jews

100 Days

Today, the hostages have been in captivity for 100 days. Most of the minors and their mothers, and elderly women, as well as most Thais and the 2 Filipinos, were released during the ceasefire after 7 weeks. But 136 living people are still assumed to be held prisoner in Gaza. Some of the hostages have died (were murdered) and their bodies are known to still be held captive, like Joshua Mollel, whose bloody murder was broadcast by Hamas. Some are known to be seriously injured, like Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose arm was blown off during an explosion on October 7. Some are only teenagers, like Eden Alexander, who is 19 years old. Some are very old, like Oded Lifschitz, 83.

Some of those who are still being held are friends or family members of my friends. Like Noa Argamani, who is my friend’s cousin. Like Ofer Calderon, David Cunio and Ariel Cunio, who are friends of my friends.

There have been practically no signs of life. A few weeks back, Hamas released a video of three of the oldest hostages, Haim Peri (79), Yoram Metzger (80) and Amiram Cooper (84). They were sitting in a row in front of the camera, looking thin and weak, with long beards. They pleaded with the Israeli government to stop the war and rescue them. Of course, they had been told exactly what to say by men with automatic guns, so we have no idea what they actually wanted to say.

This kind of thing has the dual effect of raising our hopes – they’re alive! – and feeding our anxiety: time is running out. It’s a known tactic of psychological warfare. It is entirely possible that these three elderly men were executed immediately after the recording of that video.

I hope to heaven that this is not what happened. I hope the majority of the hostages are alive and will one day be found safe and brought back home. But sometimes, I wonder if any of them are still alive right now. And if they are, what hell are they going through? We know from the released hostages that they were kept in harsh circumstances, fed very little and threatened constantly. Some men were beaten with electric cables. Some women were kept in cages and sexually assaulted, over and over again.

Some were not even abducted by Hamas at all. Some were taken by Islamic Jihad, another terror organization. And some were taken by civilians, who followed Hamas out of the gates and joined cheerfully in the plunder, murder and destruction. These civilians chose young girls and women to kidnap for themselves. No one knows where they are, but we can guess what is being done to them. Sexual violence was a big part of the October 7 massacre. It is no secret that many bodies were found naked and bleeding, gangraped violently and then shot. Hamas member have bragged about raping Israeli women.

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But somehow, this is still being contested by the world. Somehow, people all over the world manage to turn this atrocity around and twist it. Humans everywhere love to blame Jews. It has always been like this in history and these times are no exception. We are apparently to blame for progroms and holocausts, for hatred and massacres, just because we are Jews and we should not be wherever we are. People manage to justify to themselves what Hamas has done. They want to absolve their guilty conscience by saying: “Well, the Jews had it coming.” And they cheerfully campaign for Palestine, donate to Gaza (which all goes straight to Hamas), walk around with kefiyahs on their heads and feel like cool, edgy, progressive humans.

You’re not. You’re antisemites and neo-Nazis. Just a few days ago, someone from my own country stole my words, twisted them around and gleefully managed to suggest that not only did we have it coming, but Israel orchestrated the attack themselves, just to have an excuse to “commit genocide” in Gaza.

I have never been so ashamed to be Dutch in my life. People like this make me sick. They are holocaust deniers, victim blamers and no better than the Death Eaters themselves. But I know what is going to happen. Hamas has said it themselves, numerous times: the West is next. One day very soon, things like this will happen in Europe. Then, these people will finally start to realize that radical Islam is a horrific evil that wants to conquer the world and destroy everyone that doesn’t live exactly according to their draconian rules. But then, it will be too late.

I want to take this opportunity to draw attention to the women and children still in the hands of Gazans, and likely subjected to physical, sexual and psychological violence. Is this what you want? Is this what you want to see in your own country? To them, women are objects. Trophies, to be owned, stolen and discarded as they please. We need to fight this evil and make sure they do not conquer Europe! Because no matter what I shout, I care deeply about my old country. My heart breaks to see it slowly being subjected to Sharia law. As much as it breaks for these beautiful women. Please, please help us bring them home. Raise your voice. Say NO. This is evil, no matter what your race, religion or nationality is.

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Liri, Karina, Daniela, Carmel, Arbel, Eden, Amit, Noa, Agam, Naama, Romi and Doron are still being held hostage. 100 days.

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Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas are still not back home. Kfir recently turned one year old. He has been captive for 100 days of his short little life.

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Look them in the eyes, these young girls. See what the Death Eaters did to them. And then stand behind that with a clear conscience. I dare you.

#bringthemhome

Ethiopian Jews – the Lost Tribe

So, what’s the story with Black African Jews? Aren’t all Jews white Europeans? No, absolutely not. Apart from the Mizrahi Jews (Jews from the Middle East, Asia and North Africa), there are West-African Jews, too. The story of the “Beta Israel” (Ethiopian Jews) is incredible. Listen to this!

The Beta Israel are the descendants of Jews who migrated to West Africa during the Babylonian Exile. They were isolated from other Jewish communities for more than a thousand years. The Western world did not know the Beta Israel existed, and they themselves didn’t realize there were other Jews in the world – they thought they were the only ones who had survived the exile. For centuries, they lived in more than 500 small villages in Northern Ethiopia, where they held on to their faith and their identity against all odds and under religious persecution. In the 19th and 20th centuries, many of them were forced to convert to Christianity. Those people are now known as the Falash Mura.

In the 1970’s, the Beta Israel finally made contact with the Jewish community in Israel. When the Ethiopian Civil war broke out in the 1980’s, Ethiopian Jews, driven to despair by war, famine and persecution, fled to Sudan, where they stayed in refugee camps. Their dream was to immigrate to Israel and finally be safe. And they made it happen.

Working together with the Beta Israel, the Israeli government managed to arrange a series of incredible rescue missions with names like Operation Moses and Operation Solomon. 45,000 Ethiopian Jews were flown to Israel in airplanes with the seats removed to fit more people. There aren’t many moments in Israeli history that make me feel proud and tearful, but this is one of them.

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But not all Ethiopian Jews made it to the flights. As many as 4000 people perished during the journey to Sudan and in the refugee camps. They walked through the desert on foot, a journey that could take up to a month. And the Sudanese were not exactly friendly and welcoming. The Jews faced hostility and violence as well as hunger and exhaustion. The rescue operations were incredibly complicated, involving undercover agents in Sudan and depending on absolute secrecy. Arab countries did not agree with helping Jews and Sudan did not want it known that they were allowing this. Many people had to wait in the camps for years and died from illness and violence. The road from Ethiopia to Sudan was a trail of tears. What the Beta Israel went through to finally get to Israel is unimaginable.

So, is the life of Ethiopian Jews better in Israel? According to the Ethiopian people I know, yes, definitely. They now live in an economically wealthy country, where they do not have to suffer hunger and persecution. They can exercise their faith freely, they have access to education, healthcare and benefits. But there are dark sides to this story, as to every story.

The cultural gap between the Beta Israel and other Israelis was huge. Ethiopian Jews spoke Amharic, a language no other Israeli understood. Their African customs were very different from those of the rest of Israel. They ended up marginalized, in poor neighbourhoods, with a high unemployment rate and little interaction with other Israelis.

At this time, around 160,000 Jews of Ethiopian origin live in Israel. The second generation, the children of the immigrants, are changing things around. Education and employment rates are much higher. They serve in the army, they speak Hebrew as their native language (in addition to Amharic), and they are proud of being Israeli, as well as Ethiopian.

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But of course, things are not perfect. Far from it, in fact. The Ethiopian community in Israel faces discrimination and mistrust. Police brutality against Black people has been happening here, too. Missing and murdered Ethiopian Israelis get far less public attention than non-Black Israelis. We still have a long way to go to address these injustices.

But Ethiopian Jews are an incredible strong and resilient people. They held on to their identity through thousands of years of isolation and persecution. They face their challenges in Israel and they fight for change. They assimilate, but without losing their unique culture. They carve their own path. Personally, I am in awe of them.

The gorgeous and talented Eden Alene, who represented Israel in the Eurovision song festival in 2021.