Towards Peace

While I of course share in the joy at the return of the first three hostages, I’m also saddened because the agreement that freed them makes a mockery of human rights. That can only lead us towards more conflict.

Consider this: If Palestinian terrorists who have committed gruesome murders of Israelis are being set free by Israel and welcomed back home as heroes, why should Jews that have killed, harassed, or destroyed Palestinian property in the West Bank remain in prison? Is terrorism against Israel supposed to be a minor matter that is readily forgiven, while violence in the other direction remains an unpardonable offense?

In fact, Israel’s defense minister has already begun freeing settlers being held under administrative detention in Israeli jails due to suspected involvement in attacks on Palestinians. “It is better for the families of Jewish settlers to be happy than the families of freed terrorists,” he explained. And why should the families of Palestinian terrorists rejoice as their loved ones return to the West Bank and Gaza while Israelis accused of killing Palestinians remain in jail? It’s hard to argue with his logic.

How will any world leader or human rights spokesman that praised this deal, let alone who pressured Israel to agree to the prisoner release it included, turn around and advocate for Israel to strictly punish Israelis who commit violence against Palestinian? This agreement sends the unmistakable message that murder, violence, and arson, if done for political or nationalistic motives, is broadly acceptable and need not be punished. Such acts will result in only a slap on the wrist, with perpetrators on both sides then sent home to do it again if they choose.

The Trading of Prisoners

The agreement to free the hostages contains a complicated formula to guide the bargain. Female hostages are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners at one rate, males at another, and the elderly at yet another. This sounds like it’s right out of an ancient slave market, when humans were traded by their masters according to their ability to do work and bear children.

Today, the law is clear. Innocent people may not be seized and held as hostages, whether to be used as human shields to guard against military attack or as pawns to be traded for political purposes. Hostage taking is wrong and anyone wrongly held must be set free.

People who are arrested are entitled to the presumption of innocence and due process of law. When Israel arrests a Palestinian citizen, if they are accused and convicted of a crime they should serve their sentence. If not, they should be released. Anything else is injustice.

It is shocking, then, to see world leaders, including human rights spokesmen up to and including the Secretary General of the United Nations, praising an agreement to trade captives that utterly disregards the captives’ fundamental rights and the principle of justice. The undeniable message of these exchanges is that people do not in fact possess inalienable rights by virtue of their humanity, and they may in fact be seized, taken captive, or bartered according to their perceived value in pursuit of political gains.

When the world applauds Israel and Hamas for negotiating a swap that completely ignores the rights of the exchanged individuals, why shouldn’t Israel and Hamas both believe that no one has rights, and they can starve, torture, or kill however many people it takes to realize their military or political objectives?

The Path Towards Peace

Peace between Israel and the Palestinians will come only when fulfilling the political and economic rights of citizens on both sides is elevated above redressing historical grievances. The way to get there is by advocating respect for fundamental principles: Any hostages must be released unconditionally, those not convicted of crimes set free from jail, and those guilty of killing or injuring innocent people for nationalistic motives punished for what they’ve done.

Whatever one’s thoughts about the cease-fire, the accompanying prisoner exchange arrangement shows that right now when it comes to Israel and the Palestinians human rights aren’t worth dirt. This pushes any possibility of peace or security even farther into the future and is exactly the opposite of the path we should be on.