while this distinction may seem pedantic, it is fairly crucial. without it, there is no way to condemn the u.s.’s guantanamo/bagram/abu ghraib gulag, which attempts to redefine both prisoners of war and political prisoners into non-existence. without it, there would have been no way to condemn the south african government’s treatment of ANC political prisoners; no way to condemn the british government’s treatment of IRA prisoners of war; no way to condemn the israeli government’s imprisonment of conscription resisters.

here’s the crucial difference:
prisoners of war are held according to well-established international law, codified under the geneva conventions. their treatment must accord with certain norms, and they are understood to be held only due to the war they have been participating in.
political prisoners – those jailed because of their stated or alleged political beliefs or affiliations – are by definition illegally held. international law demands their immediate release.

to accept the fantasy that shalit is a political prisoner does two things, and two things only – both of which are the precise reasons why the israeli right propagandizes the notion:

it denies that the israeli government is, and has been for decades, engaged in a war on palestinians. a war in which it has killed over 300 people in the past few days alone, destroyed countless acres of farmland and thousands of houses in the past few years alone, and held 1.5 million civilians captive in the gaza ghetto for months for the specific, state purpose of starving them into submission.

it insults the brave israeli and palestinian prisoners held by the israeli government for their political beliefs: both the palestinian non-violent resisters held indefinitely without trial in ‘administrative detention’ and the israeli conscription resisters held on endlessly renewable sentences for their refusal to participate in the israeli state’s war on palestinians.

if you want to make a show of support for shalit, call for him to be treated as a POW under the geneva convention. but don’t undermine basic distinctions of international law and human rights by calling him a political prisoner.