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Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-oped-0624-nasatir-20100624-14,0,6048664.story
Where Are the Humanitarian Efforts to Free Gilad Shalit?
(Chicago Tribune) Steven B. Nasatir - Why have none of those involved in the recent, so-called humanitarian efforts to aid the residents of Gaza raised their voices on behalf of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit? Why did the organizers of the recent flotilla refuse to deliver a letter to Shalit from his family? Why were their voices of condemnation and outrage not heard when Hamas launched countless terror attacks and thousands of rockets at Israeli border towns like Sderot? Why were they not raised when Hamas began firing Iranian Grad missiles on major Israeli cities like Ashkelon and Beersheva? It was that development that triggered the intensification of Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and its 2009 offensive, which finally restored some semblance of normal life to southern Israel. It is Hamas, not Israel, that has spared no effort to use Gazans as pawns in a global game of jihad and delegitimization of Israel, a game orchestrated by Iran that also employs Hizbullah and now - ominously - elements within Turkey. The writer is president of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.