After three years in captivity, Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit, may soon be transferred to Egypt as part of a prisoner swap, according to European sources. I pray that it’s true and I pray that the swap is a one for one deal. it’s not that I object to offering the hundreds of Hamas fighters that I am sure will be required to gain this one young man’s release. It’s that lasting peace will a lot closer when both sides of the conflict agree about the supreme value of even one of their own. But either way, it’s time for this to happen.
Meanwhile, the Consulate General of Israel in New York released a YouTube video to draw attention to Shalit’s plight. The project features Shalit’s own story, “When the Shark and the Fish First Met,” about two sea animals that were raised to hate and fear one another but then realized that everyone would be happier by making peace.
The video shows people from around the world reading Shalit’s story in their native languages, including Italian, German, French and Spanish, with English subtitles. It’s pretty beautiful, and well worth checking out.
Apple's "Jew or Not Jew" App -- Should It Be Legal? An Apple application that let users guess which French politicians or celebrities are Jewish was pulled from France's App Store. but its American equivalent is still available.
French activist groups said the "Jew or Not Jew?" app violated bans on compiling information on people's religion and rev
Is God A Christian? R. Kirby Godsey’s new book, Is God A Christian?, challenges what the author describes as the commonly held belief among many religious people that the God in whom they believe is “one of them”. People, Mr. Kirby observes, too often confuse God’s religious identity with their own, leading t
Remembering 9/11 - Part One The tenth anniversary of 9/11 brings up many emotions and presents some very real challenges, among them how to remember the past without being imprisoned by it. This video, filmed at St. Paul's, the church closest to the World Trade Center site, is a wonderful example of rising to that challen
Gilad Shalit, Still A Prisoner After 1,900 Days Below is a copy of the Statement I got from the White House, and while I appreciate the words, I can't help but also ask, "Is this the best we can do?"
United States Mission to the United Nations
Office of Press and Public Diplomacy
799 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
(212) 41
Is Realty TV Really Kosher? The Ethics Of Realty TV I know, at first it seems that ethics and reality TV are about as connected as fire and water – one being the antidote for the other. But perhaps it’s not as simple as that, a conclusion supported by the recent spate of articles arguing that reality TV producers need to create, and commit, to
The Shalit captivity is a true testimony to a failure of the human spirit on both sides. Israeli jails have thousand of Palestinians prisoners who from a Palestinian perspective are no different than Gilad Shalit. The only way for the Israelis to get to a point of willingness of release them was via a threat to Shalit’s life.
The Hamas is no better, using its own captive people as bargaining chips for an extended amount of time to outsmart Israel completely ignoring the pain of the families of the Palestinian prisoners.
Politicians on both sides view this as a zero sum game. Unfortunately when Shalit is free the cycle of kinapping and jailing will go on.
Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism. Listed as one of the nation’s 50 most influential rabbis in Newsweek, and a regular commentator on Court TV, he is the creator of the popular series, Building Bridges, airing on Bridges TV, and the co-host of the weekly radio show, Hirschfield and Kula.
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Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of 
posted June 28, 2009 at 9:58 am
The Shalit captivity is a true testimony to a failure of the human spirit on both sides. Israeli jails have thousand of Palestinians prisoners who from a Palestinian perspective are no different than Gilad Shalit. The only way for the Israelis to get to a point of willingness of release them was via a threat to Shalit’s life.
The Hamas is no better, using its own captive people as bargaining chips for an extended amount of time to outsmart Israel completely ignoring the pain of the families of the Palestinian prisoners.
Politicians on both sides view this as a zero sum game. Unfortunately when Shalit is free the cycle of kinapping and jailing will go on.