On Oct. 7, the world experienced the worst attack perpetrated against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Hamas, a terrorist organization democratically elected to lead the Gazan people, invaded Israel, brutally murdering babies, women, children and others. Accoridng to the Associated Press, roughly 1,400 were killed.
Ever since, the conflict between the Israeli Defense Forces and Hamas has escalated. By intentionally placing Gazan civilians in harm’s way, Hamas has strategically curried support from left-wing activists in the U.S.
As a result anti-Israel — and at times pro-Hamas — protests have swept through the country. Most recently, during the Democratic National Convention in August, over 2,000 anti-Israel protesters marched through Chicago streets, resulting in clashes with police and overall civil unrest, as reported by PBS.
Many reports have noted these protesters’ lack of knowledge about the conflict, Middle East politics or even Hamas itself.
For those wanting a look at the terrorist organization’s inner dealings, there is perhaps no better piece of journalism on the matter than a recent Op-Ed written by Agam Goldstein-Almog in The Washington Post.
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Goldstein-Almog, a 17-year-old girl, was taken captive during the Oct. 7 attack.
In her Op-Ed, published on Aug. 21, Goldstein-Almog details just how horrific conditions were for the Hamas hostages.
From the start, she paints a rather disturbing picture of the group.
“Then came Oct. 7. Hamas terrorists charged into our home, shooting my father, Nadav, and sister, Yam, in a furious ecstasy of hate,” Goldstein-Almog wrote.
Should Hamas be destroyed?
“I was dragged out of the house together with my mother and two younger brothers and forced into a car to Gaza. I see my father’s fading eyes when I close mine at night.”
Goldstein-Almog went on to detail the spiritual abuse she faced as well.
Mocking her Jewish faith, her Muslim captors forced her to wear a hijab and recite Islamic prayers.
She met six other women in a tunnel who detailed how their captors had sexually assaulted them while they were showering.
The young Israeli later revealed that she and other hostages — along with native Gazan schoolchildren — had been used as human shields, a fact about the conflict that many anti-Israel protesters stateside often seem to ignore.
“Baseless hatred can lead a person to awful places, but when that hatred is shared by a group, it is terrifying to witness. One morning, my family was moved from our safe house to a school hall, filled largely with Gazan women and children. Strangers asked if I wanted anything to sit on, or if I was thirsty — a rare moment of human connection,” Goldstein-Almog wrote.
“But then, in an instant, the low buzz of conversation was drowned out by Hamas launching rockets, just meters away from us, from inside the school compound. The hall erupted in joy, and as the Gazans celebrated, I realized that Hamas had moved us there to serve as human shields.”
Throughout her Op-Ed, the young Israeli made a point to detail the passionate yet senseless hatred of Hamas and its Gazan supporters she witnessed firsthand.
After her release from captivity, she found more of that hatred online being spewed by the anti-Israel protesters making headlines in the U.S.
“My social media feeds were flooded with trolls, falsehoods and conspiracy theories, all with seemingly one objective: driving hate. The comment sections of news articles mentioning my name were battlefields, as hatred from one side was met with hatred from the other,” she wrote.
“I have watched as the movement in the West for a Gaza cease-fire sometimes devolves into full-throated support for Hamas and the hounding of Jews in public spaces. I’m sure my kidnappers still hate me, but when American students call for ‘intifada’ or chant in praise of Hamas terrorists ‘Al-Qassam, you make us proud,’ I’m reminded that many other people do, too.”
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