True crime

The Siman Tov family

My video on YouTube about the Siman Tov family.

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This is the Siman Tov family. Consisting of Yonatan (Johnny) Siman Tov, Tamar Kedem-Siman Tov, 6 year old twins Shahar and Arbel, and 4 year old Omer. A beautiful, happy, laughing family of five from Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Johnny and Tamar met in 2011. Johnny was a born and raised Nir Oz kibbutznik, while Tamar was from Jerusalem. They both wanted to see the world, so they spent a year in Australia and New Zealand together, where they traveled around as backpackers. These photos are from Johnny’s facebook page. You can just see how happy they were, trekking in the wild nature, seeing the famous landmarks and seeing all those amazing places. I sure they never wanted it to end. They made some good friends in Australia, who they stayed in contact with after they went back to Israel.

After 7 years together, they got married in May of 2018. They settled down in Nir Oz and soon welcomed twin baby girls, Shahar and Arbel. Two years later, they celebrated the birth of their third child, a little boy they named Omer.

For years, the family lived happily in kibbutz Nir Oz. Johnny’s mother Carol Siman Tov also lived in Nir Oz, as did Johnny’s four siblings with their families. Carol is originally from the USA, and the entire family holds US citizenship.

Johnny seems to me like a typical, friendly, down to earth kibbutznik. He was one of the acricultural managers of the kibbutz and worked on the wheat fields. This is one of his facebook posts:

“Those were the days…” he writes wistfully. His love for the land, for agriculture, for getting his hands dirty working the tractors, is evident.

Tamar Kedem Siman Tov was a very driven person, always wanted to make the world a better place. She fought for woman’s rights, she was a peace activist and a politician. She was actually running for mayor of the local council, and had a very strong online presence to support her campaign. It looks like a lot of people in the council admired her and intended to vote for her.

This was Tamar’s profile picture in 2021. It says: “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies”.

In the early morning of October 7, 2023, the sirens started wailing in kibbutz Nir Oz. Johnny, Tamar and the children went into their “safe room”, a room built of solid concrete with a steel door and window shutter, made to withstand missiles and gunfire. Every house in Israel has one. They assumed it was just regular rockets being fired from Gaza, something that occurred almost daily in their area. Tamar sent off a quick text to her friends in Australia: “Hi guys, we got into the shelter in our house, we’re all going ok.” Going ok. As they say in Australia.

But soon, they started to understand that this was not like every other day. Something immeasurably worse was happening. They heard gunfire outside and voices, shouting in Arabic. In horror, they realized their kibbutz was being raided by terrorists, who were going from house to house, killing people and setting fire to their houses. It was only a matter of time until the voices and guns would get to their house. They locked and barricaded the door. Johnny kept up a text exchange with his family, who were locked inside their own houses in the kibbutz.

When the terrorists broke into the house of the Siman Tov family, they couldn’t immediately get to them. So they set the house on fire. Slowly, the room filled with smoke. Johnny texted to his sister, Ranae: “They’re here. They’re burning us. We’re suffocating.” Choking on the smoke, they were forced to open the reinforced window of their secure room, so they wouldn’t all die of smoke inhalation. But behind the window, gunmen were waiting for exactly that.

Tamar and Johnny were immediately shot through the window. They managed to close the window again to protect the children from being shot. But they must have known they all faced certain death by fire or smoke. The terror, pain and grief they must have gone through in that room is unimaginable. Later that day, Johnny, Tamar, Shahar, Arbel and little Omer were all found dead in the safe room of their burned house. The children had died from smoke inhalation.

Hamas also got to the rest of Johnny’s family. His mother, Carol, was shot to death together with her dog, Charlie, in her own house. The rest of the family excaped with their lives. Although one of the brothers got shot, he survived.

So tell me: if this is not premeditated murder in cold blood, then what is?? If this is not the most horrendous crime imaginable, then what is?? Shooting little children execution style? Gunning down an old lady and her dog? What kind of depraved savages could do this?

Hamas is not an army fighting for the rights of their people. They are a terrorist organization, dedicated to the systematic destruction of the state of Israel, of the Jewish people and of all Western civilization. They are also a cruel, totalitarian regime that terrorizes their own people. There is no excuse for what they did and they cannot be allowed to continue to exi

Nothing can bring back the Siman Tov family, and the other 80 people of kibbutz Nir Oz who were murdered that day. Nothing can heal the terrible loss of their family, their friends, and everone who knew them. The entire country is in mourning. But the kibbutzim who were raided on Black Shabbath, are in unimaginable pain.

This is the memorial planted in Nir Oz for the Siman Tov family. We will never, ever forget them, and how they died. At the hands of violent murderers.

Shani Louk – forever young

This is my YouTube video about Shani Louk. It’s the best performing video on my channel, with 42K views. I can only guess why that is. Is it because of the horrific footage and the famous, prize-winning (yes!) photo of the abuse and abduction of her lifeless body? Is it because of her arresting looks? Is it because of the universally terrifying idea of going to a hippy music festival and being brutally murdered by rabid terrorists? It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t monetize my content. All I want is for people to watch, or read, and know what we went through.

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This beautiful, free spirit is Shani Louk. She is 22 years old and will stay 22 years old forever. She will not grow up, have children and experience everything life has to offer. Shani Louk was murdered on October 7, 2023, at the hands of crazed, bloodthirsty Hamas terrorists.

Shani was born on February 7, 2001, to an Israeli father and a German mother. The family lived in Israel, but often visited Shani’s grandparents in Germany. They lived for several years in Portland, Oregon, but eventually moved back to Israel.

Shani was artistic and loved travelling. She became a tattoo artist and travelled the world with her Mexican boyfriend, Orión Hernández Radoux. She was a convinced pacifist and refused to serve in the Israeli army. She was also very active on social media and had a lot of followers. Her instagram, which was full of ethereal photos of her, had more than 13,000 followers.

Shani lived in Tel Aviv and often went to raves and dance parties. On October 7, she and her boyfriend Orión were at the Supernova festival. There are several photos and videos of them dancing, laughing and having a great time.

Until all hell broke loose and many hundreds of Hamas terrorists flooded the party in a frenzied killing spree, hunting people down, bullets flying everywhere. Shani called friends on her phone, telling them to flee. She also called her mother, saying that she was trying to get to her car, to hide from the terrorists. After that, her phone went silent.

Hours later, the livestream of the terrorists’ video cameras showed a naked, seemingly unconscious woman in the bed of a pick-up truck, being paraded through the streets of Gaza City. Shani’s friends and family recognized the distinct tattoos and the long dreadlocks, and realized with horror that this was Shani Louk. They had to watch helplessly as terrorists spat on her, pulled her hair and screamed “Allahu akhbar!!”. There are stills from this footage, but I am not going to show them, as they are too shocking. The footage and the stills are easy to find on the internet, for whoever wants to see the full horror of what Hamas did to Shani Louk.

Initially, it was thought that Shani was still alive, that she had been taken hostage. But on October 30, almost a month after the attack, part of Shani’s skull was found at the site of the festival. A vital part, without which she could not possibly live. All hope was gone for Shani’s family. Although they did not have her body, they had to accept that she was dead. “It was like being kicked in the head,” Shani’s brother said.

Because part of her skull was found, rumours circulated on the internet that Shani had been beheaded. But it is more likely that she was shot in the head and died instantly. Fortunately, she escaped the fate of other women, who were gangraped, tortured and beheaded. Her family takes some comfort in the idea that she did not suffer.

And what about Shani’s boyfriend, Orión Hernández Radoux? Orión holds both Mexican and French nationality. He is not an Israeli, he came to Israel as a tourist, to be with Shani. He is 31 years old and has a little daughter. According to his friends, he is a man of music and festivals, of love and family, adventure and peace. Orión has been missing since the attack. There has been no news of him whatsoever. His body was not found, so he is presumed to be a hostage. But there is no evidence that he is alive.

However, after the 7th of October, a series of chilling messages were sent from his phone. It seems that Hamas terrorists got hold of his phone and used it to send messages in Arabic to his contacts. “I spit on you,” they read, “God damn you.” And “Liberate Palestine”, “kill the Zionists”. That is Hamas’ message to the world. Very sophisticated.

As I am writing this, the IDF is pushing into Gaza, searching for the hostages. I hope and pray that Orión will be found, alive, with the others. And that he is ok. But even if he is, he will be traumatized forever. I’m so sorry, Orión, that this had to happen to you.

#bringthemhome

Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed

Avera Mengistu

Hamas is a terror organization. They have been kidnapping people and taking hostages long before October 7, 2023. Often, the people they choose are the more vulnerable members of society. Especially when these people literally walk straight into their hands. Like Avera Mengistu, an Ethiopian-Israeli Jew who has been held by Hamas since 2014. Yes, there are Black African Jews and yes, he has been a hostage for almost 10 years.

Avera Mengistu was 27 years old when he walked from his home in Ashkelon to the Gazan border, climbed the fence and disappeared into Gaza. He was immediately taken hostage by Hamas. According to his family, Avera was in a confused and emotional state that day. He had been suffering from mental illness for years and had been hospitalized twice. No one knows what exactly he was trying to accomplish by crossing the border.

But Hamas immediately took advantage of the situation. They took Mengistu captive and said he was a prisoner of war. They claimed he was a soldier and was wearing a uniform. This is categorically untrue, as Avera never served in the army due to his mental health issues. Very little was heard from or about him for years.

Until, in January of 2023, Hamas released a video of Avera Mengistu. In the video, he asks: “How much longer will I be in captivity? After so many years, where are the state and the people of Israel?”

The Mengistu family can not be entirely sure that this really is Avera, but it does seem to be him.

Avera’s parents and his brothers are forever missing a part of their family. They fight to get publicity for their story. They feel neglected and pushed aside by both the government and the media of Israel. They feel that because of Avera’s race and mental health, he is not given the same importance as the hostages of October 7. Where is the outrage, the outcry over Avera Mengistu?

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Hisham al-Sayed

The story of Hisham al-Sayed is very similar to that of Avera Mengistu. Hisham is a Bedouin Israeli Arab who has been held by Hamas since 2015. (And yes, there are Arab, Muslim and Bedouin Israelis.)

Al-Sayed was born in 1988 in the Bedouin town of Al-Hura in the Negev desert. He studied in Cyprus and London, but struggled with both physical and mental health disorders. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, vertigo and hearing loss. Hisham tried to join the Israeli army but, like Avera Mengistu, was not enlisted due to his health problems.

Hisham’s family say he heard voices in his head, telling him to cross over the border with Gaza. He tried to do so many times, and finally succeeded in 2015. Hamas took him and has held him captive ever since. As with Mengistu, they claimed he was a soldier and therefore a prisoner of war, which is not true.

In 2022, Hamas released a video showing Hisham al-Sayed looking very sick, lying in a hospital bed with an oxygen mask and an IV drip. His Israeli ID card was shown lying open on the bed.

Al-Sayed’s family are desperately worried about him. He needs medical treatment and medication. Like Mengistu’s family, they have tried to generate international publicity for their son’s case, but failed to do so. They, too, have accused the Israeli government and press of not caring enough, because their son is a Bedouin.

The cases of Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed are very sad. They highlight not only the cruelty and sadism of an organization like Hamas, holding vulnerable, unwell civilians prisoner for years, but also the undeniable difference in treatment of minority groups in Israel, like the Bedouins and the Ethiopians. While their families fight for recognition, their sons languish in the dungeons of Hamas, unknown by the general public and the international community.

There is a lot wrong in Israel. But that does NOT mean it is an apartheid state. It is not. All Israeli citizens have the same basic rights and opportunities, no matter their religion or ethnicity. But of course, in reality, some groups have a much harder time than others. This is something we need to work on. Just like the USA, Europe, Canada, Australia and everwhere else.

#bringthemhome

The Bibas Family

Shiri Silberman-Bibas (32), Yarden Bibas (34), Ariel (4) and Kfir (9 months) lived in kibbutz Nir-Oz. They were happy together and had a beautiful little family, two little boys with flaming red hair. Shiri’s parents immigrated from Argentina 40 years ago, while Yarden Bibas is from Yemeni descent.

In the early morning of October 7, kibbutz Nir Oz was invaded by hundreds of Hamas terrorists, armed to the teeth. They went from door to door, killing entire families, shooting children in their beds, tying people up and torturing them, setting their houses on fire and burning them alive.

In a panic, Yarden, Shiri and the children hid in the safe room of their house, together with Shiri’s parents. They contacted their family, telling them what was happening. “It feels like the end,” Yarden texted to his sister. Then: “They are coming into the house.”

After that, there were no more texts. But Yarden and Shiri’s family saw their loved ones in the Hamas videos of that day. The little boys’ bright red hair was hard to miss. They had to watch as armed men escorted Shiri out of the house, sobbing and terrified, clutching her two babies. Then, they had to watch as terrorists beat Yarden with a hammer and took him away separately, wounded and bleeding from his head.

This video and the screenshots made the Bibas family the most famous hostages. Kfir, at nine months old at the time, is the youngest hostage of all. The following image has been shown all over the world.

People are also trying to find out the identity of the man in the light blue shirt behind them, the man whose face Hamas is trying to conceal. Is he a Western journalist? There is a theory that there were journalists and photographers with the terrorists, who had prior knowledge of the attack and who came along to film and photograph everything that happened. There are freelance Gazan journalists seen in other pictures, some of them with known ties to Hamas. The cruelty and callousness of people standing by and taking photos of a massacre is inconceivable.

For weeks, there was no news of the Bibas/Silberman family. Shiri’s parents, Jose Luis (Yossi) and Margit Silberman, were assumed to be hostages, until their bodies were identified in kibbutz Nir Oz. They had been murdered, not abducted.

After 7 long weeks, Hamas finally caved under immense pressure and agreed to release the minor hostages and their mothers. For a week, every night a small number of children, mothers and elderly women were released.

But Shiri Bibas and her redheaded babies were not among them. Every night, their family, along with the entire country, prayed that they would come home the next day. People held vigils and released orange balloons in honour of the children. Tomorrow… Tomorrow, the ginger babies will come home.

But they never did. On November 29, Hamas released a video of Yarden Bibas. They filmed his reaction while terrorists told him that his wife and children were dead, according to them, killed in an Israeli airstrike. They forced the sobbing and broken man to blame the Israeli government and to say that they had killed his family. There are no words to describe psychological torture of this level. The entire country is brokenhearted and just wants to bring Yarden and the bodies of Shiri and the children back to Israel.

There is no evidence that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir are really dead. It is possible that Hamas is using them as pawns in their psychological warfare tactics. Earlier, Hamas claimed to have passed them on (sold them) to another terror organization, and lost track of them. We have no way of knowing what is the truth. But the heartbreak and the pain is real, for all of us.

We keep on hoping for a miracle, and that one day, the Bibas family will return home. We love you, Kfir, Ariel, Shiri and Yarden.

#bringthemhome

Noa Argamani – abducted by civilians

This is Noa Argamani. She is 26 years old and studies engineering. She is the beloved only child of Israeli-born Yacov and Chinese-born Liora Argamani. Noa is close to all of our hearts because of her remarkable beauty, the terrifying video of her abduction and the heartbreaking story of her mother. She is also my friend’s cousin. I have to start with Noa, because to me, she embodies all that is good, and kind, and beautiful. All that was destroyed and torn away from us by Hamas.

Noa was at a party that day, with her boyfriend Avinatan Or. They went to a music festival called Supernova, in the Negev desert. They sang and danced, laughed and enjoyed themselves with friends. Until suddenly, the music stopped, the sirens started wailing and hell broke open, spewing out masked men with guns, on motorcycles and in jeeps, driving into the crowd at full speed, shooting at everyone they saw, screaming “Allahu akhbar!!”

Panicked people fled in all directions. The masked men chased after them and emptied their weapons at them, shooting innocent, unarmed young people in the back. Noa and Avinatan ran for their lives, terrified and in shock.

But the terrorists caught up with them. Five, ten men jumped at Noa and Avinatan. Two men pulled Noa on a motorcycle, while the others held Avinatan down. Noa cried and screamed: “No, no, don’t kill me!” But the kidnappers laughed at her and drove away with her. She stretched out her arms to Avinatan, who was being taken away by a group of men, and who could do nothing but stare after her in terror.

We have this footage because the terrorists filmed it and uploaded it on TikTok. Yes, they were proud of what they did. They were full of glee. They took pleasure in killing, torturing, raping and kidnapping unarmed young people at a music festival. The following pictures are stills from the footage.

This is the last anyone saw of Avinathan Or. He is presumed taken hostage. Noa was seen later on in Gaza in other footage, so she is known to be a hostage.

Noa’s parents, friends and family are beside themselves with worry. Noa’s mother, Liora, is suffering from terminal brain cancer. She is afraid of dying without ever seeing her daughter again.

I didn’t know what true evil was, until I saw the footage and heard the stories of the supernova music festival. Now, I know what evil looks like. It is hundreds of bloodthirsty men, firing into a crowd, chasing fleeing people, laughing and shouting “Allahu akhbar!!” while grabbing, raping, murdering and abducting young girls.

At the moment I am writing this, two months after the “black shabbath” as we call it, a number of children and women have been released from captivity. But not Noa. Where are you, Noa? What are they doing to you? Are you alive, are you hurt, are you suffering? Our hearts are bound to you and to Avinatan, and to your parents. We pray that Liora will see her beloved daughter again before she leaves this world.

We love you, Noa and Avinatan. #bringthemhome.

Edit 3/1/24

It has come to light that the men who abducted Noa Argamani were not Hamas members. They were Gazan civilians who followed Hamas through the gates on October 7 and blazed a trail through Israel, looting, killing and raping. And abducting pretty young girls as trophies. If you watch the videos, it is clear. These men do not wear hoods and their faces are clearly visible. They do not carry automatic weapons and ammunition belts. It is absolutely sickening and enraging. Nobody knows where they’re hiding Noa and what they’re doing to her. But somebody must know these men. Someone knows who they are and where they are keeping Noa and the other girls who have not been returned.

Edit 17/1/24

On January 14, Noa appeared in a video released by Hamas, together with two other hostages: Yossi Sharabi and Itay Svirsky. They were forced to say that Israel should stop the war or they would be killed. At the end of the video, Hamas gave us a nice little game, to guess who was going to be murdered that night.

Noa was the only one who survived this demonic game. My guess is the civilians who abducted her, sold her to Hamas. Hamas knows how famous and beloved Noa is. They use her as a pawn to force us to do what they want.

So Noa is alive, for now. God help her. 💔

October 7, 2023

YouTube: Stories of Israel – True Crime

I’m a true crime fan. I have followed the true crime community for years. The psychology behind the terrible stories is fascinating. What makes murderers and kidnappers tick? Why do they do what they do? What made them this way? And who were their victims? How do their loved ones deal with something so dark and awful?

Then, true crime happened to me.

This story was a letter that I wrote on November 7, 2023, exactly a month after the terrible, traumatic event that changed all of our lives forever. I sent this letter to all my favorite true crime podcasters and YouTubers, who I have watched and listened to for years. I have supported them, encouraged them, defended them and donated to them. Now, I felt like I needed them to support me.

None of them answered me or acknowledged my plea in any way. None of them expressed sympathy or addressed the living nightmare we have experienced and are still experiencing. Not one true crime YouTuber has told our horror stories. By now, I realize that they are not going to. So I decided to do it myself. This is the letter I sent to them.

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I want to tell you a story. It is a very, very shocking and gruesome story. I will only tell you the outlines, because the details will give you nightmares forever. To me, this is true crime at its most horrific, most devastating and most… True. Every single word of this is true, and there is video evidence for all of it.

On October 7 of this year, the south of my country was invaded by thousands of terrorists. The attack came out of nowhere and we were all caught off guard. They drove in with trucks and cars and motorcycles, sailed in with boats over sea and even flew in with paragliders. The terrorists broke into people’s homes and murdered more than 1200 people. The victims were men and women, children and babies, elderly and disabled people. Many of them were tortured, mutilated, beheaded, or burned alive. Parents were brutally murdered in front of their children. Parents were made to watch as their children were killed. Their houses were then set ablaze. Many people died in the flames and were burned beyond recognition.

Other terrorists drove further into the country and came to a music festival, where many young people were dancing and enjoying themselves. They shot as many people as they could and grabbed and gangraped many of the young women, until they died, until their legs and pelvises were broken. The naked, lifeless bodies were then piled on trucks, some missing limbs or heads, and paraded around for everyone to see.

The terrorists then kidnapped living people. They pulled them into their cars and on motorcycles, and took those people with them. They abducted a total of 240 men, women and children, who have been held hostage for a month now, with very little signs of life.

I am of course talking about the massacre by Hamas in the south of Israel. Since that horrible day, we have all been living in hell. Our every waking and sleeping thought is of pain, fear and death. Time stood still for us on that day.

I am not asking you to take sides in the terrible war that followed this mass murder. The only thing I want from the true crime community is to acknowledge that what Hamas did to us was a crime. It was not an act of war. There was no war at that time. What they did was a deliberate and premeditated crime, with the goal of murdering and kidnapping as many Israelis as they could, while maximizing our suffering as much as possible. That was their only goal.

There is plenty of evidence for this. The terrorists wore cameras on their heads and recorded every horrific act they committed that day. They uploaded it on social media, proud of what they did. Much of the footage is freely accessible, although not all of it. Some of it is too gruesome to be shown to the general public. It has been compiled into a movie, that has been shown to journalists and news outlets around the world. Half of them were unable to stay in the room and finish watching. All of them came out shaking and feeling sick.

The people held hostage range in age from nine months to 86 years old. They are from a wide range of nationalities. They are Israeli, American, Thai, Filipino, Tanzanian, Argentinian, German, British… The list goes on. Their families do not sleep and cannot breathe. Their lives are hell.

What I want is for the international community to acknowledge that this was a terrible crime against the people of Israel, whether they were Jews, Muslims, Christians or otherwise. Hamas murdered without distinction. A lot of Israeli Arabs, Thai foreign workers and visitors were killed and captured as well as Jews.

The MeToo movement turns a blind eye to the violent rape of hundreds of Israeli women. The Red Cross and Unicef do nothing to secure the release of 30 children being held hostage, or to verify that severely wounded hostages receive medical care. Antisemitism has sprung up over the entire world. Jews feel threatened and unsafe everywhere. Jewish children are being kept home from school in Europe. Jewish college students in the USA are not going to class, for fear of being harassed.

I am powerless to stop any of this. But I have a voice. So I post, and I write. I want everyone to know what is happening. It feels to me as if history is coming full circle and repeating itself.

That is my story. I am fortunate to not have been affected personally and my family is safe. But friends and family of my friends have been murdered, abducted or killed in battle. We are traumatized, shocked, angry and afraid. And so very, very sad. I live for the day that the hostages will come back home. I pray that they are still alive.

Thank you for listening.