I continue to fly the Israeli flag. I am Roman Catholic and believe this: all lives matter. Human decency appears to have partially disappeared. But not in this house. Every single life is important and precious. Including the life of our rescue Labrador. Maybe we need a group that proclaims all lives matter. I think we might be called humanists. But I also think we are legion.
I don't know why the Nova massacre in particular is so especially wrenching to me. It's all horrific, but there's something unbelievably poignant about these confused young people sneaking off to their rebellious little rave like sheep to the slaughter.
Thanks for this. Tragedy knows no boundaries--so I share the other side of this bloody story, lest we forget. (Source note at the end.)
The Story of Hind Rajab
On January 29, 2024, Hind Rajab was fleeing with her family from Gaza City's Tel al-Hawa neighborhood when Israeli forces opened fire on their car near a gas station, killing her aunt, uncle, and three young cousins.
Hind survived the initial attack and spent three harrowing hours on the phone with Palestine Red Crescent Society dispatchers, trapped in the bullet-riddled car surrounded by the bodies of her dead relatives, pleading for someone to rescue her as Israeli tanks rumbled closer. Her 15-year-old cousin Layan was alive initially and told dispatchers "They are shooting at us. The tank is next to us" before a burst of gunfire ended the call and killed her.
When little Hind came back on the line, she told the dispatchers she was drifting in and out of consciousness. "I'm so scared, please come," she cried. According to her mother Wissam Hamadah, before the war Hind had dreamed of becoming a dentist and loved the sea. After hours of coordination with Israeli military authorities for safe passage, the Red Crescent dispatched paramedics Yusuf Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun to rescue her. Shortly after arriving at the scene, sounds of gunfire rang out and contact was lost with the ambulance crew.
Twelve days later, on February 10, 2024, when Israeli forces withdrew from the area, Hind's family found her body still in the car. Just meters away, the ambulance had been destroyed—apparently run over by a tank—with the bodies of the two paramedics inside.
Hind's mother, holding her daughter's notebook, pencil, and paper crown, said: "This is the most difficult feeling, to lose your daughter. This occupation did not have mercy on her."
The impact of Hind's story has been profound, inspiring songs, protest movements, and a film titled "The Voice of Hind Rajab" by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania that premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize.
This is just one story among more than 14,500 children reported killed in Gaza, with nearly 70 percent of verified deaths being women and children. > Source: "How 6-year-old Hind Rajab and two paramedics were killed in Gaza," The Washington Post, April 16, 2024. This Washington Post investigation provides extensive documentation of the incident, including timeline verification through satellite imagery and recorded calls with the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
I continue to fly the Israeli flag. I am Roman Catholic and believe this: all lives matter. Human decency appears to have partially disappeared. But not in this house. Every single life is important and precious. Including the life of our rescue Labrador. Maybe we need a group that proclaims all lives matter. I think we might be called humanists. But I also think we are legion.
Isle of Palmso
I don't know why the Nova massacre in particular is so especially wrenching to me. It's all horrific, but there's something unbelievably poignant about these confused young people sneaking off to their rebellious little rave like sheep to the slaughter.
Thanks for this. Tragedy knows no boundaries--so I share the other side of this bloody story, lest we forget. (Source note at the end.)
The Story of Hind Rajab
On January 29, 2024, Hind Rajab was fleeing with her family from Gaza City's Tel al-Hawa neighborhood when Israeli forces opened fire on their car near a gas station, killing her aunt, uncle, and three young cousins.
Hind survived the initial attack and spent three harrowing hours on the phone with Palestine Red Crescent Society dispatchers, trapped in the bullet-riddled car surrounded by the bodies of her dead relatives, pleading for someone to rescue her as Israeli tanks rumbled closer. Her 15-year-old cousin Layan was alive initially and told dispatchers "They are shooting at us. The tank is next to us" before a burst of gunfire ended the call and killed her.
When little Hind came back on the line, she told the dispatchers she was drifting in and out of consciousness. "I'm so scared, please come," she cried. According to her mother Wissam Hamadah, before the war Hind had dreamed of becoming a dentist and loved the sea. After hours of coordination with Israeli military authorities for safe passage, the Red Crescent dispatched paramedics Yusuf Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun to rescue her. Shortly after arriving at the scene, sounds of gunfire rang out and contact was lost with the ambulance crew.
Twelve days later, on February 10, 2024, when Israeli forces withdrew from the area, Hind's family found her body still in the car. Just meters away, the ambulance had been destroyed—apparently run over by a tank—with the bodies of the two paramedics inside.
Hind's mother, holding her daughter's notebook, pencil, and paper crown, said: "This is the most difficult feeling, to lose your daughter. This occupation did not have mercy on her."
The impact of Hind's story has been profound, inspiring songs, protest movements, and a film titled "The Voice of Hind Rajab" by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania that premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize.
This is just one story among more than 14,500 children reported killed in Gaza, with nearly 70 percent of verified deaths being women and children. > Source: "How 6-year-old Hind Rajab and two paramedics were killed in Gaza," The Washington Post, April 16, 2024. This Washington Post investigation provides extensive documentation of the incident, including timeline verification through satellite imagery and recorded calls with the Palestine Red Crescent Society.