Palestinians criticize Hamas on prisoner swap

[oberliner]

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Some Palestinians criticized Hamas on Thursday for conceding too much in its deal to swap a captured Israeli soldier for more than a thousand Palestinian inmates.

Much of the criticism has come from officials who are loyal to Fatah, Hamas' bitter rival for control over the Palestinians. Yet it appears to reflect a deeper unease over whether the price Palestinians paid for Schalit's capture was too high. Critics of the deal are disappointed that some of the most prominent prisoners will not be released and that hundreds may be deported or not allowed to return to their homes.

"The deal was a blow to our hopes," said Issa Karake, a Palestinian official in the Fatah-controlled West Bank responsible for prisoners. "The Palestinian people paid a heavy price ... for Schalit's captivity. They should have insisted," he said, echoing calls by other prisoner activists.

The Palestinian criticism is a stunning turn, considering Gaza's Hamas rulers pulled off the most lopsided prisoner exchange in Israel's history. In the Egyptian-mediated deal, Hamas will exchange Sgt. Gilad Schalit for some 1,027 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons in two phases. Schalit has been held for five years.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/13/ap/middleeast/main20119788.shtml

[azurnoir]

1. Your headline and story seem to have been replace this is what comes up when the link is clicked

Israeli leader's memorial defaced to protest swap

A man splashed paint and scrawled graffiti over the memorial of slain Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv early Friday to protest a deal that will release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, a police spokesman said.

In the deal announced this week, the militant Islamic group Hamas will free a soldier they captured five years ago in exchange for the prisoners, some of whom are convicted of carrying out or masterminding attacks that killed Israelis.

The impending release of Sgt. Gilad Schalit prompted widespread celebrations in Israel, but also deep unease that freeing Palestinian militants may invite more attacks.

Police detained a 27-year-old man for defacing the memorial. He said he was protesting the deal, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/13/ap/middleeast/main20119788.shtml

it can be so frustrating when news agencies do that

[oberliner]

2. I do hate when that happens

Oh well.