Demonstrators for the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who staged a sit-down strike in front of the entrance to Megiddo Prison Tuesday morning, got up and cleared the way for visits to Arab security prisoners, after Shalit's father Noam told them that they had gotten their message across. The message was that it was unacceptable for the Arab prisoners to receive visitors and other privileges as long as Gilad's Hamas captors do not allow outside access to him.
Noam Shalit's words to the demonstrators after police told the demonstrators that they would remove them by force if they did not get out of the way. The demonstrators stayed a few minutes after he spoke and sang the national anthem "Hatikva" before leaving.
Miki Goldwasser, whose son Ehud was murdered by Hizbullah terrorists shortly after the Shalit abduction, told the demonstrators they should not have gotten up. She noted that they had waited in air-conditioning for an hour and a half and were likely to have their visiting time extended, while Gilad Shalit sees nobody.