That is not the claim of some crazy, ethnocentric Jew who fails to appreciate the sacredness of all human life. It is the policy of Hamas, the Islamic government in Gaza. Stories today make it clear that Hamas wants anywhere from 400-600 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, in exchange for one Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit.
While, I appreciate the argument made by some in Israel that so many prisoners, hundreds of whom have “blood on their hands” i.e. actively participated in violence against civilians, is too high a price to pay, I think they are wrong. But that is a different story.
What I cannot fathom is why Palestinians across Gaza and across the world do not stand up against what Hamas is doing. Why do they not rise up against a policy which believes that each of their fathers, husbands and brothers is worth only 1/600th of a Jewish life?

This is not about softening their resistance to Israel — I operate under no misguided expectation about that even if I wish it were so. This is about a community mobilizing itself around the value of its own members, its own citizens, more than it does around the destruction of others.
In fact, it would be interesting to see what would happen if Hamas were to identify the one man with the most blood on his hands, the one person whose release would cause Israel the greatest distress, and offer a one for one exchange. The truth is, when Hamas is ready to make deals like that, and when Israel is ready to sign off on them, there will be reason for new hope on both sides of the border which divides two peoples.