Copyright 1994 Jerusalem Post
Jerusalem Post
June 10, 1994
HEADLINE: FAMILIES OF MIAS SEEKING TO CROSS INTO LEBANON
BYLINE: David Rudge
Families of missing servicemen and activists pressing for their
return are seeking permission from the Israeli, Syrian and Lebanese
authorities to enter Lebanon.
They intend to visit the Good Fence border crossing near Metulla
on Sunday in the hope that from there they will be allowed to cross
into Lebanon to seek information about the MIA's.
"We are prepared to take any risk even if it means endangering
ourselves. After 12 years without our son, without knowing whether
he's alive or dead, our own lives are worth very little," said Pnina
Feldman, mother of Zvi Feldman.
"We want to know the truth, for better or for worse, and for that
we are prepared to do whatever if necessary," she added.
Joel Leyden, co-chairperson of the International Coalition for
Missing Israeli Soldiers, said the voluntary organization which has
offices in North America as well as Israel, had made contact with the
Syrian and Lebanese governments and was awaiting a response to their
request.
He said the association had information, believed to be reliable,
that at least two out of the four servicemen missing in Lebanon were
alive. He declined to give any further details.
He was referring to IAF navigator Ron Arad and the three soldiers
missing from the Sultan Yakoub battle on June 12, 1982 - Yehuda Katz,
Zaharia Baumel and Zvi Feldman.
Two other MIA's, Yosef Fink and Rahamim Alsheikh, who were
captured by Hizbullah in February 1986, have been confirmed as being
dead, although their bodies have not yet been returned to Israel.
Leyden said the group also intended to contact UNIFIL and the
International Committee of the Red Cross, and hoped the UN would
provide them with an escort if they were granted permission to cross
into Lebanon.
"At the very least we intend to stage a ceremony at the Good
Fence crossing, to mark the 12th anniversary since the three soldiers
from Sultan Yakoub went missing, and Arkia airlines has very kindly
offered to fly representatives of the group and the families to the
north," said Leyden.
Leyden said the families were ready to take nearly any measures
to try to obtain concrete evidence about the fate of their missing
boys - and were willing to sign documents absolving the government of
any responsibility for them if they were allowed to enter Lebanon.