By Justine Hemmestad
When the three most vulnerable members of Bibas family were to be handed back to Israel, their black coffins bearing their photos, flanked by masked militants in an orchestrated, propaganda-filled ceremony, they appeared to be macabre war trophies to their captors.
They were Hamas’ idea of something less than human, which is a classic belief in racism.
But thousands of Israelis lined the streets toward the National Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv in a display of love and honor for the Bibas family.
Israelis watched in the rain, wiping their tears from their faces, as the vehicles carrying the bodies of the Bibas babies passed.
Along with the Bibas boys, the body of Oded Lifshitz, 83 years old when abducted, was also released.
PM Netanyahu said, “Today is a tragic day, a day of boundless sorrow, of indescribable pain.”
But that wasn’t the complete Bibas tragedy - the IDF said on the 21st that Palestinian terrorists had murdered the Bibas babies, 10 months and 4 years, “with their bare hands,” soon after they were taken hostage in the October 7th massacre.
Hard forensic evidence led them to these horrific conclusions.
But the babies’ mother, Shiri, who had also been taken hostage with her children, was claimed to have been among the returned bodies.
However, Hamas had sent the body of a Gazan woman instead, saying there was a mix-up after an Israeli air strike (which sounds a lot like victim-blaming).
Israeli resident Ilana Caspi says, “They make a joke of us, they just send a body. It’s so painful.”
IDF Spokesman Admiral Hagari said, “The entire world must know exactly how the Hamas terrorist organization operates. Ariel and Kfir were murdered, and then on Thursday, their bodies were returned in a cynical and cruel ceremony in Gaza. Shiri Bibas, who was meant to be returned with her children to Israel as part of the agreement, was not returned by Hamas. Hamas lied and violated the agreement.”
The Nameless One shared a post that revealed the fact that Hamas Propaganda filled the interiors of the coffins of the Bibas Babies: "We will not give up a single inch of Palestine - All of Palestine.” The statement, a clear indication of their plans to annihilate Jews, was left with a map that shows the land of Israel.
The Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said, “Those who are silent cooperated with Hamas.” There were, in fact, civilians who held hostages in their homes in Gaza.
Danon says, “Anyone who took part, terrorists or conspirators, should pay the price.”
Danon also says (within the capacity of the UN), “The Red Cross failed.”
The public witnesses these horrors as though it’s something new, when in fact Israelis have lived with people who want to annihilate them, whether in the middle east or elsewhere.
Dr. Henry Abramson, Dean of Lander College for Men, Touro University, says that there are four periods of antisemitism in history: 1) Xenophobia, during the Roman-Greco era, which was expressed in writings and architecture of the era. He says this was more about fear of strangers and misunderstanding of culture; 2) Early Christian Era, in which Christianity was distancing itself from Judaism; 3) Medieval era, when violent and barbaric ideas are introduced to disparage Jews; and 4) Modern Period, dating from the late 19th century to the Nazis, which relies on racism (“without even religious connotations as society became more secular”) and the idea of a conspiracy theory, wherein Jews were accused of having a plan to dominate the globe.
Additionally, Dr. Abramson believes that we’re entering into a 5th iteration of antisemitism, which takes the form of antizionism (as a cover for those who want to hate Jews, to cloak their hatred in a more acceptable format).
He says antizionism is strongly influenced by Soviet foreign policy (even though the Soviet Union is technically defunct, its ideology has made its way into the 21st century); and also Jews are being forced to leave Arab lands, so they go to Israel where they feel safe.
He says the principle of postmodernism is that there’s no way to measure objective truth - in that one can only speak of one’s own truth. Dr. Abramson calls this philosophy incredibly dangerous because it questions basic understandings of reality, such as reframing the massacre of Israel on October 7.
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