YouTube project marks 3 years without Gilad

(Vidoe) YouTube video showing people from around the world reading a children's story written by Gilad Shalit when he was 11, released to raise awareness to kidnapped soldier's plight

Ynetnews |Published: 06.25.09 , 08:58

VIDEO - Children from around the world have come together in order to bring attention to the third anniversary of the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit. The Consulate General of Israel in New York has initiated a multi-pronged new media approach that highlights the universality of this human-rights issue by engaging a worldwide audience through YouTube and Twitter.

Courtesy of the Foreign Ministry

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This project prominently features a story written by Shalit, "When the Shark and the Fish First Met," about two sea animals (a shark and a fish) that were raised to hate and fear one another but then realized that everyone would be happier by making peace. This beautiful story of friendship between unlikely beings was written by Shalit when he was in the fifth-grade.

In order to emphasize the international support for Gilad Shalit, the Consulate enlisted the help of Israeli embassies in countries throughout Europe. A YouTube video released today, shows people from around the world reading Shalit’s story in their native languages. The video features a single reading of the story in several languages, among them English, Italian, German, French, and Spanish, with English subtitles.

This latest initiative comes on the heels of last year’s successful project , a video featuring fifth-grade students from New York echoing Shalit’s call for peace and coexistence by reading his story, which drew in worldwide widespread attention to Shalit, his plight, and his dream.

David Saranga, Consul for Media and Public Affairs in New York, who initiated the project, explained, “Thanks to the new media tools we have at our disposal, like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, we can bring this important humanitarian message to the attention of the public around the world.”

In conjunction with the video project, the Consulate has embraced an initiative on Twitter to promote the use of the #Gilad hashtag. The Consulate is encouraging all of its followers and interested parties to raise the profile of this hashtag by using it in all Twitter communications in the coming days and especially on Thursday, June 25.