Support for Gilad Schalit

June 25, 2006 marks the two year anniversary of the capture of the Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit.  In a showing of solidarity, campers and staff gathered on the kikar on the afternoon of June 24 to sing songs and raise awareness about his capture in the hopes that he and the other captured soldiers will be brought home soon.  Led by our Mishlachat members [staff from Israel], voices filled the kikar with songs of peace and hope.

For more information on Gilad Schalit and the other captured soldiers, please visit http://www.habanim.org/en/index_en.html.

Naama Katzin (Formal Hebrew):  Wednesday, June 25 is the two year anniversary of the capture of Gilad Schalit.  So in honor of him and to show our solidarity, we're going to have singing on the kikar during perek zayin.  We'll have songs and guitars and we'll all be together to show that we're thinking about him.  We'll also have a petition for the campers who want to sign it and we're going to send it to his parents and to the Prime Minister of Israel.  Also, in the morning during all of the t'fillot, all the campers are going to learn the prayer for captured solders, and during Hebrew classes the teachers are going to teach the campers, depending on their age, about Gilad Schalit and talk about what happened to him.

I came up with the idea to do this because I got some mail that people in Israel are going to go protest in front of the Prime Minister's house and I thought that we should do something here too.  It's been two years since his capture and we wanted to do something that everyone can be a part of.  I hope we can teach the campers something new and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone participate in the program.

Renee G. (Atzmayim):  We had singing on the kikar for the soldier who was captured two years ago.  I hope he's alright.  I hope he's safe and sound.

Kenny K. (Tikvah):  I hadn't heard about Gilad Schalit until we had this singing today and it made me sad.  I want all the captured people to come home.  It's good for more people to learn more about it.

Avinoam K. (Bogrim):  Today we sang songs to recognize the captured soldier Gilad Schalit.  It's the two-year anniversary of when he was captured.  I knew about it before, but we also learned about it in Hebrew class, about when it happened and why Israel wasn't giving in to the Arabs.  The singing was really nice.