Arab World Makes a Mountain Out of a Mole Hole
Tunnel entrance inside prison cell
After the news of the six terrorists’ escape from Gilboa Prison on the eve of Rosh Hashanah hit the airwaves, social networks in the Arab world and especially among the Palestinians have been abuzz. Though Israel’s new peace partners in the Gulf states have not shown any interest at all in the prison break.
But naturally those countries along our borders and neighboring peoples around us are still celebrating what they call “victory over the Zionists” because of a teaspoon that helped six murderous terrorists dig a tunnel that led them out of prison. Arabs, thirsty for victory against Israel, have taken this escape to a whole other dimension and completely blown the entire affair out of proportion.
It is well known that the Arab peoples tend to exaggerate their victories. To this day the Arabs do not forget the victory of Saladin, the great commander who defeated the Crusaders and liberated Jerusalem in the Battle of Hattin in 1187. They are not bothered that Saladin was not an Arab at all, but rather Kurdish. Even today the terrorist organization Hamas has adopted the figure of Izz al-Din al-Qassam as their hero and name their battalions and rockets after him, though he was Syrian and not Palestinian.
In any case, the Arabs are very fond of remembering past victories as they yearn for a modern victory in their wars against Israel. As you may recall, the Arabs lost in Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, then in the Six Day War in 1967 and again the Yom Kippur War of 1973 (all of which are nevertheless remembered as “victories” in Arab nations). Of course, Israel has never lost a war, for if it did it would be the end of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel.
Euphoria in the Arab world
The escape of the six terrorists was indeed a failure and I am not trying to minimize the severity of the incident. But what the Arabs are celebrating, that this event was a victory for the entire Islamic nation as though they managed to liberate “Palestine” and throw the Jews into the sea, is revealing. Sure, it is embarrassing, and a failure, but certainly does not constitute anything like a military defeat for the IDF or the Jewish State.
Hundreds of cartoons and videos simulating the escape of the six terrorists were posted on social media within hours. Their purpose is to glorify the achievements of bloodthirsty terrorist, who the Palestinians call “prisoners.”
In Israel, they are called “terrorists” or “security prisoners.” It should be remembered that all six of the escapees were serving life sentences for murdering Jews. These are not freedom fighters or those who fought against the IDF. These are terrorists who helped blow up a bus or sent a suicide bomber to blow himself up among innocent men, women and children.
For Palestinians, the issue of prisoners held by Israel burns in their hearts. These terrorists are the glorious fulfillment of their nationalist hopes and dreams, sacrificing their lives for the establishment of a Palestinian state and the overturning of what they call “the occupation.” Hundreds and even thousands are in Israeli prisons, and in the eyes of our enemies they are not only perfectly innocent, but they are also heroes.
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Guards to face criminal probe over misconduct leading up to prison break
Itsik Saban, Daniel Siryoti and Idan Avni
Israel Hayom
September 9, 2021
Authorities investigating will summon prison guards for questioning under caution over their alleged misconduct in the run-up to the Gilboa Prison jailbreak, in which six Palestinian terrorists escaped the maximum-security prison in northern Israel on Monday, Israel Hayom has learned.
According to information obtained by Israel Hayom, investigators are increasingly leaning toward the view that the prison break could not have happened without guards shirking their duties or agreeing to various requests by the prisoners that made this possible, although at this point there is no indication of any deliberate complicity in the incident on the part of guards.
According to the information, the prison guard in the nearby watchtower was asleep when the prisoners escaped and the man in the control room who was supposed to be watching the screens that give a real-time view of the perimeter was not properly doing his job.
It also transpired that the prisoners spent more than 20 minutes getting out of their cell through the underground tunnel they had excavated, without anyone noticing.
Israel Prison Service Commissioner Katy Perry said Thursday that she has "no plans" to step down over the Gilboa Prison fiasco, as law enforcement officials ventured that the IPS will have to answer to an independent commission of inquiry on the matter.
The manhunt for the six Palestinian terrorists who escaped the maximum-security prison in northern Israel on Monday entered its fourth day on Thursday, with efforts including police and military forces, Shin Bet security service agents, and Border Police troops.
The IPS confirmed that five of the six fugitives are members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Four of them are serving life sentences over terrorist attacks or affiliation with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The other two had been held on administrative detention pending their indictment.
The group included Zakaria Zubeidi, a notorious commander in Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, who is currently on trial for attempted murder as well as two dozen other crimes.
As the manhunt for the six intensified over the Rosh Hashanah holiday, riots broke out in several facilities holding Palestinian security prisoners.
Palestinian inmates torched seven cells in Ketziot Prison over IPS efforts to move them to different locations. Fires were also reported at Ramon and Megiddo prisons.
Immediately following the jailbreak, all of the security prisoners at Gilboa prison were relocated and dispersed throughout other maximum prisons in the country.
Israel Prison Service Commissioner Katy Perry
Faced with growing criticism, Perry, who was named IPS commissioner eight months ago, issued a missive to all Prison Service Personal addressing the jailbreak.
Making it clear that she had no intention of resigning her post, Perry wrote, "I am here to continue leading you and together, we will continue to serve the State of Israel and the public."
The prison break, she wrote, "Is a grave event that dealt a blow to the very core of our operations – standing guards over the inmates. There is no doubt that we are going through a difficult, rattling, and formative event, which will undoubtedly have serious implications.
"This is a difficult time for all of us, and we are required to bravely face it, investigate what happened across the board and conduct extensive learning processes that will advance our work."
Perry has so far ordered to increase security in all prions, canvass cells and wards, bolster the deployment of prison guards, and move security prisoners between maximum-security facilities, so as to break up any Palestinian Islamic Jihad's power structures.
Palestinian media reported on Thursday that following the jailbreak, the IPS has canceled visits for all Palestinian prisoners.
The order is expected to remain in place in tandem with the closure imposed on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip ahead of the High Holidays.
The Gilboa Prison escape is one of the worst jailbreaks in Israel's history, and the details slowly emerging as the investigation unfolds are revealing a series of gross failures by the IPS.
Calls for Perry's dismissal or resignation over the fiasco have been growing. Some law enforcement officials have called for the formation of an independent commission of inquiry, while the Public Security Ministry said it will review the results of the IPA investigation before ruling on the matter.
"The escape from Gilboa Prison is not an isolated failure. These failures have been going on for years," a senior law enforcement official told Walla news.
"The more details come to light over how events unfolded during the prison break the more we understand the magnitude of this fiasco," he continued. "There is no way to avoid the formation of an external and independent commission of inquiry to dig into the circumstances that led to the jailbreak."
Still, a Public Security Ministry official said that, "At this stage, our efforts are focused on three things: One – find the fugitives; two - calming the situation in the prisons, and three – having the police and the IPA investigate the incident.
Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev "will formulate his position on the matter only after he reviews the findings, and it very well may include taking action against the relevant functionaries."
Bar-Lev and Perry visited Ketziot on Thursday and commended the facility's personnel for how they handled Wednesday's prison riots.
"We will leave no stone unturned in order to find out what caused this failure," he pledged, saying that the investigation will look at the "local level of the prison and the general implications for the Prison Service."
EDITOR'S NOTE: Dig a tunnel that size with a spoon? Where did they pile the dirt? They had to have help, both from the outside and from corrupt prison staff.
But most important of all: Do not fire Katy Perry! You cannot fire anyone as beautiful as she is.
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