Yael Roth-Barkai, is the demonstration for Gilad Shalits release in fact prolonging it?
Yael Roth-Barkai and her sister, Ruth Barkai, do not need a protest march or a commemoration day to work toward obtaining the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The two women are behind the longest continuous demonstration in the country’s history: For nearly two years their movement calling for Shalit’s release has been stationed in a tent opposite the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem. Seven days a week, 15 hours a day, with two to three people on each shift, 500 volunteers have kept this demonstration going. They were there the last time the Shalit family came to Jerusalem and made a visit to the tent. Their efforts faced a major setback after former prime minister Ehud Olmert announced at a dramatic news conference that a deal with Hamas to secure the soldier’s release had not been reached.
