Five Years and Four Months Later, A Homecoming

If you’re a regular visitor to my blog, you’ll certainly have noticed the banner over there in the top right corner of my blog’s sidebar. Sargent Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas on June 25th, 2006, when he was a 19 year-old corporal on active duty in the IDF. In Israel army service is compulsory for all young men and women and their tour of service ranges from 18 months to 3 years, followed by a lengthy reserve duty.

Gilad was not in Gaza when Hamas kidnapped him, he was within Israel’s borders at a military base. The terrorists who took him wounded from his tank were members of Hamas’ military wing. The other 2 troops in Gilad’s tank, including his commander, died, 5 others were wounded in the attack. Over the five-year period of his captivity, there were no visits from the Red Cross to ensure that his humanitarian rights were upheld, no routine proof of life given.

Until now, all the efforts to secure Gilad’s release have failed. In exchange for his return this upcoming week, Israel has agreed to release more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners, including some 450 terrorists who have directly caused the deaths of both Israelis and foreigners. They include Nasser Batima, jailed for planning a hotel bombing in Netanya during Passover in 2002 in which 30 Israelis were killed as well as Ahlam Tamimi, the Palestinian woman who drove the suicide bomber who attacked a Jerusalem pizza restaurant in 2001, killing 15 people. Also included on the list of those to be released are those who participated in the 2000 “lynching” in Ramallah of two Israeli reserve soldiers and those responsible for the abduction and murder of soldiers Nahshon Waxman, Avi Sasportas, Ilan Sa’adon and Shahar Simani.

There is not an Israeli who does not understand Aviva and Noam Shalit and the anguish they have suffered during their son’s 5-year captivity. And yet, while we rejoice with them in Gilad’s hopeful return, we cannot but wonder how long before someone else’s son or daughter becomes the next kidnap victim or the next victim of a terrorist act at the hands of one of those released in the exchange.

So while Hamas will be joyful and welcome their sons and daughters home with a hero’s welcome, Israelis will remain subdued. We have too much experience with the promises of terrorists to do otherwise.

Hoping that people and the media can give #giladshalit the space and time he needs to recover. Let him be #Gilad again before anything else.—
JenniferT (@wysiwygjt) October 12, 2011

Related:
News of Hamas-Israel prisoner deal met with apathy in Ramallah
Bereaved families petition High Court against Shalit deal

Update October 18, 2011:
09:10 – The news media have been talking non-stop since early this morning and as of now the pace has picked up to a frenzy. Still no sight of Gilad other than reports of his having been transferred to Egypt and the Rafiah border crossing. Celebrations in Ramallah, Um el Fahum and Gaza. Reports of calls for another kidnapping. Haniyeh confused why the world is celebrating the return of Shalit but not the Palestinian prisoners. East Jerusalem residents are demonstrating in the streets with Hamas flags.
09:30 – Two female terrorists, one mentioned above, have refused to leave the Red Cross bus so that they are not deported to Gaza.
09:45 – IDF confirms that Gilad has been transferred to Egypt.
09:55 – Thanks to the intervention of Egypt, one of the female terrorists will be deported directly to Egypt rather than Gaza. Not clear what is the fate of the 2nd female terrorist.
10:05 –  The prisoner exchange continues and you are invited to follow the developments on Ha’aretz’s Live Blog.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Sergeant First Class Gilad Shalit Enters Israel – ow.ly/70Ab9 #giladshalit—
IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) October 18, 2011

Can we get #GiladShalit to his home so we can get some good food in him. #JewishMothers—
Carol Warady (@carolw) October 18, 2011

AMEN! and later today, after so many, many days, my #giladshalit banner comes down.

Breaking! Beatles on Palestinian Bid for Statehood

Try to see it my way,
Do I have to keep on talking till I can’t go on?
While you see it your way,
Run the risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone.

Chorus:
We can work it out,
We can work it out.

Think of what you’re saying.
You can get it wrong and still you think that it’s all right.
Think of what I’m saying,
We can work it out and get it straight, or say good night.

Chorus:
We can work it out,
We can work it out.

Life is very short, and there’s no time
For fussing and fighting, my friend.
I have always thought that it’s a crime,
So I will ask you once again.

Try to see it my way,
Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong.
While you see it your way
There’s a chance that we might fall apart before too long.

Chorus:
We can work it out,
We can work it out.

Life is very short, and there’s no time
For fussing and fighting, my friend.
I have always thought that it’s a crime,
So I will ask you once again.

Try to see it my way,
Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong.
While you see it your way
There’s a chance that we might fall apart before too long.

Chorus:
We can work it out,
We can work it out.

Again, I’m not being flippant about this, but you have to admit there’s a lot in these lyrics that fits the Palestinian/Israeli dialog (or lack thereof) pretty well.

Frankly, both sides need more statesmen/women and less politicians. Unfortunately, politicians are all we have.

Moving right along at full tilt

Or is it tilt-a-whirl?

Trying hard not to think about all the things that still need doing before our Passover holiday in little over a week’s time. Things have become a bit more complicated while I deal with recovering from another bout of pneumonia (the 2nd in two months) and a third round of antibiotics. Everything leaves me breathless. Thankfully, I have two sisters-in-law to lean on for cooking (and a strange feeling to not be including my mother-in-law (z”l) in that sentence), though the festive meal is at our house. I’ll be leaning on my sons and husband for the post-meal cleanup, which takes almost as long as the cooking and preparation.

Also weighing heavily on our minds as we go into the week before Passover holiday is the current situation in the south, which picked up considerable speed this weekend. Since early Friday morning, at least 75 rocket and missile attacks have been launched from Gaza, including an anti-tank missile that was fired on a school bus, mortally wounding a 16 year-old student. Who knows how many more rocket attacks before this post is published Sunday morning Israel time.

Meanwhile, Mr. Haniyeh has asked that Israel stop retaliating, to which I can only reply, “Chad Gadya.”

Updated: seems I’m not alone in my thoughts on the latter subject. The Wifely Person Speaks. Go listen.

Better shared!

Israeli grand slam in the Marcel Bezençon Awards 2010

Harel Skaat, Israel-photo by aktivioslo on flickr

While certainly not a dedicated Eurovision fan like Laurie (make sure to check out her Eurovision page), I enjoy watching the contest not only for the talent, but also for the cheese. This year again had plenty of both.

Israel was expected to do well this year, but ended up in 14th place, still better than some icons of the Eurovision Song Contest who ended up in last place. After surviving two tortuous hours, my two picks were Germany and Belgium and at least I was right on one account.

But even before the contest final itself, the Eurovision entries are judged for the Marcel Bezençon Awards which include three categories: the journalists’, the composers’ and the commentators’ award. In the eight years that these awards have been running, this year was the first time that a single entry took all three prizes, and that was Israel.

In hindsight, had the date of the ESC or the Bezençon Awards been delayed by a day or two, I have my doubts that the voting would have gone this way no matter how talented the Israeli delegation was. But that is something best left for a post of its own.

via Israeli grand slam in the Marcel Bezençon Awards | News | Eurovision Song Contest – Oslo 2010.

Image credit: aktivioslo

I’d like to thank the Academy

There’s only one thing I can say after listening to our PM’s awards acceptance speech press conference last night about the unilateral cease fire in Gaza,

Where is

Gilad Shalit?!

(941 days in captivity and counting…)