"Gilad is Still Alive"

This post refers back to an older post I wrote about a soldier who had been kidnapped, Gilad Shalit. Without repeating everything I wrote the first time, as of about two weeks ago, Gilad has been in captivity for 4 years. He was a 19 year old boy when he was taken. There is some controversy about what should be done. Hamas asks for the release of hundreds of captured terrorists in exchange for Gilad. However, there is an INSANE amount of support. There are flags EVERYWHERE for Gilad, constantly reminding the government that he is alive (there has been proof over the years that he is in fact still alive). There are yellow banners, also showing their support.

Two weeks ago, Gilad's parents started walking from the north to Jerusalem (there just arrived in Jerusalem a couple of days ago). Family friends of mine joined the Shalit family along the way and said tens of thousands of people had also joined the family to show their support.

This happened on a Friday. I'm not sure for how long, but people had been gathering in Caesaria, in front of the house of Benjamin Netenyahu, Israel's prime minister, every Friday night. They had been holding a Shabbat service on his front lawn, again, to remind him that Gilad is still alive and we want something done to bring him home. Last Friday, because the Shalit family was in attendance, thousands of people showed up.

This past Friday, I went to visit those family friends, and, as usual, they wanted to go to Caesaria, so I went with them. I sat on the lawn with a couple hundred other people, most wearing shirts of yellow ribbons to show their support. Singing songs about bringing Gilad home, and it was unbelievably moving. I can't imagine half of the United States standing behind one lone soldier kidnapped in war. I can't imagine the same degree of support any where else in the world. Given all the bad press that the world loves to dish out to Israel, it's a country that cares about it's own like no where else in the world.