There is a poem called The Prisoner of Chillon by George Byron about the incarceration of François Bonivard, a swiss patriot, for twnety-one years. I remember talking about him in relation to the release of Nelson Mandela because George Byron ends the poem with saying that after so long, a part of François Bonivard’s life would always remain inside those castle walls. I didn’t think Nelson Mandela would ever forget the smell, the sound of the doors, the look on the guards, the regime under which he had been held.
So, too, I don’t think the Israeli hostages being released will have lives in which they will be able to wholly forget.
#hostages
#gaza