Labour Party
Letter from Israeli Ambassador to Great Britain Ron Prosor
Aviv Gefen’s song dedicated to Gilad Schalit
Letter from Canon Andrew White
Thank you for inviting Andrew to be a guest at the “Walking for Gilad – Walking for Freedom” event. Unfortunately Andrew has a speaking engagement that evening so will be unable to attend. Andrew is very disappointed not to be able to be present at this significant demonstration. He wishes to convey his sincere support for the event.
As you know, Andrew has much experience in hostage negotiations and it is a matter very close to his heart. Over the last two years he has been very concerned by Gilad’s abduction. He considers it a very complex case and believes that it needs to be dealt with with a different strategy. He contributed to the initial investigations into Gilad’s kidnapping in 2006. He intends to resume his involvement once the British men kidnapped in Iraq in May 2007 have been released, were this appropriate to current investigations.
Thank you again for inviting Andrew to join you. We hope and pray that the event will raise awareness and commitment amongst those that can make a difference to the situation.
FRRME Office
Rabbi Dr. Bayfield
I am writing on behalf of the Movement for Reform Judaism to support your efforts to gain the release of Gilad Schalit. Towards the end of last year the Chair of the Movement, Stephen Moss and I met Mr and Mrs Schalit at their home and pledged ourselves to do all we could to advance Gilad’s release. We gained the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the British Ambassador to Israel, Tom Phillips. Reform members were encouraged to dedicate Chanukkah candles to Gilad and to write to the Israel Embassy in London. I met with Jeremy Bowen to urge the BBC to give a similar profile to Gilad Schalit as they had given to the BBC correspondent held captive in Gaza. However, none of this appears to have had any real affect. We are therefore particularly grateful that there are others who will not forget Gilad and his family and pledge ourselves to support you in every way we can.
Yours sincerely
Rabbi Dr Tony Bayfield
Head, The Movement for Reform Judaism
Senior Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem
Thank you … for the tireless efforts you expend in obtaining the freedom of Cpl. Shalit. Although I’m not Israeli … and a Christian living in Dripping Springs, Texas, I feel deeply grieved that Gilad’s captivity has gone on for so long without any resolution whatsoever.
Where is the UN on this injustice ?
Where indeed, is the international community ?
And why does Hamas still find asset value in holding this soldier captive ? By now, they should have had reason to discover that each and every second they are holding him is costing them dearly … in Palestinian lives, in Palestinian economic strength, and for sure, in their appearance as a viable government force in the eyes of the world community.
As one Israeli citizen reported, ‘Shalit should be as “a bone in the throat” to Hamas’. They should by now have been BEGGING Israel to take him back - for their OWN sakes !
Clearly it is up to everybody in the free world to instill this sense of urgency upon them to WANT to give Gilad Shalit up as soon as possible.
I have been urging local churches statewide to join your cause, and I pray for your success in bringing Gilad home safely - and SOON.
Gilad and Schalit Family,
We are praying for the care and safety of Gilad and that he can come home soon. Sometimes it is worse on the family because of not knowing everything. Know this; thousands or millions of American Christians and Jews are praying for God’s comfort and blessings to come to all of you. I pray to soften the hearts of the ones hiding him so that you will all be reunited in God’s time. Amen.
Steve McInnis
Hattiesburg, MS
USA
(Member of Rabbi Eckstein’s Fellowship}
Amensty Internationa
http://blogs.amnesty.org.uk/blogs_entry.asp?eid=1935
A member of the volunteer group of the event
A better place?
“I want to do something good for mankind” I told my friend. ” How about losing 3 kilos?” She replied. “You are a vicious cow”. I stated. ” I know. I learned from
the best”. She laughed. Really, what could I reply to that? I took another bite of my Kit Kat.
A few weeks ago an email landed in my inbox. One of those - a friend got an email from a friend, who forwarded it to his friends, one of them forwarded it to my
husband, and he e-mailed it to me. In this e-mail, that seemed to be your typical chain letter in first glance, I read that a young woman (yes, officially she is younger
than me!) is asking for assistance with an event that she is trying to organize. The subject was ‘Gilad Schalit’ and the aim of the event was to - and allow me to quote if
I may - “unite as many influential personalities, organizations and public supporters in the belief that freeing soldiers in capitivitymay not only ease Middle east tensions
but would also contribute to the wider struggle for global human rights”. ‘Another one trying to change the world. ‘ I smiled to myself, and took a right turn towards the
piles of dishes that needed washing. When I put the last glass away, about one second before deleting her email and making my inbox a cleaner and more pleasant
place - I decided to give it another read. It touched me. So I decided to try and make the world a more pleasant place. I must admit that before coming to this
conclusion I thought to myself - how can I make the world more pleasant? I am one person. In this really huge world. Well, I’m not sure exactly how many people exist - but for sure there are many! Loads! Spread in different continents, and countries and cities. And we all speak different languages, and live in differnt time zones. And buy in different shops. What could I possibly contribute ? I am not the wealthiest, and I am not the smartest, and I don’t have any special skills. I should probably wait around quietly for the next load of dirty dishes. But then I gave it another thought. I am not the wealthiest. Or smartest. Nor do I have special skills. But if I do something, anything, and the people around me do some thing as well -some a lot can be accomplished. It’s really easy to let other people do things - the only problem is when no one feels like doing anything.
So here we go - and here is a chance to do something. And like Lenny said in his song “what goes around comes around” and when you will need something -
there will be A LOT of somebodies who will help you out.
Dear Family Shalit,
we join with you the plight of being captured and we beg to red cross and other organizations to make efforts to set Gilat free.We remain in our flat with lots of persecutions and in remenbering the deliveryroom in which two of my daughters sight off the light of life.We hope that also other captured prisoners will set free but our possibilities to reach a happy end are limited.Perhaps you can understand us and show Gilat and his team our efforts.We also will write to you and your family on the 21st of September.We wish you and your family the best and God`´s help by rescuing people being captured by Hamas or any other organizations.With a warm hand and in order to get the citizenship of Israel
LEHITRAOT
Ulla schmidt59 with Anna and Rabea
Saludos from Puerto Rico. Please know that this Sunday I will take time to participate with you in my personal Walking for Gilad Walking for Peace by remembering him while I walk the boardwalk down by the River near my home. This is very close to my heart as I have daily prayed for Gilad’s release since I first became aware of his captivity. I pray that God will watch over and guard him, and fill him with peace and hope until his release becomes a reality. Thank you for including the website of the event in your Newsletter along with the video and music for this week’s class. As always, even though I am not able to be there, it is so inspiring to receive the weekly information.
