Reply #76: At this point I think that's a risk that should be taken... [View All]

[Violet_Crumble]

A prisoner exchange is the only solution I can think of that has the best chance of the soldier being returned alive and without Palestinian civilians being killed....

I've got a question about being careful, and I'll stick a disclaimer before I ask even though I'm sure one or two folk will promptly ignore it: There's clearly no justification for the kidnapping of hitch-hikers. My question is about hitch-hiking. I remember a while back there was an attack on a group of hitch-hikers in the West Bank, and hitch-hikers are incredibly vunherable. So why do people still hitch-hike in the West Bank? It's dangerous at the best of times anywhere, but in occupied territory it'd be even more so. When I used to drive to Sydney years ago I used to see the backpackers trying to hitch a ride on the Hume Highway on the outskirts of Sydney, but since a serial killer murdered seven backpackers who hitched rides with him, there's been very few backpackers around Casula. The media attention generated overseas (most of the victims were foreign tourists) got the word out that hitch-hiking here was dicing with death, so I'd be hoping there'll be a similar effect in Israel...