Noam Shalit: Young Have A Real Influence

By Zeddy Lawrence - Thursday 23rd July 2009


Young British athletes competing in the Maccabiah Games took a break from pursuing medals this week to attend a Q&A with the father of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.

In an emotional address to the 170 junior members of Team GB - many of them the same age as his captive son who was seized three years ago by Hamas terrorists - Noam Shalit recalled the plight of another Israeli declared missing in action, Ron Arad.

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"Several governments failed to bring him back," he said, "and unfortunately we lost him. Everybody should learn from this lesson." He also revealed that he'd personally tried to make contact with Hamas leaders in an attempt to get access to his son. However, he said: "Those with influence, the decision-makers are not willing to talk to the family.

"We don't have any clue about his health," added Noam, "because Hamas prevent any access to him by bodies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross." Asked what Jews worldwide could do to help, he urged the global community to "put pressure on the ICRC to be more determined, more assertive to obtain access to Gilad and fulfil its duty by international law".

He went on to criticise the UK and USA for pressurising Israel to ease border restrictions on Gaza, while failing to speak up for his son. "These governments don't mention there is still an open account... an unresolved issue between Israel and the Palestinians."

The evening also featured a talk from Amir Goldshmidt, an 18-year-old member of the Shalit campaign, who is due to begin his army service in three months. He asked the audience: "Who is 18 years old? You could also be Gilad Shalit.

"We need to go into the army in Israel, to serve our country and we're glad to do it."

But expressing his despair at the failure to secure Gilad's release, he added: "I go into the army knowing I could die or be injured, but I want to know my government would do anything to get me out of there."

Noam told the Jewish News after the event: "It's very touching that young people are interested in such issues. They are not expected to show any interest in this crisis but it seems they do and they show they are involved."

He added: "They are part of the Jewish community in the UK - they can have an influence through their parents or through their youth movements. The main thing though is to raise awareness of the issue of Gilad."

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