Andrei Sakharov and Gilad Shalit

Russian dissident Andrei Sakharov was one of the greatest recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize and one of the greatest proponents of human rights. I shall be at Ginot Sakharov this afternoon as the march for Gilad arrives in Jerusalem to remind the world's human rights community of its responsibility to protect Gilad Shalit.

It's a theme I have mentioned often in this blog and in opinion pieces I have written for the Jewish Chronicle and elsewhere. Back in March 2009 I wrote: "It goes without saying that Shalit’s safe return home is the ultimate goal, but it is time right now to adopt an interim objective: he must be declared a prisoner of war and be given all the rights that this status confers under the Geneva Conventions, which include being visited by the International Red Cross." http://www.thejc.com/comment/comment/shalit-must-be-regarded-a-prisoner-...

I urge you to read an article in today's Jerusalem Post written by my fellow activists Zelda Harris and Eli Richter.

They write: "This is the time to hold the most recent winner of the Nobel Prize, Barack Obama, accountable. Sakharov was a lonely prisoner of conscience exiled to a small cabin in Siberia when the Nobel Committee recognized him for protesting repression. Obama is the leader of the world’s most powerful democracy and is sitting in the White House. Sakharov helped bring freedom to the world. The jury is still out on Obama. It is up to him to lead the way to freeing Gilad. By doing so, he will protect the rights of all captives of terror organizations everywhere." http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=180750

Wherever you live, you can act now for Gilad Shalit.