'Not ' Land for Peace Swaps, nor Camels for Women: But, a Jew for a Thousand Arabs

Is this a good trade-of? The price of one Israeli: Over a thousand deaths in Gaza and and now the government has agreed to part with a thousand more Palestinians in exchange for this prize - Gilad Shalit; The reality of what happened to 'Christian' Cairo hits Egyptians hard; And Israel sneaks in a settler land-gain in while the attention's on one Israeli freed lad.

One man, Gilad Shalit causes quite a stir- deaths, protests and now prison releases en-masse. One man swapped for over
a thousand lives lost, and finally a thousand freed. This young freed prisoner should live life to the full given the price-tag on his IDF head.

Global Spin Blogs: Time Magazine [2]

Who Gains, Who Loses in Israel-Hamas Prisoner Swap to Free Gilad Shalit?

Prisoner swap deal comes at the end of a long game of protests for his release, killing of 1,200 Gazans plus; and finally a formula that trades one Israeli man for a thousand Palestinians. "Win-win outcomes are all too rare in the Middle East, but the agreement that will see Hamas free captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for a reported 1,000 Palestinian prisoners will allow each of its stakeholders to claim victory."

Gaza Mom [3]

Israel to legalize outposts as prisoner swap deal signed

"The airwaves are abuzz with news of the Gilad Shalit/Palestinian prisoner swap, in which 1027 Palestinian prisoners will be released over two stages and several months in exchange for the release of soldier Gilad Shalit. Among those to be released are prisoners serving life sentences, and all Palestinian women prisoners, as well as big names like PFLP’s Ahmed Saadat, and Marwan Barghouthi." But: There's usually a but with Palestine-Israel peace-deals.... (-editor)

Egyptian Chronicles [4]

The 1027 Prisoner Deal is sealed at last in Cairo "Updated"

"Israeli media has just announced that Hamas and Israeli government reached to an agreement about Galid Shalit after 64 months of his capture and negotiations. The good news of the day that Hamas and Israeli government reached to deal in Cairo , yes Cairo. Just from few hours Israeli Government has approved the deal between Hamas and Israeli administration that was reached in Cairo thanks to Egyptian and German Governments for meditation and concluding the deal."

A Tale of Three Beans [5]

Why Moderate Muslims Should Be Skeptical of the Joy of the Arab Spring…

"Now that the Arab Spring has transitioned into a dull, wearying, fall, is anyone else asking the questions of the hour? We have half a year’s perspective on the Tunisian and Egyptian overthrows. How are they working out? In the last few days, I’ve found several interesting articles that should make moderate Muslims (as well as non-practicing Muslims) very wary."

Sandmonkey [6]

The Last Choice

The morning after the dust settles on sectarian Cairo: "Today the mood in Cairo was wary & melancholic. With the reality of what went down yesterday at Maspero hitting them with its full might, the general population that yesterday found itself on the brinks of chaos is utterly terrified. The number of phone calls I received from people who were worried and horrified made me wish I could shut off my phone, with everyone looking at the future with an incredibly bleak outlook. It’s easy to fall into that mood- after all you have your army killing your people, a long oppressed minority of it at that- but if one looks beyond what happened, one sees a very different picture. What happened yesterday was the beginning of the end of the military rule over Egypt: The days of the SCAF ruling us are numbered. And not because they don’t want to, but because they will no longer have any other choice."