Free the Kidnapped Soldiers !

In the name of peace and humanity the Naked Zoo calls for the release of the kidnapped soldiers. There can be no resolution of the violence destroying Southern Lebanon and Gaza unless the plight of the kidnapped soldiers is resolved and those soldiers returned to their homes and units.

We are referring, of course, to the hundreds of Palestinian soldiers kidnapped by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and held interminably and without charges by Israeli intelligence (Shin Bet). Such kidnappings, accompanied by various beatings and torture, are routine according to Arik Diamant, an Israeli reservist with personal experience in these operations. None of this is ever reported in the Western press, of course, as it does not comport with the Israel Good/Palestinians Bad filter that all such news must pass through.

On the other hand, the outrageous kidnappings of Israeli soldiers, one by Palestinians and two by Hezbollah, are sufficient to justify any level of military response Israel chooses to use. Bomb the central power stations in Gaza depriving most of the population of electricity and water ? You bet. Bomb Lebanese infrastructure including the airport, roads and bridges and impose a naval blockade ? But of course.

All justified by the kidnapping of two soldiers, despite President Bush's patently false attempt to justify Israel's over-reaction by misstating the sequence of events. Bush claimed that the kidnapping and Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israel preceded the Israeli response, while contemporary reports make clear that the Israeli attacks were well under way before the rockets started falling. Israel's credibility suffers when its best friend must lie to protect it, to say nothing of the friend's.

Israel makes the return of its soldiers a condition of a cease fire. They and the world remain silent on the hundreds of Palestinian detainees. Makes you wonder so stay curious and

Stay Naked
jd