Shalit family marks a special Passover

Gilad Shalit and his family together celebrated Passover, the festival of freedom, for the first time in six years on Friday night.

“We did not celebrate any holidays, most especially Passover, the holiday of freedom, from the time Gilad was kidnapped until his return from bondage,” Noam Shalit, his father, told Maariv.

Passover, which celebrates the Israelites’ biblical liberation from Egyptian slavery, has a special significance for the Shalit family, whose son was freed from Hamas-captivity in an Egyptian-brokered deal in October.

“For the first time, after years of Gilad rotting in a dark hole in Gaza, we will celebrate a normal seder in our home in Mitzpe Hila,” Noam said.

A year ago, the Shalits held their seder in a tent outside the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem in protest of his ongoing captivity.