Schalit rally: Thousands arrive

Noam Schalit: "We expected hundreds but thousands arrived."

By JPOST.COM STAFF
noam aviva schalit march 311 AP (photo credit: Associated Press)
noam aviva schalit march 311 AP
(photo credit: Associated Press)
Thousands of participants arrived at a rally organized by the Schalit family Monday evening in Kiryat Motzkin as part of the freedom march campaigning for the release of their kidnapped son.
"We are standing here and it is very exciting to see all the people that are here with us", said Noam Schalit at the rally.
RELATED:
Schalits to meet with Netanyahu
Colosseum turns off lights for Schalit
'There are other channels of action'
He continued by saying "I hope that this movement, the many people that arrived and swept us away, will continue to arrive and continue to support us and become bigger and stronger."
These comments were met with a rapturous round of applause from the people attending the rally.
"We expected hundreds but thousands arrived" said Schalit who called for more people to join until the aim of the march is reached - the return home of his son, Gilad.
Earlier Monday participants of the march organized a smaller rally in Acre for 3,000 people. Amongst the participants were students from various different educational institutions in the city.
The march began on Sunday, as yellow balloons for captive soldier Gilad Schalit fluttered across the north.  Ten thousand people joined his parents, Noam and Aviva, as they set out on an 11-day trek to Jerusalem, in hopes of pressuring the government to meet Hamas’s demands for their son’s release.
“It was a pleasant surprise to see the public come out en masse. I ask everyone who can continue, to march with us until we get to Jerusalem,” a tired Noam told a cheering crowd, who gathered at the end of the day at a brief ceremony in the Nahariya Mall.
Noam Schalit responded Monday to Prime Minister Netanyahu's invitation to meet with the couple. In an interview on Israeli radio Noam Schalit said " Netanyahu called us up and we will go to meet with him when reach Jerusalem. We will demand action and results."
Regarding the split in public opinion concerning the release of terrorists in exchange for his son's freedom, Noam Schalit said the family is aware of the complications but "four years is enough time for the government to consider the options and carry them out. The bottom line is that there are no results."