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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| On distributed audiotape, Shalit accuses his government of neglect |
| 2007-06-25 |
| Gaza - Ma'an - The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, on Monday submitted the first proof that Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured a year ago, is still alive. The armed wing, which is one of three military factions responsible for Shalit's capture, distributed an audiotaped message from the captured soldier in which he calls on the Israeli government to comply with the captors' demands. "I am sick, I miss my family and my friends; respond to the demands of the mujahideen; don’t leave me in captivity!" With these words, Shalit opened the first recording of him since his capture in Gaza a year ago. The tape was produced by the Hamas-affiliated Al Qassam Brigades as evidence that he is still alive. The Qassam Brigades’ electronic website broadcast the audio recording accompanied by old photos of Shalit. Shalit expressed his hope to return home, and expressed his warmth of feeling for his parents, siblings and colleagues in the army. Shalit also accused the Israeli government of failing him, saying, “their duty is to respond to the demands of the mujahideen [strugglers].” He spoke these words in Arabic. “I was on a military mission, I was not a drug dealer," he said. "My great hope is that the government will take care of me and respond to the demands of the mujahideen.” The captured Israeli soldier added, “I need permanent medicines and treatment in hospital, my health is deteriorating. I am sorry that the government doesn’t care about me,” he concluded. The formal spokesperson of the Popular Resistance Committees, Abu Mujahid, affirmed on Monday that the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is alive and well.The Israeli corporal was captured by the PRC, along with Hamas' armed wing and the Army of Islam, a year ago, on 25 June 2006. Abu Mujahid told Ma'an in an exclusive talk marking the one year anniversary of Shalit's capture that the factions holding him are determined to stick to their humanitarian demands from Israel regarding his release: the release of female Palestinian detainees, children, sick and leaders of the Palestinian factions, in addition to long-term prisoners. They reaffirmed that the Israeli government must accept these demands for Shalit to be released. With regards to the previous deals, the spokesman said that the Egyptians exerted great efforts to achieve a deal. He said, "We reached a common ground with the Egyptians, who were about to finalize the issue; however, the Israelis showed no seriousness and so the deal was aborted." He added: "If they think the soldier will be presented on a golden dish, they are wrong. We have proved our ability to keep the soldier for one year, and we can continue for years. They have to realize that Shalit will not be released without a glorious deal which comprises the largest number of Palestinian prisoners being released, especially the long-term prisoners." Abu Majahid also addressed Shalit's family. "Your son is healthy," he reassured. "He has everything he needs. We treat him very well. However, your government insists on inflexibility in negotiations, [in a way] far from human values and feelings, and that abort the deal every time. They even continue to send your children to death and detention indifferently, and so, you must redouble your efforts to exert pressure on that government which abandoned your son," Abu Mujahid told them. Abu Mujahid also addressed the Palestinian prisoners' families, reassuring them that the captors of the Israeli soldier would stick to their demands and endeavor to secure the release of their children detained in Israeli jails. On the one year anniversary of Shalit's capture, B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights organization, issued a press release calling for his immediate and unconditional release. The organization says that "the circumstances of his capture and the behavior of his captors clearly indicate that he is a hostage. International humanitarian law absolutely prohibits taking and holding a person by force in order to compel the enemy to meet certain demands, while threatening to harm or kill the person if the demands are not met," B'Tselem recalls. "Hostage-taking is considered a war crime," B'Tselem continues, and "all those involved bear individual criminal liability." B'Tselem says that Hamas, as it now controls the security apparatus in the Gaza Strip, bears the responsibility for Shalit's release. B'Tselem adds that the fact that Shalit has been denied visits by representatives of the International Committee for the Red Cross also "constitutes a blatant violation of international law." |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #4 Hammass is in control of Gaza. Israel should demand that Shalit be released immediately, and every hour he's not released will result in damage and destruction to the infrastructure and livelihoods of all inhabitants of Gaza. Follow it up with bombings and artillery strikes. There are no innocents - the people of Gaza elected Hamass as their leaders. Now they should reap what they have sown - tons and tons of high explosives and jagged metal fragments. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-06-25 20:27 |
| #3 Unless Shalit's voice is able to be confirmed through acoustic analysis and he makes direct reference to very recent events, this should be treated as a non-starter. Furthermore, even though his release is a desirable objective, the Israeli government's most serious "neglect" has been in not bombing the crap out of Gaza or executing Palestinian prisoners on a daily basis pending Shalit's release. I find it incredibly difficult to believe that this guy is still alive. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-06-25 19:37 |
| #2 YouTube has the audio, so judge for yourselves. link Cpl. Shalit's voice subtitled in English. There's a slight bit of background noise at the end, for those who like to analyze such things. Also lots of pictures to look at while the audio plays. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-06-25 13:38 |
| #1 "... will not be released without a glorious deal which comprises the largest number of Palestinian prisoners being released, especially the long-term prisoners." 'Glorious deals' is an add-on with demands/dire revenge/allan's will/insulted/ offended/etc. (The audio could be a year old.) |
| Posted by: Phinater Thravinger 2007-06-25 12:57 |