Mother of kidnapped soldier: Politicians not doing enough to bring son home.
By HAVIV RETTIG GURjp.services2(photo credit: )
Miki Goldwasser, mother of kidnapped reservist Ehud Goldwasser, reiterated on Monday her determination to continue keeping the issue of her son's release in the public eye, and said Israel's politicians were not doing enough to bring her son home.
In an interview with Channel 1, Goldwasser said she was "not keeping quiet" on the subject.
She said she was not outwardly criticizing politicians for neglecting her son, as she knew they cared about her son's release. However, she noted that while their priorities seemed to be elections and voter approval, she could not forget her son's absence so easily and insisted on making it a priority for them as well.
"It burns in my bones," she said. "Ehud is what matters right now. Eldad [Regev] is what matters right now. [Kidnapped soldier Cpl.] Gilad [Shalit] is what matters right now. This is the main thing we have to take care of right now. It's been half a year already. Where are the children?"
Ehud Goldwasser was kidnapped in July along with fellow reservist Eldad Regev near the Lebanese border, touching off the summer's war with Hizbullah.
Miki Goldwasser said she had gone to many media networks, including Al Jazeera and ABC News, in an attempt to increase awareness of her son's predicament and in an appeal to Lebanese mothers who might sympathize with her situation.
She added that a trip was planned for Friday - the six-month anniversary of her son's capture - with participants beginning in Jerusalem and making their way to Zar'it.
Meanwhile, American Jewish organizations have mounted a campaign to collect one million signatures calling for the immediate release of Regev, Goldwasser and Shalit.
"We must remember at all times the soldiers who were kidnapped last summer," said Joe Kanfer, chairman of the United Jewish Communities, the umbrella organization of North American federations that is leading the campaign.
"They [the soldiers] are held in total violation of international law," he added.
The petition will be submitted to new UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, US President George W. Bush, members of Congress and senior administration officials.
The petition is run through the "Free the Soldiers" Web site (www.freethesoldiers.com) operated by the UJC.
Organizations involved in the petition come from a broad spectrum of American Jewry, including the Zionist Organization of America, birthright, ORT, the Orthodox Union, the Reform and Conservative movements, Hadassah, Hillel, the Jewish Agency, Chabad and others.
