RAMALLAH, June 11 (JMCC) - Israelis of all walks of life are stopping in to visit the Shalit family and their supporters as the protest for their son's release.
Soldier Gilad Shalit was captured by Palestinian armed groups in 2006, and is believed to be held in the
Gaza Strip. Discussions have been held over a prisoner's swap in exchange for Shalit, but negotiations stalled over the issue of where hundreds of Palestinian prisoners would be released.
One of the volunteers, Dan Fishbein, from Kibbutz Afikim in the Galilee, who was among 150 who marched with the Schalits during the entire 11-day journey from their home in Mitzpe Hila to Jerusalem, said he was inspired by the image of Schalit suffering in captivity.
“There is a young man in tremendous pain right now, who hasn’t seen his family in 1,475 days,” Fishbein said.
“This needs to be the most important thing to consider.”
The tent is adorned with large cloth signs from the march bearing the signatures of thousands of people wishing Gilad Schalit well and hoping for his release.
On Friday morning, well-wishers passed by, giving encouragement to Schalit’s parents, Noam and Aviva.
They included people from all walks of life: haredim, Arabs, soldiers, the old and the young.
Read the story at the
Jerusalem Post...