Last update - 00:00 27/08/2007
Shalit family to 'celebrate' Gilad's second birthday in captivity
By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent
Friends and family of the Israeli soldier abducted by Palestinian militants last year plan to celebrate his 21st birthday Tuesday in a public rally in Tel Aviv.
Gilad Shalit's relatives plan to place a large birthday cake in the middle of Rabin Square. The organizers will hand out refrigerator magnets reading: "Gilad Shalit, we're waiting for you back home," and "Indifference can kill."
Shalit was abducted near the Gaza security fence on June 25 last year by a group of militants from Hamas, the Popular resistance Committees and a previously unknown group calling itself the Army of Islam. Hamas has reportedly been holding Shalit since the abduction.
"It's not a real party but we will have it just to remind everyone that Gilad isn't here with us," says Gilad's cousin, Eyal Raz, who helped organize the event. "It's a chance to remind everyone to do whatever they can so that next year we will be able to have a real birthday party."
Organizers of a forum seeking the abducted soldiers' return have arranged for electronic signs along Route 6 to remind drivers of Shalit's second birthday in captivity.
Youth organizations will place signs in train stations across the country to remind people of the day. Several Internet sites will also note the date.