Wiesel, Israeli authors appeal for information on MIAs

JERUSALEM -- As solidarity rallies were held throughout the country Sunday on the anniversary of the cross-border abduction of three Israeli soldiers, authors A.B. Yehoshua, David Grossman and Elie Wiesel appealed for information on the soldiers' fate.

An appeal published in dailies here said that "every person with conscience and a heart must raise his or her voice" and press Hezbollah, Iran, the United Nations and Syrian and Lebanese governments to release the soldiers or "at the very least" provide information about them.

Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Souad came under a Hezbollah ambush while patrolling the northern border on Oct. 7, 2000, and were taken into Lebanon.

Israeli officials were permitted to view videotapes taken by U.N. peacekeepers after the abduction and some items belonging to the soldiers, some spattered with blood. Blood at the site of the abduction indicated that at least one of the soldiers was wounded.

The appeal was written by Israeli author Amos Oz and signed by Yehoshua, Grossman and Wiesel.

Oz wrote that the authors have long campaigned for an end to Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and for recognition of the rights of the Palestinians. Now, he said, public opinion should heed their call "that this horror be brought to an end."

The appeal also mentions businessman Elhanan Tennenbaum, abducted by Hezbollah a few days after the soldiers.

Wiesel, an American who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, said he joined the appeal for humanitarian reasons.

"These three soldiers deserve our attention, our compassion, and our solidarity," he told the Associated Press. Withholding information is "against all principles of human contact in war.

"I'm convinced that the government and army are doing whatever they can," he adding, noting that the appeal was meant to show solidarity with the soldiers' families.

Ya'akov Avitan, Adi's father, welcomed the appeal. He told Israel Radio that it "showed us that the people of Israel are with the families and care about the boys, who were after all on Israeli territory" when they were abducted.

Waving placards that read "Let Our People Go" and "365 days without Mom," a group of about 50 high school students from the Israel Scouts movement protested opposite the U.N. headquarters in Jerusalem.

"We came to show our support for the families of the MIAs and to demand that the U.N. hand over any and all material it has regarding the soldiers," said Zohar Zolar, a youth movement spokesman.

Others at the protest voiced their frustration with the U.N., which for months stonewalled an Israeli request to release a videotape of the kidnapping taken by U.N. peacekeepers, alleging that no such tape existed. "It is clear that the U.N. is not doing enough." said protester Avi Halika.

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