Bereaved mothers to Netanyahu: End Shalit saga

A group of bereaved mothers, including Rona Ramon, Miki Goldwasser and Esther Waxman, sent a letter yesterday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requesting a meeting in order to hear directly from him "when the tragic saga of Gilad Shalit will end."

In the letter they describe themselves as members of a group, "representatives of the community of women and mothers who, in the words of poet Haim Gouri, are 'rich in the company of the dead,' and know a thing or two about losing sons."

"Some of us have lost many family members in murderous terror attacks," they wrote, "and still found the courage to ask for the release of the planners of those same attacks, in order to save Gilad." The mothers are calling on Netanyahu "to find the determination and bravery to stop gambling on Gilad's life and sanity, and return him to his family for good."

Miki Goldwasser, mother of the late reservist soldier Ehud Goldwasser who was kidnapped by Hezbollah, told Haaretz that the impetus to turn to the prime minister as a group originated with the mothers active in the protest tent across from his residence in Jerusalem.

"We mothers - in the midst of our battle to have Gilad returned - still call on our sons to join the army, and as a mother who sends her son to the army, whether to compulsory service or as a career officer, I take into account that something may happen to him," she said.

According to Goldwasser, "We are not whining and are not prettifying [the situation]; we are talking about a soldier who was kidnapped during a military action and is still alive, and we have to get him home."

Along with Ramon and Goldwasser, other signers are Carmit Ron, Rachel Koren, Ora Leffer-Mintz, Galit Stier, Varda Goldblatt and Tzippi Neuman. Shalit's family members and the ad hoc organization working for his release expressed a great deal of emotion at the effort. "The letter is very moving; this undertaking by the mothers is encouraging," Shimshon Liebman, head of the organization, told Haaretz.

Meanwhile, as Haaretz recently reported, Shalit supporters plan to reactivate public activities in favor of a deal for his release, which have quieted down almost completely since the airing of a video recording of Shalit in captivity last month.

Hamas bans leaflets

Palestinians and foreigners entering the Gaza Strip at the Erez crossing were recently surprised to discover that the Hamas police who were searching their belongings confiscated leaflets calling for the kidnapped soldier's release.

On the Israeli side of the crossing, volunteers have been distributing the leaflets to people returning to Gaza for some time. Written in Arabic and English, they include a detailed explanation of the connection between Shalit's captivity and the continuation of the siege on Gaza.

Hamas has in recent months erected an operations post one kilometer from the Erez checkpoint. It is, in effect, a Hamas border station for entrance into Gaza from Israel, where baggage is examined and those entering are registered - all carried out politely and in an orderly fashion, according to foreigners.

Nonetheless, witnesses say that when belongings are searched, not only alcohol is confiscated by the Hamas police, but also leaflets calling for a deal for Shalit's release.