What you need to know about the Terrorist-Israeli hostage exchange

Today's hostages-for-terrorists exchange needs to be seen in its proper perspective. This isn't a victory for diplomacy. It's proof that appeasement doesn't work. Let's be clear about this. Israel isn't the appeaser in this situation. Biden's administration is the appeaser because his administration caved to pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas political pressure.

Rather than stand on firm moral ground, Biden's administration pushed for a pause or cease-fire. Today, Israel paid the first installment of convicted terrorists-for-innocent civilians. Israel agreed to return 150 Hamas terrorists in exchange for 50 innocent Israeli civilians. When Biden pushed for the cease-fire, Israel didn't have a friend left in the world.

This is and was a civilians-for-terrorists swap. It's foolish to think that the Biden administration will learn what President Reagan knew about negotiating -- that putting the fear of God into the people you're negotiating with yields the best results. Negotiating with Iranian-funded terrorists means starting with a negotiating disadvantage. The good news is that it can be overcome. Mutually-assured destruction doesn't work with terrorists because they want to become martyrs.

Consistent moral leadership, like the leadership Israel has provided, highlights who the barbarians are and  who the civilized are. Europeans are spineless but they're pro-civilization. They can be manipulated into doing the right thing.

The hostages return to Israel

The so-called pro-Palestinian activists aren't part of the civilized world. They're mostly pro-terrorist, eliminating them from consideration as pro-civilization. Compare these activists' behavior with Israel's behavior. The truth is that you can't. The activists' actions aren't civilized. Under the worst conditions imaginable, Israel didn't deviate from its pro-civilization principles. By comparison, Hamas didn't deviate from its anti-civilization principles.

According to the above video, 3 families were released. The Asher family, the Aloni family and the Monder family. The 9-year-old boy (Ohad Monder), his 54-year-old mother (Keren Monder) and his 78-year-old grandmother (Ruth Monder) were released. However, his grandfather remains in captivity. It's safe to say that the terrorists holding the grandfather captive fit the description of barbarians. The grandfather is a civilian.

The Squad defends barbarians, terrorists

In the early days after the Oct. 7 Massacre, the Squad called for a cessation of aid for Israel:

Squad Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) called for an end to U.S. aid to Israel, while Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called to end "unconditional" military aid. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said "this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue" unless the funds are cut off.

Tlaib, a Palestinian American, did not mention Hamas and made only a passing reference to the recent violence in her statement, which decried the "Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day."

QUESTION: Why didn't Tlaib mention Hamas? I think Ed has the answer in this article:

Note the use of the name 'Jerusalem,' as opposed to East Jerusalem. Hamas wants all of Israel under its control, including and especially Jerusalem. Hamas has always meant "From the river to the sea" literally, no matter what its apologists and terror-symps in the West claim.

Hamas isn't interested in the niceties of civilization. They're into the barbarities of ancient societies.