Freedom for some but not others.
It's not often that we get unmitigated good news, so it's well worth celebrating that Alan Johnston has been released unharmed and with apparently only the pressure put on the Dogmush clan by Hamas to thank. It's indicative of his strength and courage, helped by the constant, dignified and restrained pressure kept up by the BBC that he was able within hours to give an account of his ordeal, when many others would have cracked and found themselves emotional wrecks within a matter of days.Hamas could do much to further the reciprocal mood by releasing Gilad Shalit, who has now spent over a year as a hostage in means not that dissimilar to those which Johnston found himself in. Israel could additionally release the Hamas officials which are still in custody from the previous round-ups. It's not going to happen, but they shouldn't be forgotten either.
Labels: Alan Johnston, Hamas, Israel-Palestine
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