"Hold on and be strong"
On 25 June 2006 19-year-old Israeli conscript, Gilad Shalit, was captured by Hamas in a raid on the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom crossing in the Gaza Strip. Hamas has said they will release Gilad in return for a specified list of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails. He has been denied access to neutral international humanitarian bodies and is now the only Israeli solder to remain in the territory. On the first anniversary of his capture Hamas released an audio recording of Gilad, proving he was still alive. Since then several letters - confirmed as having been written by Gilad have been sent to his family. As he is a dual Israeli-French national, France has been working for his release along with former US President Carter who met with Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal earlier this year.
The Arab speaks to Noam Shalit who tells us that Ehud Olmert must bring his son home, the EU should condemn his captivity and that Gilad needs to remain strong.
Tell us a little bit about Gilad. What is he like as a person?
He was very young when he was captured, just a regular boy. Quite shy and introverted. He is one of three children. He liked sport. He had just graduated from high school when he commenced his time in the army [military service is three years in Israel] so he hadn’t planned his future.
Did he enjoy military service?
He found the training period difficult but he overcame this. And he wanted to serve in the combat unit to which he was assigned. He didn’t speak much about this as he is not much of a talker. He was 11 months into his service when he was captured.
When was the last time you saw him and what is your last memory
of him?
The last time I saw him was a few days before he was taken. He was at home watching the football World Cup on the television.
Who do you feel has done the most to help your son’s case; Israel, France, President Carter?
Well up until now I cannot say that any single country has helped the most. We are maintaining contact with the French authorities and I think that President Sarkozy has the power to push things in
the Middle East. So I hope he can influence things behind the scenes. Since President Carter’s intervention earlier this year we have been in contact with his advisors. President Carter tried to pass a letter from the family to Gilad via Hamas in Ramallah, but they [Hamas] rejected it. The European Community should condemn this cruel method of captivity. He is being held in complete isolation with no access to an independent body to verify his condition or to visit him.
What would you like Israel’s next step to be?
I would like to see an acceptable prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel. I hope to see Hamas and Israel bargaining for this through Egypt, but there are a lot of internal Palestinian issues preventing this at the moment. Hamas and Egyptian officials met in Cairo on 8 October but I don’t know what the outcome of this will be.
Have you had any direct contact with Tzipi Livni since she became leader of the Kadima Party?
No. We are expecting Ehud Olmert to fulfil his duty for as long as he remains Prime Minister. We are not looking to anyone else yet.
Did the confirmation that Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev [the two Israeli soldiers captured by Hizbullah in July 2006 and whose remains were returned to Israel in July 2008] were dead shock
you and are you in contact with their families?
We were not shocked as we had already heard that the probability was that they were no longer alive. We are in contact with both families and they are helping us with our struggle and raising their voices with us.
You were in the UK recently, raising the profile of Gilad , and met Alan Johnston [the BBC reporter kidnapped and held in Gaza for four months in 2007] . How did that go?
I met Alan and he tried to encourage us by saying being held was not so horrible. But the two situations are very different. He knew the Palestinians well, his time in captivity was shorter and he was
older.
If you could say something to Gilad now, what would that be?
To hold on and to be strong as much as he can. This is very tough for him and he is so young.
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