WASHINGTON (JTA) — The detention of Gilad Shalit is a violation of "basic decency," the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said after meeting with the captive Israeli soldier’s father.
"I was honored to meet with Noam Shalit today, 1,900 days after his son, Gilad, was taken captive," Rice said Wednesday in a statement. "During this period, Hamas has held Gilad hostage and without access by the International Committee of the Red Cross in violation of international humanitarian standards and basic decency. I expressed to Mr. Shalit the solidarity of the United States with him and his family, and I reiterated our strongest condemnation of his son’s detention."
Noam Shalit is in New York this week meeting with ambassadors and human rights organizations attempting to garner support for the campaign to free his son, who has been held captive by Hamas for more than five years.
New York’s City Council proclaimed Wednesday Gilad Shalit Day. San Francisco had made a similar proclamation on Aug. 28.
