Hostage Trauma Testimonies

Years ago I read the book of a woman named Gracia Burnham, an American missionary in the South Philippines who was kidnapped along with her husband by Jihadist rebels and held hostage for over a year (Link to Book).  Her book helped give me insight to the horror that hostages endure at the hands of Jihadists, and sadly, it helped me gain an understand of what fate would lay in store for the hundreds of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas after the Oct. 7th attack.  Now as their stories are coming out to the public, they are confirming these fears.  

Thai Hostage Manee Jirachart

Released hostages reveal that they were subject to deliberate starvation.   One Thai hostage named Manee Jirachart testified how he was captured along with five other Thai workers.  However, Hamas could only fit four in their car, so the shot two of them and then took Manee and the other four into Gaza (Link to Testimony).  Manee was kept in an underground tunnel with other hostages for 50 days and subjected to several beatings while in captivity.  Another Thai hostage who was released during the ceasefire testified that he was forced to eat wet toilet paper to stay alive.  It was also revealed that a small boy was held in solitary confinement for 16 days.  

In a recent testimony give by Rayna Rose Exelbierd, the CEO of the non-profit: The Rose Grows, Rayna described the horrors endured by Hamas hostages.  Rayna describes how two boys who were freed by Hamas were discovered to have been branded by the terrorists who kidnapped them.  It was revealed that upon their kidnapping, the legs of they young boys were held to the exhaust pipes of the terrorists motorcycles in order to brand them, this way if they were to escape, they would be identified by Gaza civilians and turned back over to the terrorists (Link to Video).  Another small boy was held in solitary confinement for 16 days (Link to Video).  This boy, along with other children who were taken hostage, were forced to watch footage of their friends and families being massacred by Hamas.  Whenever they cried and tried to turn away, the Jihadists put guns to their head and threatened them with death if they stopped watching.  At least 10 of the released hostages have also testified to falling victim to sexual assault while in captivity.  

Israeli Hostage Mia Schem

Yarden Roman-Gat was a 36-year-old Israeli woman who was kidnapped and brought into Gaza.  She testified that on the streets of Gaza she was displayed by her kidnappers like a trophy in front of hundreds of cheering Gazan civilians.  She was kept under 24-hour watch and testified that she was completely helpless and at their mercy (Link to Video).  Mia Schem, a 21-year-old female Israeli-French hostage was at the Re'im Music Festival when it was attacked.  Though she tried to flee, her car was fired upon and she surrendered after being wounded in the arm.  Held inside the home of a Hamas gunman, Mia testified that the only reason the gunman didn't rape her was because his wife and kids were in the next room.  

The gunman's wife treated Mia with distain, at times deliberately denying her food.  When describing her Mia stated "She had such mean eyes-a bad woman."  For her first three days in captivity Mia received no painkillers and little medical treatment for her wounded arm.  Eventually, the terrorists took her to a hospital for treatment, then they put out her first video.  During the recording they told her to say she was being treated well and not to cry.  The Hamas terrorists threatened to send her to the tunnels if she didn't do exactly what she was told.  During her entire time in captivity, Mia had no opportunity to bathe.  She went for nearly 55 days without showering and seldom slept.  Mia feared to sleep, feared that the second she did, the terrorist watching over her would rape her.  

Nila's Testimony

As she testified about her treatment, Mia Schem stated that there were no innocent people in Gaza, that the families live under Hamas and from the moment that they are born they are brainwashed into hating Jews.  Though Mia stated to the cameras that she was treated well by the people of Gaza during her captivity as she was released to the Red Cross, she later revealed that the Hamas terrorists instructed her to say this (Link to Video) and was hesitant to tell the truth out of fear that reprisals would befall the remaining hostages who are still held in captivity.  This testimony is being corroborated by other testimonials.  Rayna Exelbierd testified that one Russian-Jewish Israeli who was kidnapped managed to break free and escape, only to be cornered by Gaza citizens and returned to Hamas.  Another Israeli hostage, Nili Margalit testified that she was kidnapped not by Hamas militants, but ordinary Gaza civilians who broke into her home, one of whom was a 17-year-old teenager.  Nili was dragged out of her home, barefoot & wearing nothing but her pajamas and a bed sheet.  After being put in a car and driven to Gaza, Nili arrived at a warehouse with a tunnel under it, where the Gaza civilians proceeded to sell her to the Hamas militants.  

Shortly after the Oct. 7th attacks videos surfaced online of Palestinian in Gaza screaming and hitting a Jewish child who had been kidnapped and was being held hostage.  Mia Schem also testified that during the Re'im massacre that Hamas checked all of the bodies, any that were still alive were deliberately shot in the head, showing that this was coldly planned mass murder.  Moreover, Nila Margalit, who was imprisoned within the tunnels observed first-hand how extensive the tunnel network is.  The terrorists who held her called the tunnels "Lower Gaza."  It shows that there is no doubt that Hamas has been waiting and meticulously planning to carry out the Oct. 7th attack for a very long time.  All of this clearly illustrates that despite all of the calls for peace since 1993, there has been no real normalization between the majority of Palestinians in Gaza and the Jews in Israel.  The people of Gaza are being indoctrinated into hating Jews from the moment of their birth, and Oct. 7th proves that they had every intention to put that plan into action, they were simply waiting for the right opportunity to do so.  

Sources:

Fitz-Gibbon, Jorge.  "Israeli Hostage Mia Schem Reveals Only Reason Hamas Captor Didn't Rape Her During 54 Hellish Days."  New York Post.  Jan. 01, 2024.  Accessed from https://nypost.com/2024/01/01/news/israeli-hostage-mia-schem-reveals-only-reason-hamas-captor-didnt-rape-her/.