I was chatting with a net-friend who is an Ashkenazi in Hadera, and they seemed very concerned about how Palestinians celebrate the release of prisoners who have killed people and so forth. It all seemed very brainwormed, for lack of a better word, but I myself don't know much about this topic. My impression is essentially that the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel concerns (1) seeing the Israeli justice system as illegitimate and apartheidist, (2) being revolted by the conditions that Palestinian prisoners in Israel are kept under, (3) seeing many of the prisoners as either innocent or otherwise undeserving of punishment.

So all in all, it made me think of the "Congo case" here in Norway, where two Norwegian citizens were sentenced to death for murder in the DRC. The trial and conviction were seen as illegitimate in Norway, and a lot of people here pushed for the prisoners to be returned to Norway, believing that they were innocent. One of the prisoners died, the other was eventually returned. I also think about the Basque prisoners, the prison abolition movement, things like that, but I don't know much about the Basque prisoners, either.

But yet my friend still says that "Palestinian terrorists and murderers are given hugs and candy upon returning" (paraphrase). To me this feels like a propagandistic framing meant to make Arabs look like they thirst for the blood of Jewish women and children and whatnot.

So, what is the best way to deprogram my net-friend from this idea? Which Palestinian prisoners' returns are welcomed and in what ways? Is the celebratory welcoming of these former prisoners a good thing? Do some Palestinian prisoners face retrials in Palestinian courts? Please, give me some ammunition.

Edit: I should clarify that this primarily concerned the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, although it touched on the ongoing prisoner exchange as well.