Part of the Problem: Baskin on Prisoner Swap

Sir, - When reading of Gershon Baskin's activities aimed at effectuating the prisoner exchange deal, I could not escape the thought that places Baskin himself as part of the wider problem.

In describing the Hamas spokesman Dr. Ghazi Hamad as "sharing the same values of humanity, compassion, and hope for peace", Baskin declares his warped appreciation of the terrorist morality and value system. This helps explain the fact that despite his many high level contacts with 'humanitarian' Hamas, Baskin does not insist that Gilad Schalit be allowed visits by the Red Cross as required by international law.

Baskin's equanimity when faced with Hamas's grotesque demand for the release of over a thousand inmates of Israel's prisons in exchange for one Israeli soldier, undoubtedly gave them the impression that the disproportionality was acceptable.

In Baskin's constant use of the term 'prisoner exchange' and ignoring the fact that they included mass murderers with rivers of blood on their hands, he helps blur the distinctions between good and evil.

ZEV CHAMUDOT
Petach Tikva