Letter
Reprinted from the Jerusalem Post
Letters: 27 July 2007
End this barbarity
Sir, - As an Irishman with no ties of any kind to Israel, may I appeal to the men who are holding Cpl. Gilad Schalit to please put an end to this torture and release him. I cannot believe that any God smiles on this barbarity. Neither can I believe He condones the continued holding of what has been admitted is a wounded soldier who, according to those who hold Cpl. Schalit, is in continuing need of hospital care.
I hold no brief for the Israeli government or the IDF, but I have been appalled by such loathsome practices, and I appeal to those with influence in this matter to put an end to it now and release this young man back to his family.
A senior Hamas official said about the Alan Johnston release: "We did this because of humanitarian concerns." If you did this for Alan Johnston, you can also do it for Gilad Schalit.
Through my work with refugees and torture survivors in the '80s and '90s I know a little of man's inhumanity to man. And through my work with Irish Veterans now, I know something of military life and military people. I believe that a majority of Palestinians wish to live in peace with their neighbors, and that kidnapping journalists and wounded soldiers is not a part of their core values.
I ask all those who are able, and in particular Ismail Haniyeh and his colleagues, to please put yourselves in a position to release Gilad Schalit at the earliest possible opportunity, and end this particular cycle of barbarity and inhumanity ("Visit to Norway by Beilin, Schalit may have prompted release of Gilad's tape," July 25).
DECLAN HUGHES
Dublin