October 18, 2011, - 3:06 pm
After 5 Years, Will Gilad Shalit Return w/ Al-Stockholm Syndrome?
As you probably already know, today kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit returned to Israel after five years in HAMAS captivity in Gaza. You already know my oft-repeated views on the trade of a gazillion Islamic terrorists for one Shalit and the many similar Israeli trades for dead soldiers’ bodies and a living drug dealer double agent for Hezbollah (Elchanan Tannenbaum) that preceded it. And, as I’ve repeatedly noted, the Shalit parents, Noam and Aviva Shalit are leftists who paraded around Israel and the Palestinian Authority meeting with and consoling Islamic terrorists, camped out in a protest tent in front of the Prime Minister’s residence, and engaged in non-stop moral equivalence statements about Israeli soldiers and Islamic terrorists. The photo of him saluting Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu upon his return to Israel shows a thin, gaunt soldier with a uniform far too big on him. I wonder what happened to him in Gaza. And on a related note, I wonder about something else: whether after five years with HAMAS, a good chunk of the young Shalit’s life, he has emerged with some sort of Stockholm Syndrome sympathy for his HAMAS captors.
Could it be a case of life imitates art? Ironically, just a couple of weeks ago, Showtime’s “Homeland,” an American liberal version of “24” produced by the liberals who worked on “24,” debuted (and stars Israel-boycotter and anti-Semitic Jew Mandy Patinkin). It’s based on a 2010 successful Israeli television series, “Hatufim,” in which Israeli soldiers who were held captive by Muslims return after years of captivity, are hailed as heroes by Israel, but might now be double agents for those Muslim captors. What are Gilad Shalit’s sympathies and intentions? Will they be like his fictional fellow soldiers in Hatufim, now recycled as Homeland? We already know his parents are close enough to that position.
I won’t be shocked if life imitates art and Gilad Shalit is–while not secretly a double agent for HAMAS–openly in support of some of their arguments against Israel. I won’t be surprised at all if he becomes an activist for the Israeli left and panders to the Muslim viewpoint.
Yes, Gilad Shalit, while not a “hero” per se, is a victim who served Israel with honor (as far as we know) and survived. But Israel traded 1,027 mass murderers for him, and we do not know what happened to him in the five years he lived with HAMAS.
Reader Simon:
On the Chopper ride which lasted 10 Min. from Rafah to Kerem Shalom crossing, Shalit fainted & received Oxigen. Am certain U know Arabs usually do not eat very rich meals, when arafat was held hostage at his Ramallah “mukata’a” by Sharon, manded a daily ration of 3 kg. Humous. I would guess Shalit had a lot of this in 5 years + 4 months at Hamas “Hilton.”
Yup, and perhaps a diet chock full of propaganda and deprogramming, too.
Tags: Gaza, Gilad Shalit, Hamas, Hatufim, Homeland, Israel, Stockholm Syndrome
Sorry Deb, but I disagree with you. Shalit is a victim, not a hero. A hero is someone who put his life and/or wealth at risk to save another person. There is no evidence to support that Shalit was a hero.
Now, Shalit was doing his mandatory service (which too many Israelis evade) when he was kidnapped. And he survived. But that does not make him a hero.
JEG: I knew people would say that (as I myself have said similar things before on this site), and you are right, but I couldn’t think of a better word, and yet, you did: victim. I’ve changed that part of the post. DS
Jonathan E. Grant on October 18, 2011 at 3:13 pm