In a strange interview with Charlie Rose the other day, Egyptian
I understood/understand Mubarak to mean that Egypt physically has Gilad Shalit, and now they are holding him prisoner until Israel agrees to the terms.
Read it carefully, and tell me if you agree.
Mubarak: For instance, we were just about to facilitate the release of the prisoner, Shalit. You know that he's our prisoner [JS: Outright claim of custody]."
Charlie: Right, held by Hamas in Gaza. [JS: Charlie's first correction]
Mubarak: "We were just about to secure his release in our custody [JS: Did he mean into or from?] and solve this problem, but external interventions, outside interventions hindered that. But we are working on that and in collaboration and cooperation with the Germans."
Charlie: It is said that ... the Israelis made extra demand[s] and prevented you and Egypt from gaining control of the prisoner [JS: Charlie's second correction] so that you could return him in exchange for Palestinians. That the problem was that you had a deal and Israel made additional demands. Is that true?
Mubarak: "You have a good deal of truth [JS: Meaning it's not exactly true] in what you said. We had agreed on the release of a number of the prisoners, but at one point in time, Israel added certain terms and conditions that impeded progress - that is, in addition to external interventions. So we are doing an effort, and the Germans are willing to join hands and we do welcome them in order to secure that.
Mubarak: The deal or the agreement was to take care of Shalit [JS: An outright claim that they get custody of Shalit from Hamas] and that Israel would release a number of prisoners, and when this is done we will hand over Shalit to the Israelis. We are still following this [JS: Egypt has Shalit]. Our intelligence organization is working on that, and we still have hope to conclude this on a good note."
Charlie Rose felt the need to outright correct Mubarak twice on the issue of who has custody of Gilad Shalit right now.
Mubarak made at least 4 statements that indicate or imply that Shalit is already in Egyptian hands - and not that they still need to get him into their custody from Hamas.
This raises a lot of questions.
Is Shalit a prisoner in Egypt?
Is that why we couldn't find him in Gaza during the Gaza war?
How long has Egypt held him?
Is Shalit alive or dead?
Why can't the Red Cross or Israel see and verify his health or if he is even alive?
When will the public be told the truth?
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
I have suspected for a long time that Shalit was being held in Egypt. Mubarak's unguarded comments now make it impossible to ignore this likelihood.
ReplyDeleteI find it inconceivable that Shalit is being held BY the Egyptians without the knowledge of Israel, the Red Cross, the Shalit family and so on. The diplomatic fallout of such a move would be huge and I fail to see what Egypt would possibly gain from such a move. Mubarak is many things, but he has not kept hold of power for so long by being an idiot, he would not casually let slip this kind of fact by mistake. I’m sure it’s a language issue, (bear in mind that as and when an exchange takes place, chances are Shalit will be moved to Egypt under Egyptian guard, for some period of time (hours or days) while other parts of the deal take place).
ReplyDelete(Of course it is possible that he’s been smuggled into Egypt by his captors but that’s a totally different issue).
Yellow Boy
Yellow Boy: I find it inconceivable that Shalit is being held BY the Egyptians without the knowledge of Israel, the Red Cross, the Shalit family and so on.
ReplyDelete(1) Who suggested it was without the knowledge of Israel? If Shalit is being held in Egypt, then I'm sure the Israeli government knows it.
(2) Why in the world would you imagine that the Red Cross has the slightest idea where Shalit is being held? They have never been permitted to visit Shalit, even once! (In flagrant violation of international law, I might add.)
(3) The Shalit family is not privy to any secret information that the Israeli government and/or the international representatives with whom they have met have chosen to share with them. How could they be?
I believe, sadly, that Gilad was murdered by his captors long ago. Mubarak is just lying his head off.
ReplyDeleteIf Egypt were found to have Shalit it would be a major scandal. They might be forced to give him up uncoditionaly. I don't think Egytp is dumb enough to that chance.
ReplyDeleteHamas is not just Israel's problem as they pose a threat to the Egyptian authorities. Any prisoner swap will have Shalit the exchange go through Egypt. It is in Mubarak's interest to take as much credit for the deal as possible and minimize the credit to Hamas. The language he is using implies he is in full control and if he likes the deal, Shalit will be as good as in his hands.
Mubarak gets to be the hero of the Palestinian world. He can than use the political clout to fend of Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood.