Message of Peace From a Soldier

From the World section of the Monday, January 14, 2008, Toronto Star, page AA3, an article about a message of peace from a soldier:

CAPTIVE SOLDIER DELIVERS A MESSAGE OF PEACE

Childhood story penned by Israeli seized in raid published as kids’ book

Matti Friedman

Associated Press

Jerusalem – Years before he was a soldier seized by Palestinian militants, 11-year-old Gilad Schalit penned a simple parable about how enemies can get along.

His story, When the Shark and the Fish First Met, has now been published as a children’s book that teaches tolerance – while its author, now 21, spends his 19th month captive in the Gaza Strip.

The tank crewman was seized in June 2006 by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip in a cross-border raid into Israel. Two of his comrades were killed in the attack. Secret negotiations on a prisoner swap deal have stalled.

The story Schalit wrote as a fifth-grader in 1997 was published Saturday with its 64 pages illustrated by 29 Israeli artists.

In the story, a shark is about to eat a little fish, but the fish persuades the shark to let him live. Instead, the two play hide-and-seek underwater and become friends.

But their mothers disapprove. “The fish is an animal we eat. Don’t play with it!” the shark’s mother tells him.

“The shark is the animal that devoured your father and brother – don’t play with that animal!” the fish’s mother tells him.

After avoiding each other for a year, the two meet again. The shark says, “You’re my enemy, but shall we make up” The fish agrees, and eventually the two announce their friendship to their mothers.

“Since that day, the sharks and the fish have lived in peace,” wrote Schalit.

One of Schalit’s teachers found the story while cleaning last year and brought it to his family, said Noam Schalit, Gilad’s father.

“This is a message from an 11-year-old kid who believes that even enemies can live together in the end,” Noam Schalit said. “It’s amazing how relevant that is to his situation today.”

Mazal Gabai, Gilad Schalit’s former teacher, told Israel Radio: “I believe that the prophecy will come true, and the two will live together … The message is clear – nothing can happen without dialogue.”

Talks over Schalit’s release have produced no results. Hamas wants Israel to free hundreds of Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis. Israel has refused, though the government has been discussing relaxing its criteria for a prisoner release in order to bring Schalit home.

(News agencies had previously spelled the soldier’s surname as Shalit, but have revised it to Schalit at the family’s request.)

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