Excellent and intelligent people who have handled their son's situation brilliantly! They are to be totally admired.

gepordized very selfidh they think on their son but what the cost of the others who ricked their lives or even die R they willing to let someone else son murderer get loose just because they want their son back? r they willing to give Hamas the reson to kidnappe future soldiers, very selfish.

What would Hamas say if Israel said we want 20 prisoners in exchange for a tape & a Koran? A Koran & proof that their prisoners in Israeli jails are considered basic human rights by Hamas but Shalit even the most simple thing like a prayer book has to be part of a deal which involves the release of prisoners. If Israel is unwilling to show courage & strengh to stand up to its enemies then it deserves to be pushed around and made a fool of by them. Rewards come through courage not cowardice.

and the world can see them. We cannot even see shalit or visit him!!!

they have never stood in the place where Noam and Aviva are standing (and with the help of God and the IDF they should never stand there) so how is it that some of the TBers allow themselves to make the statements they are making in their TBs?

One cannot even begin to compare the differences between Gilad and the Palestinian prisoners. You have to be dumb,blind, deaf, or just plain evil to even think to compare. Actually, it should not even be mentioned in the same sentence. My apologies for doing so. One of ours is worth how many criminals?

TO GHOSTQ: Question: Do you have children? For you to use the word selfish to describe the Shalit's is mind-boggling. If it were my son - God Forbid - I would be screaming, yelling, cursing, falling on the ground, and I don't know what else.

I'm pretty sure that if in the Shalits' situation, I would risk the lives of others' to save my child's life. And I hope that holds true for all parents who love their children.

Israel doesn't recognize Hamas as the democratically elected government and the legitimate armed forces of the Palestinians. Israel didnt recognize it in 2006, so why the complaints? On the other hand, Israel is recognized by the entire world, including Hamas when it signed the Arab peace Plan of 2002 authorizing its support for the two-state solution and normailization of ties with israel. Shalit was taken prisoner because he supports illegally occupying soneone else's land. This is what happens in war, and you are not an exception. In israeli jails, there are over 1000 administrative detainess who are being held for no reason, without any charges made or w/o trial by judge/jury. So much for democracy. Even the israeli governemnt doesnt know why they are being held. Get a clue, please.

the mothers and fathers of the 12000 kidnapped palestinians being held in israeli dungeons are also feeling the pain.

Most parents in Israel have, at some stage, a child in the army. Many of us have children in active service, around gaza, Lebanon, in Judea and Sumaria. My son was there when the "Lebanon" deal came thru. You say I have not stood in their shoes... This is Israel. We are close, both because of our own sons, and because we are one family.

Hamas never recognized, much less signed, any so-called "peace plan" including the "Saudi plan." Hamas has declared repeatedly that it will settle for nothing less than the total annihilation of the state of Israel and the extermination and expulsion of its entire Jewish population, something of which you are perfectly well aware and in fact you support. No one here believes your stupid lies.

have sent their children to murder innocent Jews! In other words those mothers and fathers are responsible for their own pain!

Not really. They are selfish and willing to risk the State of Israel for the sake of one soldier who was sleeping while on duty. That's how he got kidnapped in the first place. He should be court-martialed for imperiling the State of Israel. His parents can go to hell, as far as I am concerned.

I guess it would depend on whether or not you are willing to sacrifice the lives of Jews in the State of Israel for a son who was derelict in his duty. To me, that's a no-brainer. The Shalits are terribly selfish.

Bravo!

If your son was captured in battle, you would be doing the exact same thing as his parents are. You have no bloody right to tell them to go to Hell.

The Shalits are not selfish they just can't see the bigger picture because they want their son home which is natural. I do think though the government should not be letting them in on whats going on he might be their son but this is a political issue and it has to be decided by a hopefully responsible government not an unelected emotional family. The ordinary people who are campaigning for Shalits return at any price are the selfish ones who have become intentionally or not a Hamas lobby group pushing Hamas cause inside Israel. There is more to this than 1 man. Fatah & Hamas have just agreed on a joint policy to kidnap as many soldiers as they can because they have seen Israel buckles under to their demands when they do that. Shalit is 1 man and the security of the many must be put first. Do a deal sure but nothing like what Hamas are demanding. Gilad Shalit was not derelict in his duty the ones who were derelict were the men in charge. Hamas tunneled into an IDF base they killed 2 soldiers and kidnapped Shalit. How can the men running a camp like that allow terrorists to tunnel in they are the ones who should have been put on trial for neglect.