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.

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…)

Deja Vu

We Israelis watch the growing outrage against us and wonder whether the world has gone mad. How is it possible, we ask each other, that after suffering an unprecedented terrorist campaign, we’re portrayed as bullies for finally trying to uproot the threat? Why does so much of the world seem to get indignant not when Israelis are being massacred and turned into a nation of terrorized shut-ins but when we hit back?

The article by Yossi Klein Halevi quoted above was written not in 2008 or 2009, but in 2002, when Israel entered the West Bank town of Jenin to put an end to the terrorist attacks launched from there.  via Does the World Prefer It When Jews Are Victims? – Los Angeles Times.

Still not the post I’m writing ruminating on the current situation in the south.  Lisa, on the other hand, has written a whopper. While I don’t agree with a lot of what she’s said, it’s still worth reading every word, including the links.

We’re having a war, and you?

A letter received yesterday from a close friend in America:

Yuk…what a terrible time. I pray for you all and am scared to see all that is going on.  Where are your boys…still status quo?  And would your daughter have to come home if called upon?  it’s just never over is it? Come to THIS desert for a while….we can sit and knit and drink coffee!   Love you.

My reply:

Our older son, who has been out of the army for nearly two years, already called his commanding officer and volunteered. Regardless, there’s no place for him at the moment. His entire high school class was very motivated to get into combat units, so there are a number of them already called up.

Our youngest is not in a combat unit and in fact can’t be because of health issues. This doesn’t prevent the army from sending him to do guard duty on a base somewhere. At the moment he is still taking courses so unless total war breaks out (G*d forbid), he’s a student.

Our daughter is exempt from the army, although her old unit is quite busy at the moment.

Over? We’d love for it to be over, so would our Arab neighbors. That’s the crux of the problem.

Love you too.

The above email was edited to remove personal bits and for clarity.

Comments on this post are moderated and polite discussion is always welcome.

There is another post coming about the Gaza War, but this will let you know how things are with us at the moment.

P.S. the title of this post is not meant to be flippant. It just expresses for me how detached some people seem over what is happening here.