Israel, Hezbollah swap prisoners - 'Road to real peace looks good'

let's be real there will never be peace between israel and it's arab counterparts and i knew those soldiers were dead when hezbollah captured them

One of the terrorist was convicted for beating a 4 year old girl to death with the butt of his rifle. This is fucked up on so many levels. The title of this post is ridiculous to. 2 dead soldiers for a person who killed a 4 year old girl. Isnt a step in the right direction for peace.

Two dead bodies for five live terrorists anxious to start back where they left off. Oh yeah, that seems fair. I don't know who is doing the negotiating for the Israelis, but I need to contact them about some bridges I have for sale.

to those who think that this was a trade of 5 live lebanese prisoners for 2 dead israelis, do not forget the remains of ONE HUNDRED NINETY NINE lebanese fighters who were also returned to lebanon as part of the trade..

both lebanese and israelis hold a strong conviction with respect to the rites of the dead.. it is a responsibility of the living to secure those rites.. it is something that cannot be measured in tangibles, but rather in the comfort of those who believe..

as far as a lasting peace goes..

there will never be peace so long as there is oppression or occupation..

Ehud Goldwasser's father, Shlomo Goldwasser, said he was mystified by the Lebanese celebrations, coming after the recent war with Israel.

"I cannot understand what the Lebanese are so glad about and happy about," he said.

"They sacrificed over 700 of their best warriors and all their economy, and what they get for what they did is a murderer, a bloody murderer of a three-and-a-half-year-old girl and her father - and for this they are making all this glory, for this they sacrificed so much. So I feel only pity for them."

The prisoner Samir Kuntar was captured during an offensive attack on Israel. He was detained by the Israelis on murder charges, convicted to serve 4 life sentences. Now he is being released after only 27 years. The conditions of his imprisonment were at the very least humane enough to allow him to survive that long. He was even allowed to send letters to his family, as confirmed by the Al Jazeera video posted above.

To my knowledge the Israeli soldiers were captured alive while on a defensive operation. If they were captured alive, which I hope with all my heart that they were not, the Israelis must have experienced horrors beyond my comprehension. While the Israeli soldiers were in Hezbollah custody nothing even approaching the courtesy of a letter ever reached the Israeli families. The families were left with the uncertainty of not knowing their loved ones fates. The final and most disgusting part about about the inequity between the treatment of the imprisoned Israeli soldiers was regardless of their alleged or actual crimes against the Palestinians, why after only a relatively short captivity must they come back to their families in coffins.

By writing this I am not endorsing all Israeli actions. In fact I strongly disagree with how the Israeli government handles certain situations. That said as long as the Palestinians and Israelis continue perpetuating grotesque acts under the excuse of being victimized there will never be peace.
The fact that this story of this exchange is portrayed as a positive or by any means fair deeply saddens me.

The diversity of opinion on this topic is astounding.
I hope that Obama will help in this area..I am not sure about him but hold out some hope that he will make good.

I don't think that this is a particularly fair trade -- convicted terrorists for dead Israeli bodies? Israel is making too many concessions for peace.

i support hezbollah i think they do the right thing all everyone ever talks about is what Palestinians to the Israelis never what the israelis do to them has anyone seen the story about the seize fire in the rocket attacks like 4 israelis were killed and from retaliation 700 palestinians kill wtf is the world blind its a genocide they only fight for ther land if someone came to america and said we are giveing 75% of your land to the indians wouldnt you fight.like seriously thats what happen to Palestinians in 1948 after they have been living there 2000 years israel free thats my opinion. and just to make it clear hezbollah targets military bases but since their technology is home made the wind veers them of course their for sometimes killing innocent civilians not our fault we have crappy tech Israel has top of the line tech and raiders and civilians die that means there is a problem that Israel purposely kills innocent people
SUPPORT PALESTINE
SUPPORT HEZBOLLAH

How in the world is this the road to Peace when the evil murderer of children, Samir Kuntar, is set free and given a hero's welcome!!! How is this the road to Peace when this unrepentant murderer vows to kill more Jews? This was not a peaceful swap.... This was a desperate move by Israel to give peace to the families of the murdered young men. There is a key difference and don't be so foolish and naive to think all things are equal. Whenever Israel captures terrorists they let the Red Cross see them and do not hold them without cause. Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, held these 2 boys for years, not to mention Ron Arad, refused to give information on them, refused to let the Red Cross see them, refused to act like human beings. This is not a move towards Peace, this is a move that emboldens a despicable terrorist organization. A very sad day for humanity...

Abbas, who is supposed to be leading the palestinians to peace with Israel called Kuntar to congratulate him!!! How is that leading to PEACE?
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently visiting Malta, welcomed the prisoner exchange and sent his greetings to Kuntar upon his release from Israeli prison.

Abbas's Fatah party organized a rally in Ramallah to celebrate the release of Kuntar and the return of the remains of Mughrabi. "This is an historic victory over Israeli arrogance," said Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a top Fatah official and advisor to Abbas.

He described Kuntar as a "big struggler" and Mughrabi as a "martyr who led one of the greatest freedom fighters' operations in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

He added that on this "important" day, Fatah "salutes Hizbullah and its leaders and fighters."

Disgusting.

While I welcome this development, it just seems to me that this will not improve relations with Hezbollah from the Israeli side. Peace is through Syria. From there Hezbollah and Hamas and Fatah will follow.

The thing is, it seems in the past nobody has been willing to compromise. Both sides have good arguments. You would think in the "Holy Land" they would respect "Do unto others as you would have them do to you"

Road to peace looks good?

Take it from someone who lives in the middle east,

The road we're walking right now leads to no good.

As several have stated, there is a fervent hope that this will be a lasting peace. It would be wonderfully ironic if at some point they are held as the shining example.

thats just great to see this happening.sad though that some are coming back dead. But at lerast they will be going back to thier families for a proper burial. may they all rest in peace . there is still hope for peace .
take care everyone. Have a beautiful day.. thanks world peace for sharing

So is Israel going to get living prisoners at some point?

I am very happy to hear the news. I have mixed feelings about the logic and rational behind the trade. At least it is a better idea than bombing the hell out of Lebanon.

I hope this peace holds , that would be some of the best news out of the middle east in many years. I also hope that they are able to achieve the WMD free zone they are discussing in the Middle east. That would be something that would show the world that the Arab world is using their heads and maybe they could talk America , Russia and other nations to do the same. Then the powers that be could concentrate on the real problems facing mankind as a whole rather than how to kill it.

That's great news! Thanks, WorldPeaceTV! Definitely a step in the right direction.

At least Israel is actually doing something as well as talking. Communication is key to settling any disputes...even with a sibling or wife or friend. Not to communicate is just signaling you want more trouble.

Cheers to Israel and Hezbollah for taking this step on the Road to Peace. There is still alot to do and alot of countries that have to be the do-ers. We need to end the violence and murder of innocent civilians on all sides of the situation.

Here's hoping it continues. And that if the prisoners exchanged are dead, that they can now be returned to their families for a chance to give them a personal send-off.