Kidnapped brutally from her parent’s home on Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 39-year-old Carmel Gat survived 11 months in a Hamas tunnel dungeon. Starving. Filthy. Abused. Humiliated. Living in barbaric conditions. Somehow, she survived, along with five other young Israeli hostages. They were murdered at the end of August with a bullet to the back of the head. Just like that.

Carmel’s cousins, Shay and Gil Dickmann, have advocated ceaselessly for the negotiation of a deal for the release of all hostages. This family has been devastated. Carmel’s mother, Kinneret, was murdered on that dark day. Her sister-in-law, Yarden, was kidnapped. She was released in November, when Carmel was on the list to walk to freedom. But Hamas reneged and the deal collapsed.

Many in the west are critical of people like Shay and Gil Dickmann for “strengthening the enemy” and “playing into the hands of Hamas.” By protesting, goes the argument, they weaken the state of Israel and make us all more vulnerable. Clearly, they see things differently. And I thought it would be very helpful for their voices and passion and compelling logic to be heard by as many as possible.

Ask yourself as you listen to them… what you would do in their situation.

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