HAIFA, ISRAEL — News of the homecoming of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier in Palestinian captivity for five years, has sparked enthusiastic street parties in nearly every part of Israel. A celebratory atmosphere has permeated daily life since Shalit's confirmed return to Israel Oct. 18. Heard everywhere was the exclamation, "Gilad b'bayit!" or "Gilad's home!" Posters proclaiming "How good it is that Shalit is home!" sprung up on public roads.
Shalit was returned to Israel after an agreement between Israel and Hamas that he would be exchanged for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody. He is the first Israeli prisoner to be returned alive in 26 years.
Rachel Karas, an American Jewish student at the University of Haifa's International School, said she is very excited about his return to Israel.
"Gilad's imprisonment has shaped how I view the Arab-Israeli conflict because he was captured at about the same time I started paying attention to it," she said. "It's shaped how I view Israeli military policy in terms of the sacrifices they'll make for their soldiers."
But the happy mood in Israel is deeply affected by the knowledge that Shalit's return meant the release of 1,000 prisoners considered terrorists by Israelis. The prisoners' homecomings have been celebrated in areas like the West Bank as happily as Shalit's homecoming in Israel. Many Palestinian mothers have not seen their sons in decades.
Israel and Palestine have been locked in conflict for decades as the debate continues on whether Palestine should become a sovereign nation. Israeli settlements on what was formerly considered Palestinian territory are illegal by international law, but the settlements continue to grow. Violence and vandalism have increased in recent months, especially in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Recently, more than 100 graves in a Muslim cemetery outside Jaffa were spray painted with graffiti and a mosque was defaced in northern Israel. The Muslim house of worship, located in Tuba Zangaria in northern Israel, was also subject to arson in the same attack, where Qurans and prayer rugs, among other holy objects, were burned.
Israeli police arrested two West Bank Palestinian men for the deaths of an Israeli settler, Asher Palmer, and his son after causing them to crash by throwing rocks at their car as they drove near Kiryat Arba. Police believe these most recent attacks are rooted, at least partly, in retaliation for the settlers' deaths.
Israeli police suspect far-right-wing Israeli extremists, who do not represent the majority of Israelis, are carrying them out, either in protest of the removal of Israeli settlements in the West Bank or in retaliation for Palestinian attacks on Israelis, or both. Police have made several arrests.
Both the attacks by Palestinians on Jewish settlers and the vandalism to Muslim sites strike nerves within the Israeli populace. Bader Bader, a fourth- year student at the University of Haifa, grew up in Hourfish in northern Israel and holds an opinion in common with much of the Israeli population — namely, a disinclination for Israel to release Palestinian territory so that they can have their own state.
"I think the Palestinians have the right to declare independence, they have a land and everything," he said. "But it's not a good time because of the economy, they're not strong enough. In order to build a country you should empower them in the economy and with health care."
Bader also offered a partial solution to what is widely considered the crux of the conflict, the tension between Israel and Palestine.
"I think if Israel (empowers the Palestinians), it's going to be (better) for the two sides," he said. "You help someone, he's going to change the way he sees you. It will build a good relationship with the Palestinians"