Light among the darkness
Release of Israeli hostages brings some hope, but the nightmare is not over
I was so relieved to see some families reunited this week after a few of the hostages were released from Gaza.
Thirteen Israelis were released on Friday, along with 10 Thai hostages and one Filipino hostage.
The Israelis released on Friday included four children (ages 2,4, 5 and 9), the mom of the 2 and 4 year old, the mom of the 5-year-old, the mom and grandmother of the 9-year-old and five elderly women (ages 85, 79, 77, 76 and 72).
The civilians from Thailand were primariliy employed as semi-skilled farm laborers working in Israel.
Thirteen more were released on Saturday. Six children (ages 3, 8, 9,12, 13, 17), an 18-year-old and her mom, a 21-year-old woman who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival (whose brother remains in Gaza), a 67-year-old woman who holds Israeli and German citizenship (and is the founder of Fair Planet, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping small farms in developing countries). After arriving in Israel, the two older teens learned from their grandparents that their mother had been killed on Oct. 7 and their father was still missing.
This group includes Emily, an Irish-Israeli girl who turned 9 last week while in captivity. She was abducted in her pajamas during a sleepover at her friend’s house. (We lit an extra Shabbat candle on her birthday, along with countless others around the world.) Her friend was also released, but her friend’s mother remains in Gaza.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar posted the following message on X, formerly Twitter, after Emily’s release: “This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.”
Although it’s nice that he acknowledged the situation - the wording is questionable and was rightly criticized. “Lost”?
As Israeli Government Spokesman Eylon Levy said: "This is how you describe a little girl who disappeared while wandering in the woods, and then was discovered by a friendly hiker. Not a girl who was brutally kidnapped by death squads who brutally slaughtered her neighbors.”
On Sunday, 14 more hostages were released, including a girl who turned 4 this past week. Her parents, who were murdered in front of her on Oct. 7, were both American citizens. Others released were a mom with her three children (10, 8 and 4); two sisters, ages 8 and 15; a mom and her three children (9, 11 and 17) - their father and an older daughter (20) were killed on Oct. 7; and two other women, ages 84 and 62 (her husband is still in Gaza). There was also a 25-year-old man from Russia, who had worked as a sound engineer at the music festival.
Although there’s much happiness and relief in all those who returned, there’s also the pain in knowing that there are nearly 190 hostages still being held captive in Gaza. Many who were released have family members that remain in captivity and most will also be grieving family members who were killed during the Oct. 7 massacre.
The release of these hostages brings some hope in the midst of so much darkness, but the loved ones of the 188 remaining hostages are still in the dark wondering about the whereabouts and condition of their family members. Family members who were kidnapped from their homes and from a music festival during the Oct. 7 massacre.
(Perhaps you’ve seen the “Kidnapped from Israel” flyers with faces of these hostages in your city? They have been plastered on walls, subways and telephone poles across the U.S. and beyond and even on billboards here in the Greater Phoenix area. These posters, with pictures of the hostages, have represented a form of protest against Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 kidnapping and murders by Hamas, as countless people have been videotaped ripping the posters off, even ripping them into small pieces and tossing them to the ground.)
Meanwhile, for each one of these innocent children and women, the ceasefire agreement requires that Israel release three Palestinian prisoners. So in exchange for one innocent civilian (such a toddler or an elderly woman), three Palestinian prisoners (women and minors) whose charges range from stabbing attacks and throwing stones to incitement or supporting illegal terror organizations, were released into Jerusalem and the West Bank.
They were welcomed with celebrations that included green Hamas flags flying along with Palestinian flags. One of the released women, who was in prison for eight years, said in a TikTok video that she loves Hamas and is so proud of them.
That same evening, two men were executed by a Palestinian armed group in the West Bank after being accused of being Israeli spies. They were hung upside down on a metal pole as hundreds of Palestinian civilians lined the streets and cheered.
What happens next? There are still Pro-Palestinian rallies throughout the world (including some protestors who tried to stall the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade by gluing themselves to the street.)
Tens of thousands of people attended a protest in London on Saturday, Nov. 25, to demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, Typical slogans were seen in the protest, such as “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,” which is a phrase that calls for the annihilation of Israel.
Misinformation and lies continue to spread online. (Some are addressed in this video by journalist Hillel Fuld.) Women’s groups and human rights organizations still haven’t condemned the brutal rape and murder committed by Hamas on Oct. 7. Apparently the #MeToo movement doesn’t apply to Jewish women.
As we move from Thanksgiving to the holiday season, Israel remains top of mind. Our Thanksgiving table included a placeholder for one of the hostages, Erez, who recently turned 12 while in captivity in Gaza, through a Seats of Hope initiative. He was taken from his home with his dad and 16-year-old sister. We are praying that they, along with all the other hostages, will be safely released soon.