Some 100 people were kidnapped by Hamas this past weekend in Israel. Here is the story of one Minnesota family who was taken from their Kibbutz.

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.

  • zaph@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    666·
    1 year ago

    20 years ago. Around half of today’s population didn’t vote and of the ones that did many didn’t vote for hamas. Find a new way to blame innocent people, this one doesn’t work.

    • mycatiskai@lemmy.oneEnglish
      533·
      1 year ago

      Half of the population is below 19 years old. So they weren’t even born when Hamas was elected.

      The average age of Palestinians is 19. The average age of Israelis is 30. That tells you one thing, that you don’t live a long life if your Palestinian.

      • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        312·
        1 year ago

        Living in what human rights groups and the UN describe as an open air prison under bombarded from a neighboring country isn’t exactly the best thing for life expectancy.

        Roughly 2.3 million people live on the Gaza Strip out of the roughly 5 million people living in Palestine BTW, which is the area currently being bombarded by Israel in response to the terrorist attack by Hamas.

        • flossdaily@lemmy.worldEnglish
          838·
          1 year ago

          I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in how the United Nations describes anything to do with Israel. Their bias is of the charts.

          Remember, this is an organization that officially denounced Israel for human rights violations 20 times in one year, and for every other nation on Earth, with all the modern slavery, sex trafficking, genial mutilation, honor killings, murder of LGBTQ, marriage and rape of 7-yr-girls, denying basic education to women, forcing women to fully cover their bodies, mass incarcerations, etc,etc… For all the rest of the world, 6 denouncements.

          So yeah, the UN is not a serious organization when it comes to Israel.

            • Siegfried@lemmy.worldEnglish
              410·
              1 year ago

              Amnesty international wasn’t the one that faked reports on Russian concentration camps in kherson?

            • flossdaily@lemmy.worldEnglish
              730·
              1 year ago

              Any organization that calls Israel “apartheid” is comically biased.

              Israel is the only country in the region where a lesbian Muslim woman can vote, get an education and hold elected office.

              Claiming it’s apartheid is like claiming the US was apartheid when occupying Iraq because we didn’t allow Iraqis to be citizens of the US.

              Words have meanings, and the accusation is demonstrably absurd.

              • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
                233·
                1 year ago

                I can’t help but notice your only issues here is with how terms are used in regards to Israel and Palestine but not with the bombardment of Gaza in response to a terrorist attack from Hamas. A place where nearly half of Palestine’s population lives.

                Do you not have an issue with Israel’s response or something?

                • flossdaily@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  522·
                  1 year ago

                  I have no idea who Israel is targeting, but if history is any guide, it is Hamas terrorists.

                  And Hamas terrorists make it a POLICY to hide among civilians.

                  For now, I’m giving Israel the benefit of the doubt because they have very much earned it.

                  • tryptaminev 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺@feddit.deEnglish
                    113·
                    1 year ago

                    I have no idea who Israel is targeting, but if history is any guide, it is Hamas terrorists.

                    Then you were living through an alternate timeline. Israel has killed more than 10.000 Palestinian civillians since 2008 before this weekend. Now they have declared the Palestinians animals when announcing the blockade starving them to death now.

                    Also they told the Palestinians to flee into Egypt and then bombed the road close to the border crossing.

                  • mycatiskai@lemmy.oneEnglish
                    92·
                    1 year ago

                    Even if Hamas didn’t have a policy to hide amongst civilians, do civilians really have a choice but to be close to possible Hamas members? There’s 45 square kilometers of Gaza with 2.3 million people. That’s 50,000 people per square kilometer that’s 51 people per meter approximately. So where the hell can you be in that tight space without being close to 50 or more other people.

      • zaph@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        155·
        1 year ago

        I don’t think we should condemn an entire population to death regardless of who they vote for. You’re only adding recruitment material to the terrorist’s repertoire at that point. And if they did vote for them, last year or today, you still have roughly 40% of the population who are minors. Do they deserve death because of their parent’s vote?

        • ParsnipWitch@feddit.deEnglish
          12·
          1 year ago

          If you want to stop Israel to defend themselves from Hamas you condemn them to death because Hamas wants to kill all Jews. How is that better?

          Just let Hamas “win” can certainly not be the solution.

          • zaph@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            12·
            1 year ago

            I never said they can’t defend themselves. I said indiscriminate bombing of Gaza isn’t self defense. Especially if hamas has hostages, how are they going to survive the bombing? Use your head. If someone is robbing a bank and taking hostages we don’t level the fucking bank.

          • zaph@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            94·
            1 year ago

            Nowhere did I accuse you of supporting genocide. You asked if they’d still vote hamas and I don’t know so I replied with the assumption that they would because of the propaganda they’re raised with and the threat of violence if they dissent from hamas and stated that even if they did I don’t think they deserve to be treated as an entire nation of terrorists. If you can’t separate that from yourself that’s on you.

      • flossdaily@lemmy.worldEnglish
        818·
        1 year ago

        Overwhelmingly? In Gaza maybe, but Palestinians as a whole support them at 53 percent at last count. So, yeah, it sure looks like they are still majority pro-hamas