October 14, 2023.
Dear friends of Neve Hanna,
A few lines at a relatively quiet Shabbat exit – the rocket fire continues, but is not as massive, we in the first days after the bloody attack. We all continue to grieve for those murdered, to worry about hostages, but also to worry about family and friends on duty.
Israel is coming together. An enormous number of private initiatives, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, you name it…we’re all in the same boat and helping each other. This also applies to Neve Hanna, because our sense of community has always been an important motivating factor in everyday life, in good times as well as in less good times, and even more so!
We will see if more children can return to Neve Hanna in the next few days. Some employees have also not been able to come to work because of the ongoing rocket fire. In Neve Hanna there was a special Shabbat with a lot of gathering and shared activities; always close to our shelters. Our volunteers are missing when it comes to completing the tasks! Nevertheless, we are happy to know that they are safe, as are three former volunteers who were either visiting or studying in the country.
Today, I would like to tell you a little more about Shimi, one of our former children. In the course of the terrible events, as most people have already learned, he lost his life. Shimi was in Neve Hanna from second grade, along with his brother. As we have recently learned, Shimi did not die in a rocket attack as we initially heard. He is one of the victims of the rave party between Kibbutz Re’em and Be’eri. He is one of the 260 young people who had no chance of surviving the massacre. He was just 29 years old when he died. May his memory be blessed.
But there is also sad news from the employees. The nephew of our colleague who leads the Path of Peace is one of the police officers murdered by the terrorists. Our employee who is responsible for the day care center has lost a close relative who lost his life in the line of duty. Many employees know people who were murdered or died in battle. May the memory of all these people also be blessed.
And then there is the story of the daughter of an employee who was part of our kitchen team for many years. Her daughter lives in Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the places where horrific massacres took place. The daughter of our former employee was able to barricade herself in the shelter for eleven hours and was finally rescued. But among the many murdered on the kibbutz are relatives of the daughter of our former employee. Her son, who is part of the kibbutz emergency response team, was shot but is alive.
And I would also like to tell you about our Bedouin friends, especially about a member of the al-Krenawi family, with whom we have worked closely for over 40 years. One of the nephews of the man who set up the cooperation with Neve Hanna is a police officer in Ofakim, where heavy battles had to be fought against the terrorists; 50 residents of this small town were murdered. This young man stood up as a police officer to confront the terrorists and was shot in the head. The terrorists believed he was dead and moved on. The bullet injured this man, but relatively lightly, so he survived the subsequent operation well.
The cruel terror reached the Neve-Hanna family not only through the death of our former child. We are deeply saddened and know that these lines will also be very close to all of you.
Antje Naujoks, Public Relations and Resource Development
Neve Hanna Children’s Home, Kiryat Gat, Israel
October 14, 2023
American Friends of Neve Hanna 