Thursday, after a despicable propaganda ceremony in Gaza, Hamas terrorists returned the bodies of Oded Lifshitz, kidnapped at 85 years old and murdered in captivity, and Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were just four and nine months old when they too were kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023. In a cruel act, the fourth body promised to be that of Ariel and Kfir’s mom, Shiri Bibas, did not match her DNA or that of any known hostage. Shiri’s fate is still unknown and her family continues to fear for her life.
Forever burned in the minds and hearts of everyone who watched the video is the image of Shiri, holding her two babies in her arms, surrounded by armed terrorists – fear and confusion on her face. The youngest hostages, each with bright red hair, clinging to their mom. A pacifier in Ariel’s mouth. Kidnapped separately, Yarden Bibas, Shiri’s husband, was released earlier this month after 483 days in hell.
In the months since Oct. 7, Jewish communities have had to face dual traumas – the impact of the attacks themselves and then the isolation and hurt that stemmed from the justification and even outright denial of them, even though Oct. 7 is among the most well-documented terrorist attacks in history, recorded by the terrorists themselves. Not only do most American Jews have direct connections with people who were injured, murdered or kidnapped, we are also experiencing an unprecedented surge in antisemitism. There have also been more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in the year since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel. This is the highest number of incidents ever recorded in any single year period since ADL started tracking in 1979, representing an over 200% increase compared to the incidents reported to us during the same period a year before.
It is important that we set the record straight. Ariel and Kfir were kidnapped alive and are finally returning home after 503 days – not to hug and kiss Yarden, devoted husband and father, or their aunts, uncles and grandparents who have prayed for their very survival, not to run and laugh and play as now two- and five-year-old children should – but for burial. After a very painful 16 months of unanswered questions, the forensic investigation conducted yesterday finally told the world that they were brutally murdered one month into their captivity in November 2023.
Ever since Oct. 7, the Jewish community has been bombarded by messages at rallies and on social media including “What was taken by force will be returned by force” and “By any means necessary.” One does not have to agree with the actions of the Israeli government to know that there is no justification for the brutal murder of these two beautiful babies, and the more than 1,300 other grandparents, men, women and children who lost their lives on Oct. 7 and in the days since. It is everyone’s moral imperative to say their names and to speak out against the acts of antisemitism, hatred and terror that cost them their lives.
In January of 2024, I led an interfaith delegation to Israel to hear directly from survivors of the Oct. 7 attacks and to see the communities that were impacted first-hand. Many of the houses we saw were burnt and full of bullet holes. They also had markings in paint which we learned were made by first responders. A red dot in a circle meant that someone was murdered in the home. We walked by house after house with red dots.
The reason that I wanted to lead that delegation was first, to hug my own niece and nephew who live in Israel whose safety I worry about every day, and second, to bear witness to what happened on the day that the most Jewish people were killed since the Holocaust. Today, I am asking everyone – but especially our non-Jewish allies – to bear witness to the pain and grief of your Jewish friends, family and colleagues. And not just to see our grief – but to hold it, because it is too big and heavy for us alone.
To imagine how it would feel if the little ones you love were ripped from your arms.
To reach out, to check in – to say out loud what we all know in our hearts to be true – that Ariel, Kfir, Oded and all the victims of Oct. 7 and the resulting war did NOT deserve to die.
To tell the whole world with one collective voice that NOW is the time for all the remaining hostages – those who have survived 503 days of abuse, starvation and torture and those who were murdered in captivity or killed and taken to Gaza on Oct. 7 – to come home.
To demand that Hamas returns Shiri Bibas to her family.
While I was in Israel, I stood at the site of the Nova music festival, which is now a memorial to the over 300 young people who were tortured and slaughtered there. Together with my group of Jews and non-Jews, we said the Mourner’s Kaddish. For those of you who are not familiar with the Kaddish, it’s important to note that even though it is one of the most important Jewish rituals that is observed when someone dies, the prayer itself does not mention death. It focuses not on the past, but the future. It is a prayer for better days ahead and of peace. The final sentence says that: God who creates peace on high, may God create peace for us, for all Israel, and for all inhabitants of the world.
To everyone who is grieving today – whose grief has defined your very existence for the past 503 days – please reach out for help. There are resources specific to Oct. 7 and if you need more immediate support, call or text 988 to reach the 24/7 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You are not alone.
To the redheaded angels cruelly taken from this world who are looking down at us today, and to everyone we’ve lost since Oct. 7, may your memory always be for a blessing.
Samantha Joseph is the New England Regional Director of the ADL