303
submitted 11 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

They exchanged text messages and emojis. Brief status updates with words of encouragement. A picture of the beloved family dog "Tutsi."

Until no more messages came.

And then, Cindy Flash, an American, and her Israeli husband Igal vanished into the violence, presumed kidnapped by Hamas.

Four days after Hamas attacked Israel, more than 100 Israelis and potentially dozens of foreign nationals are thought to be held captive in the Gaza Strip. At least 14 U.S. citizens have been killed and an unknown number are still unaccounted for.

Flash, 67, originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, is one of them. She lives in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz in southern Israel near Gaza, where some of the most harrowing and grisly stories have been emerging during the last few days.

"They are breaking down the safe room door," Flash said in one of her final messages to her daughter Keren, 34. "We need someone to come by the house right now." She had been communicating with her parents from a few houses away.

Keren described her mother, who worked as an administrator in a local college, as someone who had the "sweetest biggest heart," who everyone knew and loved, and who had spent a lifetime advocating for the rights of Palestinians, including those who live in Gaza where she may now be held.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Okashiikessen@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

Netanyahu has every opportunity to tell his army not to target civilian dwellings.

But he isn't. Because he and his ilk have repeatedly stated their opinions that Palestinians don't matter. They aren't people.

Israel has been waiting on an excuse to genocide the Palestinians for at least a decade now. Hamas just gave it to them.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/no-such-thing-as-palestinian-people-top-israeli-minister-says

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-election-idUSKBN0MC1I820150316

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/07/18/10-quotes-that-explain-the-history-of-the-gaza-conflict/

It's wrong-headed to try to absolve either side of any blame here. Hamas are terrorists. So is the Israeli state.

Israel has a right to be paranoid and militant. They've had to fight for their right to exist as a nation for 70-80 years now. Constantly under attack. Constantly at war.

And the Palestinians have the right to be angry. Their land was stolen from them to make room for a Jewish State. They were displaced with no attempt to compromise. And they've been discriminated against and murdered systematically since.

So course extremist factions popped up on both sides.

Innocent people have been murdered by both. Hamas might have started this most recent fight, but Israel has had no qualms in using its superior firepower just as ruthlessly.

this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2023
303 points (78.1% liked)

World News

38563 readers
2467 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS