main purpose of what they did.

far from it. Why don't you move to Gaza to help Hamas?

The so called peace activists are not at all interested in humanitarian aid. It is all political senseless anti Israeli movement that has nothing to do with humanitarianism. If they want to p[rove me wrong all they have to do is take the package for Gilad Shalit, very easy.

"Administrative detention" law in Israel lets it put Palestinians in jail for years without trial. So the fact Shalit did not have a trial is not a big deal. At a minimum he's considered a P.O.W. As for visitation rights, Hamas obviously cannot reveal his exact location for fear of a jail breaking attempt by the IDF. But hopefully and I would expect that Hamas as an islamic group adheres to good Islamic war ethics and provides him a dignified P.O.W treatment. Israeli jails are not exactly a walk in the park for Palestinians where torture is common practice. Everytime I see the outrage about shalit I cannot help but think we won't evolve out of this conflict until we recognize the humanity of the other side and to think for a minute what the mothers of hundreds of little boys and girls are going through with their children behind bars.

If you believe in law there is no excuse for Hamas not to allow regular visits of Shalit by the international Red Cross. This is International law and Israel provides it. As you see by abiding to the Geneva conventions and allowing the right of visitation to prisoners Israel is recognizing the humanity of her Arab / Hamas prisoners. Hamas / Arabs are not.

If the people of Israel really cared about Shalit there would be constant protests and demands that the government negotiate for his release, yet there is only silence and inaction. The humanitarian aid mission to Gaza is not about one Israeli POW, it is about focusing the worlds attention on the millions of Palestinian civilians imprisoned in Gaza who are suffering due to Israel's collective punishment imposed because they democratically elected leaders who Israel does not like. Clearly logic dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one.

NY FIRST THOUGHT WAS THAT THE SHALIT FAMILY HAS WORKED TOGHETER WITH THE IDF, TO TEST THIS GAZA FLOTTILIAS AIM. BY THE WAY - IS THIS REALLY YOU ???. HMMM ???. Arn.

He is a POW and under international law is entitled to packages and visits by International Red Cross. BUT on the other hand when has Israel ever abided by international law? When did Israel sign the NNPT? When did Israel allow inspection of Dimona? When did Israel obey the numerous guidlines set forth by UN resolutions calling for the return of the Occupied Territories to its rightful owners? And the whole idea of giving packages or letting people visit Shalit is a ruse anyway. If Hamas did either one of those things the Israeli military would have an instantaneous lock on Shalit's location. They would go in with guns blazing. That would be the worst case scenaro for Shalit. There are some Israeli politicians and ranking IDF officers that wouldn't mind if Shalit were dead. It wouldn't matter if Shalit were killed by Hamas or friendly fire. Their problem would be solved one way or the other.

Yet all of these so-called humanitarians invent 'international laws' that don't even exist. Until we have the same rights as the rest of the world there are no rights for anybody. Ever single one of those ships should be sunk on sight as international law states.

is, no matter what you say, Shalit is NOT being treated humanely nor according to the Geneva convention. As far as torture in Israeli prisons...have you seen the interviews with the Hamas leader's son who worked against Hamas in an Israeli prison??? He did so because the ones who torture other Palestinians in prison are Hamas members...like his very own uncle. That should shed some light on who the brutes are...He was turned off by become revolted with the brutality of his own people against members of their own group! Go figure....

that he is being held imprisoned with no one to see him, even the red cross or a human rights organization for 4 years, with horrible conditions, nobody but his kidnappers knows his fate or even only if he is still alive, while the captive TERRORISTS in Israel are getting three meals a day, tv rights, visiting rights, options for academic studies, solidaty visits, and medical tritments... hmmm, a bit unbalanced isn't it?

You mean sixteen and seventeen year olds who fire guns, explosives, mortars and rockets, don't you? "Children", Ali? More like evidence of how Hamas shapes the lives of the citizenry under its command into a violent and hatefilled lifestyle. Aren't you concerned about how people chafe under Hamas' authority, how opposition groups are executed by shooting after short "trials" in "Court" if not thrown from rooftops or crippled in their knees? Do you have compassion for the women denied rights under fundamentalist Sharia law enacted upon the masses? Of course, you reside in Washington, D.C., where none of this hits you on a day-to-day basis. There's something perfectly hollow in your objections, Ali.

This shows their true colors. They don't support human rights. They support Palestinian rights. Supoorting Palestinian rights is fine, just don'r present yourselve as a human rights supporter.

Get over yourself. Most of the people in Israeli jails are there because they committed crimes - either supported or perpetuated attacks, or just common criminals, like car thieves. Can we assume that you believe Fatah men arrested in Gaza are now "kidnapped" and should be released?

accepting the Geneva convention in the Shalit case means that Israel recognize Hamas ruled Gaza as sovereign state which Israel NEVER accepts. Wait till the Gaza flotilla brings in intention detectors for the Palestinians to see what Israel really intends.

There's a lot of accusations against Israel but no real proof of torture in our jails. Long interrogations? Lack of sleep? Hardly "torture", at least in comparison to the "Holiday Inn of Gaza City" run by Hamas. Even Pally women have come out against Turkish claims of torture by admitting no torture occurs. So, who to believe? "Palestinian" women in Israeli jails....or a smug Arab 10,000 km away? Tough call.

But here's the conundrum which often unveils the sinister intentions of Leftists... they demand States adhere to the Geneva Convention and Intl Laws (often bastardizing the laws in the process) yet protest heavily to the inclusion of terror or rebel groups under those same conventions. Meaning - they purposely tie the hands of States to act, even in self-defense, but give non-State entities a free hand to commit war crimes and abuse human rights. At this point, Israel should consider Hamas a sovereign ruler, then go in a wipe them out.

Please stop your tired justifications for Hamas' brutality and war crimes. The ICRC MUST be allowed to visit Gilad no matter what. The ICRC now gives first aid training to the Taliban. I'm pretty sure they can be trusted with not revealing Gilad's location, which is changed every couple of days anyway. Your's is a lousy excuse to justify racist crimes.

that while the palestinians prisoners enjoy a good meal, education, health benefits etc. Gilad is not even allowed a visit from the red cross!

All this nonsense about Hamas being democratically elected in Hamastan and being a fine upstanding organisat ion of international repute etc.Hamas rules the territory with an iron fist after it brutally murdered the previous Fatah/PLO regime plus it is the sole employer there of tunnel diggers and smugglers who pay their ill gotten rewards back to the Hamas leadership through inflated black maket prices on the smuggled in foodstuffs etc. what hypocrisy but also huge profits for the callous Hamas leadership .

What,s the big deal with thousands of school kids who instead of getting a solid education in life skills are too busy throwing stones etc. at highly trained military/police personnel at least they get tthree good meals a day and TV/other social activities in prison ,comparing this to Gilad Shalit,s pre dicament is like chalk and cheese, not comparable?