Dear Ulis,

From Ray's post it is pretty easy to discern he wasn't from Red Cross, that kind of attitude only comes from a conservative or even fundamentalist Christian take on things.

Dear Burdy,

You problem is the world just isn't buying that kind of tripe it once did. I am ashamed I was one of those who had very fulsome support for Israel long past what the evidence should have permitted

You know the issue isn't how high the security fence is rather the amount of radical settlers Israel continues to turf over the other side of it.

As to who are the bigger thugs, it is probably a toss up, but Israel wins the bully stakes by a country mile.

As to the Palestinians ignoring the Geneva Convention please don't make me throw up.

From the BBC; "Israel is a party to the Geneva Conventions, and bound by its obligations.
But its government argues that the international conventions relating to occupied land do not apply to the Palestinian territories because they were not under the legitimate sovereignty of any state in the first place.
Israel has over the years often chosen to use the term administered territories to refer to Gaza and the West Bank. It has annexed the Golan and East Jerusalem.
Israel therefore denies the formal, de jure, applicability of the 4th Geneva Convention in the occupied territories."

The spin of your ilk no longer has the currency it once did. The world is waking up. We should have done so much sooner.

Dear Ben Derusai,

That kind of comment isn't even offensive any more, it is just tiresome.

Thank you Ray Walker for telling us the truth on the ground in Gaza. Many think they know what is happening there but few are knowledgeable of the facts.
I would be really interested in getting more information on your experiences in Israel / Gaza. Is it available online, do you have a blog?

Dear csteele,
In your rush to criticise the Israeli government, you excuse Hamas' inhumane conduct. Gilad's return has nothing to do with Israel swallowing its pride; 2 years ago Israel released 20 Palestinians just in exchange for a videotape of Gilad!
I wonder if you even understand what that means - 2 years ago...How much have you experienced and accomplished in the last 2 years? Gilad has had that freedom stripped away from him and you can be sure he is not being accorded any basic rights in captivity.
Hamas has a well documented agenda of inflicting psychological warfare on Israelis, to maintain a constant threat of terror. That is why when an Israeli soldier is kidnapped it's considered a fate worse than death.

Dear Elinor,

The equation should be easy then. Let the Israelis and the Palestinians return the same proportion of each others prisoners.

For instance 50% of those Israelis held by the Palestinians should be swapped with 50% of the Palestinians held by Israel.

Or perhaps it could be done on the basis of how long a prisoner on either side has spent in solitary confinement. Start releasing the longest and stop after we get past Gilad.

I really would like to see him free but to use his predicament to beat up solely on Hamas while painting Israel as blameless just doesn't wash. 

Humanity should be requested, expected and given by both sides but continuing demonization will make this extraordinarily difficult. Might be time to give it a rest and plead the case on its merits alone which I would have thought were strong.

Dear Ulis,

"Finally Gilad Shalit is a professional soldier"

No - Gilad is a conscript.

This means that he was kidnapped twice: the first time when his only "crime" was to reach the age of 18 in relative health. The second time, because he was stationed by his first kidnappers at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Does this not remind you of women (in Muslim countries too, is this not a coincidence?) that are either stoned to death, flogged and/or imprisoned for being raped?

Note that Israel has no allowance for conscientious objectors or anything like that. If you refuse to go to the army at the age of 18, then you are sent to jail for a month or two and once released you are asked again to go to the army. If you keep refusing then you will be imprisoned again and again and possibly spend your life in jail until you are 55.

If Gilad were an officer, then I might have had second thoughts, because officers in the Israeli army must voluntarily sign for extra time, but Gilad was just a 19-year old corporal when kidnapped the second time, as almost every Israeli soldier is automatically promoted to the rank of corporal after about 6-12 months of service.

A child was kidnapped from his parents' home. Twice. Then he is not even allowed to communicate with his family, now for 5 whole years. Can anyone's reaction be other than pain, shock and horror? shame on those who use this poor child for their international-political agenda.

I have no hopes in either Hamas or Netanyahu, but as Gilad is also a French citizen, I do expect France to do much more to release him, exerting ruthless pressure on both sides until Gilad is released. Let us all pray for Gilad to be safely back with his family.