Students for Shalit
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Students to march to Jerusalem for Shalit
120 high school students plan to walk 90 km to PM's residence in support of kidnapped soldier
Some 120 religious high school students and teachers from Raanana plan to march to Jerusalem Monday in support of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
The march has been planned to end at the Prime Minister's Residence, after which marchers will pray at the Western Wall.
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All 120 students, teachers, and rabbis from the 'Amit' yeshiva in central Israel will leave on the 90 km journey Monday morning and are scheduled to arrive in Jerusalem on Thursday.
The students have written a letter they plan to hand Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Almost three years have passed since soldier Gilad Shalit was captured and he is being held in Gaza," they write.
"Though we have never met Gilad, he is our brother. He is a soldier who went forth to protect us and all of Israel. We must not sleep peacefully without having done something for him every day."
The letter adds, "Israel cannot allow itself a situation in which Gilad is held prisoner in the caves of Gaza for three years without a glimmer of hope. Israel's government owes its soldiers and citizens a much more adamant war for Gilad. We are high school students who want to serve this country faithfully and in the name of all students in this country we cry: Do not forget Gilad."
Rabbi Avinoam Almagor, principle of the yeshiva, explained his students wanted to show support for Shalit and that they hoped the march would "wake up the people of Israel to do something for Gilad Shalit until he returns home".
