Daughter of hostages says some Britons ‘almost celebrating’ Hamas terror
Sharone Lifschitz’s 85-year-old mother, Yocheved, was among the first hostages to be freed by the terror group in October but her 83-year-old father, Oded, remains in captivity
A British-Israeli woman whose parents were taken hostage by Hamas said it “pains” her to see some Britons “almost celebrating” the 7 October terrorist attacks on Israel.
Sharone Lifschitz’s 85-year-old mother, Yocheved, was among the first hostages to be freed by the terror group in October, but her 83-year-old father, Oded, remains in captivity.
Gunmen shot at her parents’ safe room on Kibbutz Nir Oz, near the border with Gaza, leaving her father unconscious – while her mother was disconnected from her oxygen machine and dragged into the Strip on a motorbike.
The 52-year-old told the PA news agency that people in the UK should avoid picking sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as if it were “a football game”.
“I have lived in the UK for most of my life and all my adult life,” she said. “I have never seen the situation this hostile and so often people think they need to pick a side like a football game… and decide these people are good and bad.
“That is so against everything my father and mother taught me, which is to see the human and know that we are all human.
“You see young people and old people in the UK almost celebrating October 7, it pains me as a member of the community and it pains me as a human.
“I really do feel I am exasperated with people in the West. This one-sidedness, I don’t understand how people who believe in liberal values can support a murderous organisation.
“So many people almost believe it didn’t happen. That is dystopian, I find it so dystopian. You never, never celebrate the pain of others.”
Lifschitz, a London-based artist and academic, revealed that the tunnels where her father had been held captive have now been taken over by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), while her mother was released after suffering from a stomach bug.
Her only source of information on her father’s condition are Hamas videos and the accounts of hostages who came back.
It was only when some 78 Israeli and dual national hostages were released in November, during a pause in fighting, that she knew her father had arrived in Gaza alive, she added.
He received basic medical care and was looking “everywhere” for his wife of 63 years.
She went on: “At the moment it is a really difficult moment. It is just so long, we are trying so hard to hold on and hold our energy, and continue advocating.
“At the same time, there is a growing realisation that not everybody would survive. Where the hostages are now we don’t know.”
Meanwhile her mother, whom she described as a “tough cookie”, is finding it harder and harder to go out and campaign for the release of other hostages.
“She herself has lost so much, she has lost her husband at the moment,” Lifschitz said. “She doesn’t know if he is alive or dead, she is so worried about him.
“They have never been separated for so long. She lost her home, all her belongings and so many friends. She is in a new part of the world, it is tough on an 85-year-old woman.”
Lifschitz, whose parents were both peace activists, said she believes the Israeli government’s two stated objectives of bringing back the hostages and destroying Hamas are incompatible, and called for a diplomatic solution.
She said: “The military campaign has only managed to free one hostage alive. I think the government of Israel has two priorities and they don’t always agree.
“You can’t both want to destroy Hamas and bring about the release of hostages, it is complicated.
“The UK must press on the Israeli government to make good by its wishes and accept any deal on the table. Our allies… should push for a long-term agreement and understand that the exchange of hostages will not happen without accepting… a deal that includes a long-term solution.
“Without that, the likelihood of seeing our loved ones back alive is very slim.”
She said it was “really great” that Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron visited Israel as she urged Britons to “press on everybody” to keep the hostages and their families in their thoughts.
She said: “I beg people to keep at it and not give up. For them every day is like a year, like a month. Your life is in the hands of others.
“I think for people in the UK, press on everybody to keep us in their thoughts.
“Help people trying to advocate asking their MPs to raise it in Parliament, ask everybody to keep it at the forefront (of their minds).
“I think it was really great that David Cameron came to Israel to show he is committed to bringing back the hostages, it was really encouraging to see that.
“The UK must press on the Israeli government to make good by its wishes and accept any deal on the table.”
When asked whether the UK Government is doing enough to help secure the hostages release, she said: “We never know the full picture. (We) keep being told people are doing their best, there is no way for us to know apart from the release of hostages.
“David Cameron is doing a lot, the FCO is doing a lot, they are keeping us informed which is great, I am grateful for that.
“At the end of the day, I want them of course to do more. I want my father back.”
She said she has visited the kibbutz, where she grew up before moving to the UK, several times since the attacks.
She told PA: “I know the sounds, I know the smells, I know the people. When I go back there, something in my heart expands just before it dawns on me that there are bloodstains everywhere and the houses are burnt.
“Before that there is a moment where your soul is at home.
“I keep wanting to shout at people not to send me pictures of my parents’ burnt out house and people keep going there.
“It is like a place which people want to see. I don’t know the words, I don’t know the words for it.”
More than 25,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, – and about 132 Israelis remain hostage there.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
