Gilad Shalit — Wow, this video is like something out of a Hollywood movie — only it’s not — it’s real. Seems like the U.S. should help to free this guy.
From Wiki:
Gilad Shalit (Hebrew: גלעד שליט, born 28 August 1986) is an Israeli soldier who was captured[2] on 25 June 2006 by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid. He was abducted[3] through the Kerem Shalom crossing (in Israel), and has been held as aprisoner in the Gaza Strip by Hamas since.
Shalit, 19 years old at the time of his capture, held the rank of corporal in the IDF’sArmor Corps at the time of his abduction, but has since been promoted to staff sergeant.[1]
He was the first Israeli soldier captured[4][5] by Palestinian militants since Nachshon Wachsman in 1994.[6] Shalit holds French citizenship, a fact that encouraged France and the European Union to be involved to some extent in efforts to release him.[7] He also received Italian citizenship after his abduction.[8][9][10][11][12][13]
Hamas has refused requests from the International Committee of the Red Cross to allow the ICRC to visit Shalit. Several human rights organizations have stated that the terms and conditions of Shalit’s detention are contrary to international humanitarian law. In exchange for his release, Hamas is demanding the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, including many convicted of deadly terrorist attacks against Israelis.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] The United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, which released a report in September 2009, called for Shalit to be released.[22]
If you were held by terrorists and had the opportunity to be released, but, it would mean the release of 1,000 imprisoned terrorists, would you tell your government to make the deal?
My take is that this is one of those situations where you don’t know how you’d react until you were in that actual circumstance. I would hope that I would have the courage to find a way to tell my government to hold fast and not make the deal.
In the words of Jesus, Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
I have to believe that if 1,000 terrorists were to be released, odds are that people are going to die at their hands. I doubt that Gilad would encourage such a deal.
Leadership take-away: To be a good leader we must put the needs and welfare of other people ahead of ourselves. As soon as you put yourself before others, things go downhill fast. Jesus first — Others second — Yourself third.
Please remember Gilad Shalit in your prayers.
How about turning the equation around by sending a clear message to Hamas, “release Gilad in good health or we will kill all 1000 captured terrorists.” The terrorist mentality and tactic of taking and never giving must be broken. 1000 to one odds in their favor are typical terrorist demands. Negotiating has never worked with terrorists. But if 10 captured terrorists are publically executed each passing day (in a humane manner) perhaps they might get the message –