ECR group calls for release of Gilad Shalit

Strasbourg, 11th March 2010

The European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament has supported the parliament's calls for Israeli Defence Forces Corporal Gilad Shalit to be released.  

Mr Shalit was captured in 2006 - at the age of 19 - by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid. He has been held prisoner in the Gaza strip by Hamas since.  

Mr Shalit's father, Noam Shalit, was in Strasbourg this week to campaign for his release. He met with Michal Kaminski, ECR group chairman, and Timothy Kirkhope, ECR Deputy Chairman. Mr Kaminski pledged his support to Mr Shalit's cause 'as a politician and as a father', and Mr Kirkhope said he would write to Baroness Ashton asking her to raise the issue during her upcoming visit to the Middle East.  

Noam Shalit was also applauded by the parliament's chamber on Wednesday when ECR foreign affairs coordinator Charles Tannock welcomed him to the gallery during the voting session.  

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Kaminski said:  

"This brave young man has spent some of the best years of his life as a hostage. He was taken without provocation and has been held for almost four years without justification.  

"I am pleased that we have been able to add our voice to the growing international chorus calling for the release of Gilad Shalit. I was honoured to meet with Noam Shalit and express my personal support not just as a politician but as a father who can only imagine his pain.  

"The European Parliament is often quick to criticise Israel, as we saw with the unfortunate adoption of the Goldstone report this week, but we should not forget that Israel is on the front line of our struggle for freedom and peaceful coexistence.   

"Hamas needs to show that it is serious about peace, and a good place to start would be to return Gilad Shalit to his father without delay."    

For more information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilad_Shalit

Contact:

ECR Press office
James Holtum +32 473 861762

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