Copyright 1993 Jerusalem Post
Jerusalem Post
October 25, 1993
HEADLINE: COMRADES-IN-ARMS HOLD VIGIL FOR MIA'S
BYLINE: Liat Collins
Friends of the three soldiers missing in action from the Sultan
Yakoub battle in the 1982 Lebanon War hold their vigil outside the Prime Minister's
Office.
SILENTLY holding banners reading "Bring our friends back," some
40 comrades of the three soldiers missing in action since the Lebanon
War battle of Sultan Yakoub in 1982 gathered outside the Prime
Minister's Office yesterday as the cabinet was meeting inside.
"It's not a protest, and certainly not a demonstration," said Avi
Rath, one of the organizers. "It's a vigil - an apolitical gathering
by their friends and comrades who haven't forgotten them.
"Over the years, we have moved on and built our lives, gotten
married and had children, but they have remained in the same place,"
he said.
Although the tank battalion in which Zachary Baumel, Zvi Feldman,
and Yehuda Katz served has since been disbanded, their comrades remain
in touch with their families and push for information on their fate.
"All this time, we have been told there is no information because
we don't have relations with the Arab countries. Now we have
relations with the PLO, so why wasn't information on the MIAs made a
precondition before [Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin flew off to shake
hands with [PLO chairman Yasser] Arafat?" said Rath.
The vigil was hastily planned over the weekend after news broke
about today's planned release of Palestinian prisoners.
Apart from the right of the families to know what happened to
their sons, all soldiers need to know that the country is behind them,
Rath said. "We were raised on the belief that you didn't leave a
soldier on the battlefield. But what has happened during these 11
years? It's bad for morale."
Although the vigil was arranged by the comrades-in-arms of the
missing tankers, the placards also mentioned IAF navigator Ron Arad.
Meanwhile, the Hadassah World Organization yesterday released a
seven-minute video cassette containing a plea for information for the
families of all the missing. The video is aimed at raising awareness
about the subject, particularly in the US.
"What do you mothers feel like when your child suddenly
disappears for an hour or two or half a day? My son didn't go missing
for hours. He has been missing from his home for years, and I don't
know anything at all about his fate," says the mother of Zvi Feldman
on the video.
The video was made by the studios at Hadassah Technological
College and is being distributed to hundreds of thousands of Hadassah
members in the US.
At the request of the Baumel family, the video will also be
distributed to other Jewish organizations abroad, including student
groups.