The family of Sgt. Gilad Schalit have leaked a letter they received from him in 2006, where he describes his captivity in Palestine as an “intolerable and inhumane nightmare.” Israeli analysts have suggested parts of the letter were dictated by his captors. It bore their POV, for example, where Schalit refers to a location by its Arabic name, or when he calls his Gaza captors “Mujahadeen.” They do not cite where it is most obvious, describing his confinement in Gaza as “this cold and lonely prison,” an “intolerable and inhumane nightmare.”
This letter surfaces now in advance of a book on the subject of Israel’s efforts to free Schalit. His capture was used to rally IDF maneuvers against its foes. But why release a letter written in 2006, shortly after the Israeli soldier’s kidnapping, when Schalit’s family is in possession of a letter dated October 2008, delivered by former US president Jimmy Carter?
