http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110008856

As the parents of Daniel Pearl, The Wall Street Journal’s reporter who
was kidnapped and brutally murdered in Pakistan in 2002, we share the
anguish of the families of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers, and their
frustration with the international community for failing to secure the
release of their loved ones.

For more than six weeks now, these soldiers and their families live
each day tortured by unimaginable fears and shattered hopes, praying
desperately for the nightmare to end; we relive this nightmare each
time an innocent person falls victim to the inhumanity of terrorist
abduction.

Whatever success the U.N. Security Council would presume to claim, it
cannot be said that Resolution 1701 has effectively addressed the
direct cause of the fighting–the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers, Ehud
Goldwasser, 31, and Eldad Regev, 26, by Hezbollah, and the earlier
abduction of Gilad Shalit, 19, by Hamas. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan’s call for the unconditional release of these soldiers has been
ignored. Moreover, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian
law, the terrorists have not only seized the soldiers as hostages for
political blackmail, they have not allowed the Red Cross to visit
them. Their families do not know their physical condition;
they have no proof they are even alive.

And so now these families of Ehud, Eldad and Gilad are asking to meet
with Kofi Annan. They wish to plead with the secretary-general to use
the full weight of his moral authority to mobilize and intensify the
efforts of the international community he leads–an influential body
that has managed to compel two fierce armies to cease hostilities–to
address this flagrant violation of humanitarian law.

On that score, these families are correct: The time has come for Mr.
Annan to personally and aggressively intervene, and to insist publicly
that, at the minimum, the Red Cross, or his personal humanitarian
representatives, be given immediate access to these soldiers.

Will he? It seems unlikely. Sadly, this is not the first time that
concerned parents have turned to Mr. Annan in much the same
circumstances. Six years ago, another delegation of distressed
families came to the U.N. with a similar tragedy, following the
abduction of three Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah from under the
noses of Unifil and, by some accounts, with their help. The
investigation that was subsequently conducted found that the U.N.
had made “serious errors in judgment” by hiding information that
“would have been helpful in an assessment of the condition of the
three abducted soldiers.” At that time, the U.N.’s interest in
appearing “neutral” overshadowed its commitment to the preservation
of human lives. The world cannot afford a repeat of such inaction
and poor judgment.

Undoubtedly, the secretary-general will tell the families of Ehud,
Eldad and Gilad that he has dispatched a high-level team to Beirut
that will urge the release of their loved ones. But that team
negotiates behind closed doors. And by not publicly demanding the
unfettered access of humanitarian representatives to the kidnapped
soldiers, Mr. Annan has deprived his team of the force of credibility
and seriousness they need in those negotiations.

When our son Daniel was in captivity, millions of people around the
world prayed for his safe return. In that prayer, they made a solemn
pledge never to allow abductions of innocent people to become the norm
of civilized society, no matter the political purpose, regardless of
grievance or goal.

Kofi Annan’s resolve against these acts of terrorism will determine to
a great extent what norms will govern our society in generations to
come, and whether organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas will gloat
in unruly appetite or be reined in by moral principles.

We urge Mr. Annan to make bold and brave efforts to ensure–as a
legacy and gift–that we will not allow our children and our world
be taken captive by terror.

Mr. Secretary-General, this time, help bring the boys back home.

Mr. and Mrs. Pearl are co-founders of the Daniel Pearl Foundation
(www.danielpearl.org ), a U.N.-affiliated NGO.