With all the coverage of the prisoner swap, these three out-takes deserve closer attention:
• Acerbic commentary in Now Lebanon (via PJM) slams Hezbollah, says Lebanese public paid the real price for Samir Kuntar’s freedom:
Add to the two Israeli bodies the bodies of 1,200 Lebanese civilians, nearly 400 of them children under the age of 13, sacrificed by Hezbollah to secure Kantar’s return. Add to that the 4,400 wounded civilians, of whom almost 700 are permanently disabled. Add to that those killed and wounded, most of them children, by the cluster bombs still littering large swaths of South Lebanon. Add to that the billions of dollars in destroyed homes, infrastructure and livelihoods.
In the final tally, Kantar – whose alleged taste for violence far exceeds the remit of the typical heroic freedom fighter – is a very expensive man. For make no mistake, his release is the sole profit weighed against the thousands of Lebanese dead and wounded. The four other Lebanese prisoners to be released were themselves captured on his account during the July War . . .
• France 24 raises possibility of Kuntar entering politics:
According to Sayyed Franjieh, a Beirut-base political analyst, “it wouldn’t be surprising to see Qantar as a Druze candidate on the opposition list in the Baabda district.” This district, located in the Mount Lebanon region, has an important Shia and pro-Hezbollah electorate as well as numerous Christian supporters of General Michel Aoun, two pillars of the Lebanese opposition.
• Last word goes to the Washington Post, which quotes Einat Haran’s grandmother:
“He’s a hero? Because he killed a 4-year-old? Because he smashed her head with his rifle?”
