Yesterday Israel had a prisoner exchange with the Palestinian Authority. Samir Kuntar and 4 other terrorists were exchanged for the bodies of the 2 Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped in the cross border excursion which sparked a month long war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel’s policy of doing whatever is necessary to regain a soldier whether dead or alive may be a noble and honorable desire but it now seems that Muslim terrorists have succeeded in turning honor into a bargaining chip to practice more terrorism. One can only imagine this will spark more kidnapping attempts to create leverage for the release of more Muslim terrorists. The two Israeli soldiers were buried today with the type of military honors associated with fallen heroes while in Lebanon the freed prisoners received a heroes' welcome as they visited the grave of the slain Hezbollah military commander Mughniyeh. Supporters showered them with rice as they placed a wreaths at the grave. And how did they “earn” this respect and admiration? Kuntar was in an Israeli prison for an attack that took place on April 22, 1979. Smadar Haran Kaiser, a survivor, described the attack:
“It had been a peaceful Sabbath day. My husband, Danny, and I had picnicked with our little girls, Einat, 4, and Yael, 2, on the beach not far from our home in Nahariya, a city on the northern coast of Israel, about six miles south of the Lebanese border. Around midnight, we were asleep in our apartment when four terrorists, sent by Abu Abbas from Lebanon, landed in a rubber boat on the beach two blocks away. Gunfire and exploding grenades awakened us as the terrorists burst into our building. They had already killed a police officer. As they charged up to the floor above ours, I opened the door to our apartment. In the moment before the hall light went off, they turned and saw me. As they moved on, our neighbor from the upper floor came running down the stairs. I grabbed her and pushed her inside our apartment and slammed the door. Outside, we could hear the men storming about. Desperately, we sought to hide. Danny helped our neighbor climb into a crawl space above our bedroom; I went in behind her with Yael in my arms. Then Danny grabbed Einat and was dashing out the front door to take refuge in an underground shelter when the terrorists came crashing into our flat. They held Danny and Einat while they searched for me and Yael, knowing there were more people in the apartment. I will never forget the joy and the hatred in their voices as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades. I knew that if Yael cried out, the terrorists would toss a grenade into the crawl space and we would be killed. So I kept my hand over her mouth, hoping she could breathe. As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. "This is just like what happened to my mother," I thought. As police began to arrive, the terrorists took Danny and Einat down to the beach. There, according to eyewitnesses, one of them shot Danny in front of Einat so that his death would be the last sight she would ever see. Then he smashed my little girl's skull in against a rock with his rifle butt. That terrorist was Samir Kuntar. By the time we were rescued from the crawl space, hours later, Yael, too, was dead. In trying to save all our lives, I had smothered her.”
Incredible isn’t it? This woman’s family has stared at the face of evil personified by Nazis and Muslims in each of the past two generations. And the prisoner exchange? Rather unbalanced don’t you think? 2 dead Israeli’s killed in defense of the homeland given by God exchanged for 5 live terrorists who murder innocent men, women and children as a tactical implementation of state policy. And how is this reported in the West? The NY Times writes “Perhaps Israel's most reviled prisoner, Samir Kuntar, will return to a hero's welcome when he crosses into Lebanon this week, 29 years after he left its shores in a rubber dinghy to kidnap Israelis from the coastal town of Nahariya. That raid went horribly wrong, leaving five people dead, a community terrorized and a nation traumatized. Two Israeli children and their father were among those killed.”
What does the Times think would have happened if the "raid" had gone right?
Islam has 99 names for God but the one obvious, critical name missing from the list is Father. For a people created in the image and likeness of God how can we not call our Creator Father? While there are many theological points which contradict the belief that Islam shares something with Christianity the notion of Father and His relationship with us is perhaps the greatest. Can Islam raise itself from its current and lifelong residence in the Culture of Death? Would that it be so. Faster please!
“It had been a peaceful Sabbath day. My husband, Danny, and I had picnicked with our little girls, Einat, 4, and Yael, 2, on the beach not far from our home in Nahariya, a city on the northern coast of Israel, about six miles south of the Lebanese border. Around midnight, we were asleep in our apartment when four terrorists, sent by Abu Abbas from Lebanon, landed in a rubber boat on the beach two blocks away. Gunfire and exploding grenades awakened us as the terrorists burst into our building. They had already killed a police officer. As they charged up to the floor above ours, I opened the door to our apartment. In the moment before the hall light went off, they turned and saw me. As they moved on, our neighbor from the upper floor came running down the stairs. I grabbed her and pushed her inside our apartment and slammed the door. Outside, we could hear the men storming about. Desperately, we sought to hide. Danny helped our neighbor climb into a crawl space above our bedroom; I went in behind her with Yael in my arms. Then Danny grabbed Einat and was dashing out the front door to take refuge in an underground shelter when the terrorists came crashing into our flat. They held Danny and Einat while they searched for me and Yael, knowing there were more people in the apartment. I will never forget the joy and the hatred in their voices as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades. I knew that if Yael cried out, the terrorists would toss a grenade into the crawl space and we would be killed. So I kept my hand over her mouth, hoping she could breathe. As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. "This is just like what happened to my mother," I thought. As police began to arrive, the terrorists took Danny and Einat down to the beach. There, according to eyewitnesses, one of them shot Danny in front of Einat so that his death would be the last sight she would ever see. Then he smashed my little girl's skull in against a rock with his rifle butt. That terrorist was Samir Kuntar. By the time we were rescued from the crawl space, hours later, Yael, too, was dead. In trying to save all our lives, I had smothered her.”
Incredible isn’t it? This woman’s family has stared at the face of evil personified by Nazis and Muslims in each of the past two generations. And the prisoner exchange? Rather unbalanced don’t you think? 2 dead Israeli’s killed in defense of the homeland given by God exchanged for 5 live terrorists who murder innocent men, women and children as a tactical implementation of state policy. And how is this reported in the West? The NY Times writes “Perhaps Israel's most reviled prisoner, Samir Kuntar, will return to a hero's welcome when he crosses into Lebanon this week, 29 years after he left its shores in a rubber dinghy to kidnap Israelis from the coastal town of Nahariya. That raid went horribly wrong, leaving five people dead, a community terrorized and a nation traumatized. Two Israeli children and their father were among those killed.”
What does the Times think would have happened if the "raid" had gone right?
Islam has 99 names for God but the one obvious, critical name missing from the list is Father. For a people created in the image and likeness of God how can we not call our Creator Father? While there are many theological points which contradict the belief that Islam shares something with Christianity the notion of Father and His relationship with us is perhaps the greatest. Can Islam raise itself from its current and lifelong residence in the Culture of Death? Would that it be so. Faster please!
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