US Muslims have urged Hamas to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit
Two Muslim congressmen and other prominent Muslim Americans have urged Hamas to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured in a cross-border raid five years ago and has been held ever since in the Gaza Strip, Ethics Daily reports.
Their hope is that Shalit’s release will spark more goodwill gestures between the militant Palestinian group and Israel, and remove Shalit’s imprisonment as an obstacle to substantive peace talks.
The letter was timed to the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims are called upon to be particularly compassionate.
“We believe Hamas’ harsh treatment and five-year detention of Shalit is wrong,” said the letter, which was also signed by U.S. Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and Andre Carson, D-Ind., and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who spearheaded efforts to build a Muslim community center near Ground Zero.
Read full article at: Ethics Daily