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Photo: Yishai Butbul
Rallying in London
Photo: Yishai Butbul

Brightening the new year for Gilad Shalit

Zionist Federation in UK collects over 2,000 holiday cards for captive soldier; Red Cross promises to try and deliver them

This upcoming Rosh Hashanah will mark Gilad Shalit's third in captivity, but many in Israel and abroad are trying to send him some holiday cheer: The Jewish community in London collected over 2,000 holiday cards and packages for Shalit in recent weeks, which will be transferred to the Red Cross in hopes that they will somehow make their way to the captive soldier.

 

The initiative - which encouraged British citizens of all faiths to submit holiday cards for Shalit to the Israeli embassy in London - was spearheaded by the Zionist Federation in the United Kingdom, in conjunction with the UK-based paper, the Jewish News.

 

Lior Ben-David, the spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London, confirmed that over two thousand cards had been received by the embassy and passed on to Israel.

 

The initiative is one of a number of projects launched in the past few months to highlight the plight of Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas in 2006. Simultaneous projects included a march and rally in London this past week, entitled "Walking for Gilad, Walking for Freedom."

 

British ambassador to Israel Tom Phillips is expected to transfer the cards and packages to the head of the Red Cross delegation in Tel Aviv, and request their help in making sure they get to Shalit.

 

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as well as the leaders of Britain's Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, took part in the initiative, all signing holiday cards for Shalit.

 

Gavin Gross, the director of the Zionist Federation, said the idea for the cards was developed by a number of young Israelis living in London, adding that he was very glad the Red Cross had agreed to cooperate and pass along the cards to their branch in Gaza.

 

Hamas is holding Shalit in violation of human rights law, without allowing access even to verify his medical condition, Gross said. He expressed hope that the soldier's captors would find it in their hearts to give Shalit the holiday cards.

 

Red Cross representatives, for their part, promised to do their best to ensure that the cards would be delivered, but emphasized that the final say was, obviously, in the hands of those holding Shalit.

 


פרסום ראשון: 09.26.08, 08:55
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