Kfir Bibas turns one – the saddest birthday in the world
search

The latest Jewish News

Read this week’s digital edition

Click Here

Kfir Bibas turns one – the saddest birthday in the world

Hertfordshire community holds ‘party’ vigil with balloons, cake and candles for Hamas' infant captive.

Friday 19th January 2024. Vigil for Kfir Bibas. Borehamwood, Herts. Pic: E Jacobs
Friday 19th January 2024. Vigil for Kfir Bibas. Borehamwood, Herts. Pic: E Jacobs

More than two hundred people gathered in Borehamwood on Friday to celebrate the first birthday of Kfir Bibas, the baby who was abducted to Gaza along with four-year-old brother Ariel and parents Yarden and Shiri Bibas.

The purpose of the ‘party’ complete with cake, balloons and candles was to call for the immediate release of Kfir and the other 135 hostages in Hamas captivity.

The vigil, the 13th consecutive gathering in the prominent Jewish community, comes as the global Jewish community marks “the saddest birthday in the world,” as described by Jimmy Miller, first cousin to Kfir’s mother, Shiri Bibas.

The only celebrations taking place will be without the birthday boy who, along with his brother and their parents have been held hostage since they were all abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October.

The IDF has said that the claims made by Hamas regarding the Bibas family have not been verified, and described them as “psychological terror.”

Grace Sherman, who came to the UK from Israel with her husband and two of her five children following the atrocities, addressed the vigil. She said:

Pic: E Jacobs 19th January 2024. Vigil in Borehamwood, Herts for Kfir Bibas.

“Being in Israel when 7th October struck, there was one video that haunted me from the first moment it started going round, a mother with a look of terror as if she knew the hell that awaits her, holding two red haired babies being taken by beasts.

Pic: E Jacobs 19th January 2024. Vigil in Borehamwood, Herts for Kfir Bibas.

“At first I had to tell myself that it must be a fake, an attempt of self-preservation on my behalf, but very quickly we all discovered that the red-haired Bibas family indeed were taken brutally to the worst place on earth. They have been there now for 104 days.

“Kfir Bibas has now turned a year old in captivity, having spent a third of his life in captivity, in the darkness. Kfir has no memory of any other life and our lives have stopped, everyday with shaking hands I open the news in Israel to see if a miracle has happened and Israel has gotten back what has become the face and symbol of the atrocities of 7th October.

Pic: E Jacobs 19th January 2024. Vigil in Borehamwood, Herts for Kfir Bibas.

“I imagine the same questions haunt us all; do Kfir and Ariel have a blanket, does Kfir have baby formula? These questions have become my everyday narrative as I look down at my baby girl sleeping safely in my arms.

Pic: E Jacobs 19th January 2024. Vigil in Borehamwood, Herts for Kfir Bibas.

“I do not have the luxury of telling myself that something can’t be real because it’s too horrific to fathom. We must all stand tall and strong and loud and proud and demand, give us back our hostages! Give us the Bibas family. Never again is now!”

The vigil ended with an emotional chorus of Happy Birthday followed by the Israeli and British national anthems.

Support your Jewish community. Support your Jewish News

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.

read more: