Gilad Schalit’s brave new world

October 17, 2011 - 8:47 AM by

Robert De Niro learns about the world in 'Awakenings'

One of my favorite films is Awakenings with Robert De Niro and Robin Williams, in which De Niro’s character wakes up after many years in a catatonic state. During his temporary return to the present, he has to relearn all of the history and relationships that carried on while he was somewhere else.

I suppose that’s a little like what Gilad Schalit is going to go through beginning on Tuesday when he’s expected to return from five years of captivity in Gaza. While not in a catatonic state, it’s likely that Schalit also has no idea of any event – in the world or in his family – that has taken place during his imprisonment at the hands of Hamas (or that he’s even held a conversation with another person during those five years).

Jeff Barak, in his column in The Jerusalem Post, alluded to the Facebook campaign launched by Yediot Aharonot that’s urging readers to join and write a note/letter to Schalit welcoming him back. The irony being, he wrote, that Schalit doesn’t even know what Facebook is – five years ago, it was still a college dorm novelty.

Another paper, Ma’ariv, published a long story listing all of the events that have taken place during the long five years that have changed the complexion of Israel and the region – from the relatively recent Arab Spring, to the tent protests, the Moshe Katsav rape conviction, the resignation of prime minister Ehud Olmert, and a dozen other headlines.

Surely, in his first few days of freedom, the Schalits will be concerned with reconnecting with each other and creating a safe, warm environment for their son. But eventually, the history lesson will begin, and Gilad will learn not only of the events that went on around him – but also of the efforts made by his parents and the countless other people involved in the Campaign to Free Gilad Schalit. He’ll learn about the tent set up outside the Prime Minister’s residence where his parents spent most of the last two years in a tireless effort to keep his plight in the public – and government’s – eye.

While it won’t erase the five years in captivity, it might offer some solace to him, knowing that even though he thought he was all alone in a darkened room, he really wasn’t.

Tags: • Category: A New Reality, General, News, Social Justice, Technology 

Comments

2 Comments on Gilad Schalit’s brave new world

  1. Welcome home, Gilad | ISRAELITY on Mon, Oct 17th 2011 8:28 PM

    2. [...] We’re all thinking about how it’s going to be for Gilad, the Schalits and the greater Israeli reality over the next few days and months. [...]

  2. The Libertarian: Gilad Schalit to be freed on Tue, Oct 18th 2011 4:35 AM

    3. [...] or moral clarity themselves. How can we expect them to have any epiphany at all ? RELATED LINKS: Gilad Schalit’s brave new world | ISRAELITY PHOTO ESSAY ~~ ISRAEL AND PALESTINE PREPARE FOR PRISONER EXCHANGE « D.. Gilad Schalit’s [...]

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