(Ynet).Shai (Shadi) Biter, an Arab singer from Jaffa, did not remain indifferent after watching television interviews with Aviva Shalit. The story of her son Gilad's kidnapping moved him to tears, prompting him to record a song calling for the abducted soldier's release, in Arabic and in Hebrew.
"He was kidnapped on my birthday, and since then I am not celebrating till he returns," he says.
Biter graduated from the ORT Shapira school in Tel Aviv, and remained on his own while all his Jewish friends joined the army. The road to crime was short, and he began forging identity cards, driving licenses and driving theory tests. After five years of criminal activity, Biter was arrested, charged with forgery and sent to jail for a year.
Several months after his release from prison, Biter's mother passed away and his girlfriend left him. One evening he arrived at one of his Jewish friends' recording studio and spotted on the table a piece of paper containing the words for a song about Gilad Shalit, written for another singer.
The two began talking about Shalit's condition and about his mother Aviva. "We spoke about her pain, about how far he is from her," says Biter. "I connect to Shalit. Every time I see an article about him it hurts me."
Biter and his friend, Meni Chen, decided to record another song about the kidnapped soldier. "I want Arabs to listen to this song too," he pleads. "This might make them understand that we don't all want war. I cannot change the world, but this is my way of expressing my pain over this situation."
"He was kidnapped on my birthday, and since then I am not celebrating till he returns," he says.
Biter graduated from the ORT Shapira school in Tel Aviv, and remained on his own while all his Jewish friends joined the army. The road to crime was short, and he began forging identity cards, driving licenses and driving theory tests. After five years of criminal activity, Biter was arrested, charged with forgery and sent to jail for a year.
Several months after his release from prison, Biter's mother passed away and his girlfriend left him. One evening he arrived at one of his Jewish friends' recording studio and spotted on the table a piece of paper containing the words for a song about Gilad Shalit, written for another singer.
The two began talking about Shalit's condition and about his mother Aviva. "We spoke about her pain, about how far he is from her," says Biter. "I connect to Shalit. Every time I see an article about him it hurts me."
Biter and his friend, Meni Chen, decided to record another song about the kidnapped soldier. "I want Arabs to listen to this song too," he pleads. "This might make them understand that we don't all want war. I cannot change the world, but this is my way of expressing my pain over this situation."