Life in Captivity
A poster child for those seeking to demonstrate the Israeli government’s failings to properly look after its citizenry, or a prisoner of the larger Arab-Israeli conflict, the figure of Gilad Shalit has come to symbolize almost every conceivable kind of victimization Israelis suffer from. So ubiquitous has his image become, both in Israel and in the Diaspora, Shalit’s captivity has been used as though it were a reminder to Jewry that it is collectively hostage, and that everything is, as usual, threatening to spin out of its control.
Pity the parents of POWs like Shalit, who have to contend with the uses of their children for such ends. Granted, Noam Shalit (pictured here) has put himself in the public eye for longer than anyone can remember, in order to get the government to secure the release of Gilad. Yet, the defacement of Shalit here, in this Tel Aviv phone booth – eyes crossed out, the word “Inspire”, in English, scrawled on his mouth – suggest a weariness with how Noam’s image, as an anxious father, has been put to as many partisan uses as his son.
King George Street, 5/5/09.