MKs at prison: Big disparity in Schalit, Hamas conditions

Mofaz: No proportionality between conditions Palestinian prisoners are granted in Israeli prisons, the way Gilad Schalit is held.

By REBECCA ANNA STOIL
Students protest treatment of Gilad Schalit 311 (photo credit: Zeevi Levavi)
Students protest treatment of Gilad Schalit 311
(photo credit: Zeevi Levavi)
The Knesset Lobby for Gilad Schalit visited the Ofer Prison Sunday, where MKs renewed complaints regarding the inequality between Hamas prisoners’ conditions and those of the captive IDF soldier.
“There is no proportionality between the conditions that Palestinian prisoners are granted in Israeli prisons and the way that Gilad Schalit is held,” complained Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) during the visit.
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Mofaz said that the time had come to reassess previous proposals to strip Hamas prisoners of some of their privileges in response to Schalit’s continued captivity.
Other members of the Knesset lobby highlighted the inconsistency in the fact that Hamas prisoners receive regular visits both by family members as well as Red Cross representatives, while no emissary has been allowed to visit Schalit in almost five years of captivity.
Meanwhile, thousands of Canadians will take part in an online protest on Monday night calling for the release of IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, who has been held captive in Gaza by Hamas for 1,716 days. Shimshon Liebman, the head of the campaign to free the abducted soldier, thanked Canadian Jewry for its solidarity and stressed that Schalit is being held in confinement in violation of international law.
“For the past 1,716 days, Gilad has never met anyone from the free world,” Liebman said. “We thank Canadian Jewry for their help and hope to rally the entire community for the just release of Gilad Schalit.”
Gil Shefler contributed to this report.