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‘I Can’t Live Anymore’: Heart-Wrenching Suicide Letter by Survivor of Oct. 7 Nova Massacre Revealed by Family
An Israeli soldier walks near pictures that are part of an installation at the site of the Nova festival, where people were killed and kidnapped during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, in Reim, southern Israel, Jan. 14, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
A survivor of the Hamas massacre at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7 who later took his own life left behind a suicide letter that was recently shared anonymously by a member of his family.
The Israeli man detailed in his Hebrew-language note his decision to commit suicide after enduring so many harrowing sights during the Hamas terrorist attack at the music festival in southern Israel, including kidnapping, murder, and the rape of a woman nearby him. He wrote about the trauma he experienced that day at the festival — where nearly 400 people were killed and approximately 40 others were kidnapped by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists — and how he could not take living life anymore as the memories of Oct. 7 haunted him every day. He also discussed the guilt of not saving the woman being sexually assaulted near him and how that feeling of helplessness pushed him to the point of wanting to commit suicide.
In his suicide letter, he talked directly to the woman he saw being raped and then shot to death at the music festival near where he was hiding. He began his note by telling her, “Hey you, please forgive me!” He later wrote to her: “I have reached rock bottom, I can’t live anymore. Your look follows me every single day — in the shower, in my sleep, in my room. I couldn’t go back to work, I wasn’t able to.”
“I ask for your forgiveness,” he added. “I am coming to you, to the next great world, I promise to save you there and protect you. Please forgive me!” He concluded his suicide letter by telling her: “My sister is having a baby, I thought about sticking around to get to know my nephew, but I don’t think he should know the uncle that couldn’t save you. It’s okay, I’ll watch him from above.”
The Israeli man also recounted the days leading up to Oct. 7 and even how the day of the attack started pleasantly before Hamas infiltrated the music festival.
Israeli writer, activist, and speaker Hen Mazzig said on X that the suicide letter was published anonymously by the sister of the deceased in an Israeli social media group. The sister did not mention her sibling or family’s ‘s identity to maintain their privacy during this difficult time.
Read the full suicide note below, translated from Hebrew:
“Hey you, please forgive me!
It all started on Thursday, we were dancing and having fun, and come Friday — so much fun all around, seeing friends we haven’t seen in years — we all met to dance and celebrate life. Come Saturday morning, the sun begins to rise, it’s so beautiful as it starts to shine all over everyone.
We’re dancing and happy, hugging, and some of my friends start to leave. Suddenly, rockets start flying over us, I know this, this is my life — I’m from the South. But then there are paragliders — I hope nothing happens to them…
Then starts the gunfire — what is going on?
We see the truck coming, paratroopers dressed in foreign uniforms — they are killing everyone.
They just killed Shay, they killed Adi.. They’re kidnapping that girl, who is sitting there hugging her murdered boyfriend. Suddenly you run to the bushes where I sit and hide, not uttering a sound from my lips.
You’re in the bush next to me, so close, the cries gush out from within you. A terrorist is right above the bush I’m hiding in and I pray he won’t see me, I pray so hard, something I haven’t done my entire life… God can hear my prayer.
But you won’t stop crying out loud because with every second, someone gets shot and murdered.
They saw you, they’re dragging you out of the bushes. They’re four and you’re one.
You scream for help.
One of them punches you to silence you, and you try to fight them while looking towards my direction, for me to save you.
But if I step out, we will both get murdered. I want to live! I sit there silently, they start undressing you! I’m crying, I feel like I need to scream but a hand silences me! Maybe it’s the hand of God, or I don’t know who…
They turn you on your stomach and they start raping you, one by one. They turn you around again and they yell at you in English, they want you to see for yourself how they have defeated you. You try to crawl in my direction and I pray for something to happen, for someone to kill them so you can get out alive, but as you crawl towards me and they’re on top of you — the shot comes.
They murdered you, but before they murdered your body they murdered your soul.
I sat there, in the bushes, for hours, I did not come out. I saw a bottle of water next to you and I was so incredibly thirsty, but I couldn’t bear the thought that I should have saved you, so how can I be so disrespectful and drink your water?
I have reached rock bottom, I can’t live anymore. Your look follows me every single day — in the shower, in my sleep, in my room. I couldn’t go back to work, I wasn’t able to.
I’ve been to your house. I didn’t tell your parents what you’ve been through, but they’ve been told that your body was abused, I was a witness.
I ask for your forgiveness.
I am coming to you, to the next great world, I promise to save you there and protect you. Please forgive me!
And don’t worry, I left a note for my family telling them how much I love them, and thanking them for the life they gave me.
My sister is having a baby, I thought about sticking around to get to know my nephew, but I don’t think he should know the uncle that couldn’t save you.
It’s okay, I’ll watch him from above.”
The post ‘I Can’t Live Anymore’: Heart-Wrenching Suicide Letter by Survivor of Oct. 7 Nova Massacre Revealed by Family first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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White House, Pentagon Reaffirm US Ready to Defend Israel as Iran Threatens Major Attack
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin meets with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon in Washington, US, March 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The White House and the Pentagon both signaled the US military was positioned and ready to defend Israel as Iran threatened to attack the Jewish state in retaliation for the recent killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
“We believe that they are still postured and poised to launch an attack should they want to do that, which is why we have that enhanced force posture in the region,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told Israel’s Channel 12 on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
“Our messaging to Iran is consistent, has been and will stay consistent,” Kirby added. “One, don’t do it. There’s no reason to escalate this. There’s no reason to potentially start some sort of all-out regional war. And number two, we are going to be prepared to defend Israel if it comes to that.”
Haniyeh, the exiled political chief of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, was killed in an explosion in Iran’s capital city on July 31. Iran has accused Israel of carrying out the assassination and vowed revenge, which, according to experts and Western officials, will likely take the form of a direct strike on the Jewish state. The Israeli government has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.
Iran is the chief international sponsor of Hamas, providing the terrorist group with weapons, funding, and training.
Kirby’s comments came one day after the US Defense Department similarly said Washington was positioned to support its closest ally in the Middle East.
“We remain postured to support Israel’s defense against any aggression from Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah or other actors,” Pentagon press secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Monday.
Ryder also said that while the US did not assist Israel in intercepting incoming rockets or drones fired by the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah from southern Lebanon over the weekend, it helped in other ways.
“We provided some intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support, [or] ISR, in terms of tracking incoming Lebanese Hezbollah attacks, but did not conduct any kinetic operations as they were not required,” he said.
Israeli fighter jets early on Sunday destroyed thousands of drones and rocket launchers belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, after detecting an imminent attack on the Jewish state.
Hezbollah, which is Iran’s chief proxy force in the Middle East, subsequently fired some 300 projectiles into Israel.
Several reports have confirmed Israeli claims that Hezbollah was preparing to target Israel with a major barrage. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah stated on Sunday that the terrorist group carried out its strikes in retaliation for the killing of Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander, in an airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon late last month. Israel claimed responsibility for Shukr’s death.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reassured Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the weekend that will continue to support the Jewish state as it continues to defend itself from Iran and Hezbollah, according to a Monday press release from the Pentagon.
Amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran along with its terror proxies, the US has deployed two aircraft-carrier strike groups in the Middle East, as well as an extra squadron of F-22 fighter jets and a guided missile submarine.
“The additional forces in the theater send a very clear message to all actors in the region that we’re serious when it comes to supporting the defense of Israel, as well as protecting our forces should they be attacked,” Ryder said.
Kirby added that the force will remain “as long as we feel like we need to keep it in place to help defend Israel and defend our own troops and facilities in the region.”
Analysts have suggested that Israel’s successful attacks on Hezbollah military targets potentially saved hostilities from escalating into a broader war.
“Both [Hezbollah and Israel] are pleased with the results, which makes a descent into full-blown war less likely,” a senior Middle Eastern diplomat told The Washington Post.
However, US Air Force General C.Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that Israel still faces a looming potential attack from Iran.
“You had two things you knew were going to happen. One’s already happened. Now it depends on how the second is going to play out,” Brown told Reuters. “How Iran responds will dictate how Israel responds, which will dictate whether there is going to be a broader conflict or not.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said earlier this week that Iran’s retaliation for the killing of Haniyeh will be “definitive” and “calculated.”
According to reports, the expected Iranian response will likely be larger than Iran’s unprecedented direct attack on Israeli soil in April. In that attack, Iran fired some 300 missiles and drones at Israel, nearly all of which were downed by the Jewish state and its allies, including the US.
The post White House, Pentagon Reaffirm US Ready to Defend Israel as Iran Threatens Major Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Antisemitic and Unlawful’: 24 Attorneys General Warn Brown University Not to Adopt BDS Movement
More than 200 Brown University students protest outside University Hall. Photo: Amy Russo / USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect
Two dozen attorneys general across the US wrote to Brown University on Monday warning that it could face “immediate and profound legal consequences” if it adopts the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, a decision its trustees will consider in October.
The communication preludes what stands to be another academic year of upheavals and tense debate over the Israel-Hamas war in American higher education, a tempest that has caused the resignations of four Ivy League presidents and set off waves of antisemitic incidents on college campuses. Aiming to survive the storm, Brown agreed in May to review an anti-Zionist group’s demand that the school divest its endowment of assets linked to Israel. Should that ultimately happen, the 24 state attorneys led by Arkansas’ Tim Griffin said, dozens of states across the US that have passed anti-BDS laws will sever its ties with Brown.
“It may trigger the application of laws in nearly three-fourths of states prohibiting states and their instrumentalities from contracting with, investing in, or otherwise doing business with entities that discriminate against Israel, Israelis, or those who do business with either,” he explained. “Adopting that proposal may require our states — and others — to terminate any existing relationships with Brown and those associated with it, divest from any university debt held by state pension plans and other investment vehicles, and otherwise refrain from engaging with Brown and those associated with. We therefore urge you to reject this antisemitic and unlawful proposal.”
He added, “Anti-BDS laws like Arkansas’s statute reflect the states’ interest in aggressively combating antisemitic conduct and national origin discrimination … Others have discovered to their detriment that those laws have profound financial consequences, and we would strongly counsel you to learn from those past examples.”
According to The Brown Daily Herald, Brown president Christina Paxson initially only promised anti-Zionist protesters — members of Brown Divest Coalition (BDC) who illegally occupied a section of campus in April and refused to leave until the school officials agreed to boycott Israel — a meeting with members of the Brown Corporation in exchange for their leaving campus for the summer. However, the students pushed for more concessions and ultimately coaxed Paxson into scheduling a vote on divestment at the Corporation’s October annual meeting.
In May, the representatives of BDC met with the Brown Corporation for preliminary talks, the Herald has reported. They must, by Sept. 30, submit a report outlining their recommendations for divestment to Paxson, who will forward it to the Corporation before it convenes the following month. So far, the president has described their discussions positively, saying in a letter to the campus community that “the members of the Corporation expressed appreciation to the students for sharing their views and perspectives.”
The recent sequence of events sharply contrast with the numerous conflagrations that convulsed Brown throughout the academic year — which saw Paxson order arrests of dozens of students — and they appear to overturn Paxson’s once adamant opposition to the BDS movement. Earlier this year, she rejected BDS even after BDC amassed inside an administrative building and vowed not to eat until she acceded to their demands. Addressing their chosen method of protest, Paxson told them they were making their “own choices.” Months earlier, she directed campus law enforcement to arrest over 40 students occupying University Hall.
“We consistently reject calls to use the endowment as a tool for political advocacy on contested issues,” Paxson said in a letter to the students participating in the hunger strike. “Our campus is a place where difficult issues should be freely discussed and debated. It is not appropriate for the university to use its financial assets — which are there to support our entire community — to ‘take a side’ on issues on which thoughtful people vehemently disagree.”
According to The Brown Daily Herald, BDC has buttressed its case for BDS by citing a 2020 report by the university’s Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Practices — now renamed the Advisory Committee on University Resource Management — which recommended “divesting [Brown’s] endowment from companies that enable and profit from the genocide in Gaza and the broader Israeli occupation.” Paxson had refused to accept the report’s recommendation, arguing that it breached the body’s mission statement, but it is now the cornerstone of the case the students will present to the Brown Corporation.
Thirty-five states in the US have anti-BDS laws on their books, including New York, Texas, Nevada, and Illinois. Tennessee passed one in April 2023, and in the same year, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) issued an executive order banning agencies from awarding contracts with companies participating in the BDS movement. The justice system has repeatedly upheld the legality of such measures. In February 2023, the US Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Arkansas’ anti-BDS law, which argued that requiring contractors to confirm that they are not boycotting Israel before doing business with the University of Arkansas is unconstitutional. Several months later, a federal appeals court dismissed a challenge to Texas’ anti-BDS law, ruling that the plaintiff who brought it lacked standing.
BDS seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward its eventual elimination. Leaders of the movement have repeatedly stated their goal is to destroy the world’s only Jewish state.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘Antisemitic and Unlawful’: 24 Attorneys General Warn Brown University Not to Adopt BDS Movement first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli TV Series Starring Gal Gadot Premieres Worldwide on Streaming Service IZZY
Gal Gadot seen outside the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ studios in Los Angeles. Photo: Cover Media via Reuters Connect
IZZY, the leading steaming platform for Israeli content, will premiere on Thursday Israeli actress Gal Gadot’s only Hebrew-language television role, a drama series called “Kathmandu.”
The 13-episode series is about a young Chabad Hasidic couple, Mushky and Shmulik, who are on a mission to establish and run the first Chabad house in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, for Israeli travelers. The couple face challenges the minute they arrive in Nepal and the series “explores their journey of faith, resilience, and community building in a foreign land.”
During their time in the South Asian country, they meet a diverse group of people including Guyani, a former Israeli soldier turned hostel owner who has a complicated past, and Gadot’s character Yamit, who is on a journey to find her missing sister Opira in the streets of Nepal.
“Yamit’s storyline adds a layer of intrigue and emotional depth, as she navigates her relationship with Guyani and her own identity,” according to a synopsis of the show provided by IZZY. “Kathmandu” originally aired in 2012 and Gadot filmed the Israeli television show, her first and last, before she became internationally famous for her roles in “Fast & Furious, “Wonder Woman,” “Justice League,” and many other films. IZZY released a teaser for the first episode of “Kathmandu” that shows Gadot’s character arrive in Nepal and ask around about her sister.
“‘Katmandu’ captures the essence of Israeli culture and the unique experience of Israeli travelers in distant lands. It also highlights the universal themes of belonging, faith, and the search for meaning,” according to a description by IZZY. “The series is beautifully shot, with the stunning landscapes of Nepal providing a breathtaking backdrop to the story. The cast delivers powerful performances, particularly Gal Gadot, who brings warmth and complexity to her role as Yamit.”
“Kathmandu” will stream exclusively on IZZY. The show also stars Liron Levo, Michael Moshonov, Nitzan Levartovsky, Karen Berger, and Roy Gurai.
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