Rome to switch off Colosseum lights for Schalit

The lights of the Colosseum in Rome will be turned off Thursday evening in solidarity with kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit.

Noam Schalit, Gilad’s father, will be in attendance, along with Rome’s citizens and the representatives of local and national Italian institutions. According to organizers, the gathering is meant to send a message to the world: “Free Gilad now.”

Speeches will be given by Noam Schalit and the mayor of Rome, and pictures of the soldier will be screened. At 11 p.m. (12 a.m. in Israel) the lights of the Colosseum will be turned off.

“We immediately launched the campaign for Schalit because we feel the burden of anxiety,” said the president of Rome’s Jewish community, Riccardo Pacifici.