Sorg i Israel - jubel i Libanon

De två israeliska soldaterna Ehud Goldwasser och Eldad Regev som tillfångatogs av Hizzbollah i en attack för två år sedan återlämnades igår. Båda var döda och de dog antagligen redan vid attacken. De anhöriga har emellertid inte fått några uppgifter om soldaterna under hela denna tid och det var först när kistorna överlämnades vid den libanesiska gränsen som hoppet om att de skulle återvända i liv grusades.
Samtidigt frigavs bl.a. Samir Kuntar från israeliskt fängelse.En barnmördare som hedrades som hjälte i Libanon. Samir lovade folkmassorna i Beirut att han kommer att återvända till Palestina med sina kamrater i den tappra islamska motståndsrörelsen.
VIDEO: Israel posts clip on YouTube describing Kuntar's 1979 attack
VIDEO: Samir Kuntar: I'm yearning more than ever to confront Israel

Han mottogs på flygfältet i Beirut av landets hösta ledning, och Hizzbollahs ledare Nasrallah betraktade fångutväxlingen som en stor seger.
Flera tidningar var emellertid kritiska till segerjublet och ansåg det skamligt att representanter för regeringen fanns på flygfältet tillsammans med Hizzbollah.
Arab media mocks Hizbullah 'victory'

En opinionsundersökning i sex arabländer visar att Nasrallah nu är den mest beundrade ledaren i arabvärlden.
Nasrallah 'most admired' Arab leader

Samtidigt har Nasrallahs grymhet, när han vägrat ge ut uppgifter om de tillfångatagna soldaterna gett upphov till vrede bland en del israeler.
'Nasrallah will not die a natural death'

Begravning av soldaterna har hållis idag. Eldad Regevs bror Ofer började sitt minnestal på följande sätt:
" a quote from a song by Israeli rock idol Shalom Hanoch: "A strange man, your enemy, exactly like you / You know he does not want to die, exactly like you."
"We lived in a world where we believed our enemy was exactly like us," Ofer continued. "We thought we could speak to people who also wanted to raise a child, grow a flower, love a girl, exactly like us. But the enemy proved it is not like us. And still, we will not stop trying."
"I stand here today sad, crying, but proud; proud of my country that fought with me to bring you back, proud of every citizen who thought of you, Eldad, as his brother. I'm proud to belong to those who love and not to those who hate. And to the entire nation who paid a high price with clenched teeth, they know that camaraderie has no price."
Paraphrasing a famous saying by former prime minister David Ben Gurion, often inscribed on the gates of military bases, Ofer said "Every Hebrew mother should know that the fate of her sons, even if they are taken hostage, lies in the hands of commanders who will not rest and never give up until they return."
"I am proud of you my little brother, a man of many talents, a lover of literature and soccer. A true patriot both on the front lines and in everyday life, during reserve duty or in the volunteer work you carried out," continued Ofer.
'I'm proud I belong to those who love, not those who hate'

Palestinian Media Watch har plockar några exempel på reaktioner i den palestinska pressen:

"(Official Fatah spokesman Ahmad Abdul Rahman) said that the Fatah movement sends warm blessings to Hizbullah, to all the resistance [terror forces - Ed.], and to the Lebanese nation, and the Palestinians for their historic victory over the Israeli arrogance in their victorious July War, [2006 Lebanese War]. "And on the return of the heroes of freedom, the heroes and the Martyrs, headed by the great Samir Kuntar and the Martyr fighter Dalal Mughrabi, who led the most glorified Sacrifice action in the history of the Palestinian-Israeli struggle. [Editors' note: Her bus hijacking was the worst terror attack in Israel's history. Thirty seven Israeli vacationers, including 12 children, were murdered.] "He emphasized that the Fatah party... vows to the Palestinian people that Fatah will continue to struggle in the way of the pure Martyrs, until the state is liberated and the Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as the capital. The Fatah movement turns on this day, that abounds with sincere blessings to Hizbullah ... "The battle against the theft of Palestine is the battle of all the fighters and all the Arab nations. Blessings to the free heroes and their head, the heroic fighter Samir Kuntar, and blessings to the spirit of the heroic Dalal Mughrabi and to the friends of the heroes." "President Mahmud Abbas congratulated yesterday's exchange of prisoners and bodies of Martyrs. The president sent blessings to Samir Kuntar's family."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 17, 2008]
PA TV host addressing brother of Kuntar: "First of all a thousand blessings, on the release of the heroic leader Samir Kuntar."
[PATV, July 7, 2008]
Hani Al-Masri, writer and political commentator:"This deal includes heroes, like Samir Kuntar, who committed heroic acts, in which Jews and soldiers were killed."
[PATV, July 5, 2008]