You might call it the Samir Kuntar Effect. “Jordan urged to free killer of Israeli schoolgirls,” from Agence France-Presse, July 21:
AMMAN: King Abdullah II was urged on Sunday to pardon a Jordanian soldier who is serving a life sentence for killing seven Israeli schoolgirls in 1997. “After around 12 years in prison, Ahmad Dakamseh deserves your majesty’s special pardon,” a group of 70 Islamists, unionists, lawyers, human rights activists and former officials said in a signed letter to the king. In March 1997, Dakamseh fired an automatic weapon at a group of Israeli schoolgirls as they visited Baqura, a scenic peninsula on the Jordan River near the Israeli border, killing seven and wounded five others as well as a teacher. “Following the recent release of Arab prisoners, we hope to see Dakamseh free again,” they said, referring to Israel’s prisoner swap with Lebanon’s Hizbullah last week. The signatories Islamic Action Front secretary general Zaki Bani Rsheid, former prime minister and intelligence department director Ahmad Obeidat, Jordan Bar Association head Saleh Armouti, and Hani Dahleh, president of the Arab Human Rights Organization. “The current political stage requires a policy that would make people happy and ease their socio-economic and political pressures. Pardoning Dakamseh will have a great effect on people,” the letter said