Aviva Schalit urges courts not to delay prisoner deal
High Court approves adding Noam, Aviva to Almagor Terror Victims Association petition asking courts to delay prisoner swap.
By JOANNA PARASZCZUK, JPOST.COM STAFFSchalits leave Jerusalem 311(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)Aviva Schalit continued on Sunday night to ask the High Court on behalf of her family not to make any changes to the prisoner-swap deal that will secure the release of her son, Gilad Schalit."We understand the hard moments these bereaved families have gone through, we are also a bereaved family," Aviva said. "And yet, any delay could put Gilad's life in danger, the is a matter of saving lives."RELATED:Column One: A pact signed in Jewish bloodSbarro terror victims petition High Court on Schalit deal List published of prisoners to be freed in Schalit dealAviva thanked activists and media for their support in the campaign to bring her son home, and urged the public to allow the Schalit parents to help Gilad, and allow the family to "rebuild."The High Court of Justice ruled on Sunday to accept a request from Gilad Schalit's parents, Noam and Aviva Schalit, to be added as a respondent to a petition filed by terror victims' organization Almagor."We sympathize with the pain of the families of the terror victims, but ask that the court not make any change, however small, to the deal made by the government," Schalit's parents, Noam and Aviva, wrote to the justices. "Any delay, however small, will put Gilad's life in danger," the Schalits added.The High Court of Justice ruled on Sunday that it will hear a petition at noon on Monday against the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners involved in the exchange deal to release Gilad Schalit.
The petition was filed by the Almagor Terror Victims Association on behalf of several bereaved family members of people killed in terror attacks carried out by the prisoners due to be released.The petition asks the court to delay the prisoner releases to allow bereaved families more time to examine the list of prisoners and to organize a response."Bereaved families are calling me all the time, they're asking me if the terrorists who murdered their family members are on the list of prisoners or not," Almagor CEO Meir Indor told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.The petitioners include Yitzhak Maoz, whose daughter was murdered in the 2001 Sbarro bombing in Jerusalem; Hovav Nuriel, whose father Sasson Nuriel was murdered by a Hamas terror cell in 2005; the Bloom family, who were injured by a petrol bomb; Ron Karmal whose daughter was murdered in a bus bombing in Haifa; and Rabbi Shmuel Weiss, whose son died fighting terrorists.The Israel Prisons Service (IPS) on early Sunday morning published the list (Excel sheet) of the Palestinian prisoners slated for release in the first stage of the exchange deal. According to Israeli law, the government must provide citizens 48 hours to appeal the release of the prisoners.The first group of 477 prisoners, whose names were published Sunday, are expected to be released on Tuesday at the same time that Hamas hands over Schalit. The list includes 450 males and 27 females.Members of the public who wish to receive more details on the prisoners or pass on messages to the Justice Ministry can call 02-6466801/3/4 on Sunday.Click for full JPost coverage of Gilad Schalit
