Is Hamas stupid? I am glad they returned Gilad Schalit, but they should have never kidnapped him in the first place. These sorts of trades, in which Israel gets one soldier returned (who was kidnapped while in Israel) for one thousand criminals (terrorists- some didn't actually kill anybody, but what is the likelihood any of these people are going to be contributing members of society?). It kinda makes Palestinians look, well, worth less than Israelis, doesn't it?
Especially if you are making the claim that these criminals are actually comparable to soldiers in a war. You trade Schalit for one; get greedy, and you disrespect your own people. People also can tell that the crack-pot Israeli government, for all its flaws, values its own citizens at a higher level than Hamas does. They also might notice Israelis seem to have a better economy. Surely this penetrates the Palestinian mind? I know, I know, they've been raised from birth to blame everything on Israel.
The Egyptians have been raised similarly, but when the Israeli Embassy was attacked, it seemed to be viewed by most with suspicion. When people begin to realize it is their own governments, not the bogeymen they've been taught to hate, that is the problem, such attacks seem like attempts at manipulation- government forces trying deflect attention.
So, it isn't clear that the propaganda will stick. It is clear that Hamas thought Schalit was a thousand times more valuable than one of their own.
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