Article by Noa Burstein Hadad
Translated by Beth Orshalimy
On Independence Day Eve, a ceremony was held as an alternative to the traditional candle lighting ceremony. The ceremony, called “Extinguishing Light and Igniting Hope”, was led by families of the hostages and took place in Shuny amphitheater in Binyamina. It was hosted by Lucy Aharish and Jackie Levy, and opened with an audio presentation of real crisis calls received on October 7th, followed by a reading of Remembrance by Dror Keren.
After that, 12 representatives were chosen to speak in their own words and extinguish a light. The lights symbolized issues such as neglect, arrogance, refusal to take responsibility, the cheapening of life, and exhaustion (erosion). Finally, Einav Tsangaoker lit a light symbolizing hope.
In between were appearances by The Backyard, Daniela Spektor, and Roni Kenan. Dror Keren and Noa Koller read the names of all of the 132 hostages still held by Hamas. At the end there was a “flag-bearing” demonstration by activists for return of the hostages, and they spelled out the words, “abandonment”, “132”, “SOS”, and an hourglass showing that time is running out.
1400 people attended the event, and it was also broadcast in Habima Square in Tel-Aviv, Paris Square in Jerusalem, the Karkur Junction, Tivon, Mazkeret Batya, Hod Hasharon, Haifa and Herzliya. We at Politically Corret broadcasted the event live on Facebook.
Below are the speeches of the 12 light extinguishers and lighters, whose exact words told the story of October 7th – a story that continues to this day.
Extinguishing the Light of Disregard for Personal Safety
Galit Dan – mother of Noa Dan and daughter of Carmela Dan, who were murdered in Nir Oz, and three of whose family members were kidnapped: "I, Galit Dan, daughter of Carmela and Uri Dan of blessed memory, mother of Noa of blessed memory, and Tamar, may she be granted long life, was born in Kibbutz Nir Oz. I raised my daughters there over the last ten years.
With a broken and shattered heart, I extinguish this light due to the absolute, blunt and disastrous disregard of our personal safety. On October 6th, I sent my daughter to sleep at her grandmother's house, fully trusting that she was safe in Nir Oz. On October 7th, I still believed that the fortified room was a protected and safe place for my family. We were trapped in Kisufim in fortified rooms for 22 hours without water, food or communication while terrorists shot and barricaded themselves in our home. At the same time, Hamas took over Nir Oz and murdered my Noa together with my mother inside the shelter. My faith, trust and sense of security in the world were murdered together with them.
It is my government that is responsible for this murder. It is the one that gave me and all the residents of the Gaza border settlements the illusion of security that exploded in our faces. We thought we were safe and protected by the army – we were wrong! How very wrong we were. It was a false sense of security! No one cared about us. Not when we cried for help from the shelters, not when we collected the bodies, not when we reported the kidnapped. Over 200 days soaked with blood and filled with suffering and pain, and still no one from the country's leadership has contacted me. My daughter was murdered, my sister's children were kidnapped together with their still-captured father. Our family has experienced and is still experiencing horror. Where was the army? Where was the government? Where are you?
Alongside the dreadful pain, I have another strong and brave daughter to raise here, in the State of Israel. I owe it to her and to myself to sow the seeds of hope for a better future. I pray from the depths of my heart and cry for the return of all the abducted women and men! Only their return will allow me, us, to begin the process of healing from this terrible trauma, mend our shattered confidence, and reignite hope and a sense of personal and national security.
Extinguishing the Light of Abandonment of the Border Settlements
Lior and Amos Alon – residents of Kibbutz Be’eri: "We, Lior and Amos Alon, residents of Be’eri and survivors of the massacre, extinguish the light of abandonment of the border settlements. Five miracles had to happen for us to stand here today. Five separate and independent miracles – if only one of them had not occurred, our fate would have been like that of our many friends and neighbors, so many. But we survived. We survived when dozens of terrorists entered. We survived when they tried to open the fortified room door again and again. We survived when they set fire to our house in an attempt to drive us out. Being here tonight is not easy for us, but the light of abandonment, which has taken the lives of so many and threatens the lives of those still in captivity, obligates us to extinguish it.
The sun that rose on the black morning to which we woke up on October 7th, illuminating the terrible catastrophe, has set forever. We cannot bring back the dead, but we can return the hostages! We cannot bring back the dead, but we can ensure that we do everything possible for the living, the survivors, the physically and mentally scarred.
For us, this means we will do everything in our power to ensure that those who led the country that day, will not continue to lead it. Because of their abandonment before the day of the disaster, because of their abandonment on the black Sabbath, and to our utmost shame because of their abandonment even after it, abandonment of us and the hostages, we extinguish this light. For a better future for us, a future where the protection of its citizens is at the top of the list of our leaders’ priorities and they are committed to it, we extinguish the fire of abandonment that consumes and suffocates us, we extinguish this light to awaken the State of Israel".
Extinguishing the Light of Abandonment of the Land
Yasmin Porat – survivor of the Nova Party and the tank incident in Be’eri: "I, Yasmin Porat, daughter of Yitzhak and Shari Abraham, mother of Roni, Noga and Alon, stand here tonight in sorrow and extinguish the light of abandonment of the land. My story is a story of men and women whose only sin was that they wanted to dance. About negligence. About the dreadful negligence that will be investigated and clarified, which led to the horrible deaths of many, who now bloom as anemones in the the Besor nature reserves. We danced at Nova. With the beginning of the invasion, and as soon as we understood what was happening, we started to flee. I remember thinking that here, we are very close to Be’eri and there we will be safe. We found shelter in the kibbutz. A kibbutz is a safe place, or so I believed. A yellow gate, a perimeter fence, a rapid response team … a safe place. The next day proved without a shadow of a doubt that I was terribly mistaken. My sense of security, that I am safe anywhere in the State of Israel, that the border area will protect me, collapsed. Even in the home where we found refuge, the home of Adi and Hadas Dagan who took us in, I did not find safety, and when the terrorists gathered us at the home of Pessi Cohen, I understood that what had been will be no more.
I was a hostage at the mercy of ruthless murderers, and no one came to my rescue. And when they finally arrived, they brought no salvation. The terrorist who guarded me decided to surrender. I was his human shield and he was mine and thus, thanks to him, our lives were saved. The fate of the rest of the hostages was bitter. Thirteen men and women whose only sin was that they were in the kibbutz met their deaths in that incident, from which I was spared. The realization that an entire part of the country was abandoned that day, that there was no safe place to hide, struck me as it was happening and even more so looking back.
I extinguish this light for the sake of my children and parents, the war casualties and the residents of the border area, and to awaken the State of Israel.”
Liel and Yanai Hezroni RIP
Extinguishing the Light of Arrogance
Eyal and Sharon Eshel – parents of Roni Eshel, of blessed memory, who was murdered in the lookouts’ war room: I, Eyal Eshel, father of Roni of blessed memory, who served as a lookout and was murdered on October 7th at Nahal Oz, and of Yael and Alon, may they live a long life, I extinguish this light of arrogance on the part of the political and military establishment.
Next to the flame here tonight, which I will soon extinguish, I see great darkness. A flame that sheds great light on the arrogance that has spread to the highest levels and caused, and continues to cause, among other things, the grief and pain that we share tonight. The arrogance of those who saw a perfect system, immune to criticism and certainly not in need of repair.
I stand here not only to remember those whose lives were cruelly cut short, but also to acknowledge failures – of the state, the senior military, the system.
Years of ignoring warning signs, the simmering conflict, signs of distress. We are here to say – no more!
No more criminal arrogance that will lead to loss of life, no more underestimating the capabilities of the enemy, and no more ignoring the pain and suffering of grieving families, of which they are so many. We are here to promise: we will not leave anyone behind. We are here to commit: together we will build a stronger system, a more attentive society, a society whose mutual commitment will not allow us to ignore each other. This light will be extinguished to symbolize the arrogance of the government and the senior military, whose path must also come to an end. If we do not change our ways, and do not learn from this disaster, we will never find hope again, even after the light has gone out.
Let this light be extinguished to awaken the State of Israel".
Extinguishing the Light of Abdication of Responsibility
Brigadier General (Res.) David Agmon – Fought in the Gaza border settlements on October 7th: "I, David Agmon, born in Casablanca, Morocco, husband of Eva, may her memory be a blessing, and the father of Sergeant Adi, may her memory be a blessing, and of Shirah and Dana, may they live long lives, extinguish the light of the abdication of responsibility. I am a reserve colonel, 76 years old. I served for thirty years in special units and paratroopers, and twenty-eight years in the reserves. On October 7th, when the situation in the northern Negev became clear to me, and when I heard the anguished cries and calls for help coming from the area, I hurried south.
The scene I discovered was one of absolute chaos. Civilians armed only with handguns, poorly equipped rapid response teams, and a few combat units fought with bravery and self-sacrifice, with no command and control and no assistance. For three days, I participated in battles in the area. With the few forces that arrived, I assisted in rescuing and treating the wounded, releasing people under siege, and evacuating wounded and traumatized families.
I witnessed the horrors, the helplessness and the abandoned settlements. At the time of the invasion, there were no military forces in place to defend the settlements. Some had been sent on lesser missions in other sectors, and the few forces that remained fought inside the bases and did not operate according to their missions. The Gaza border region has been abandoned for many years. The Israeli government knowingly shirked its responsibility to protect its citizens, while assisting Hamas, reducing forces and combat capabilities, and displaying subpar performance. On that Shabbat, all these factors led to the deaths of many and the kidnapping of children, women and the elderly.
Since the thirtieth day after the massacre, I have been sitting in a protest tent in front of the Knesset, together with Yaakov Gudo, whose son Tom was killed in Kisufim, demanding that the Knesset release the captives and return the mandate to the people. I extinguish this light that symbolizes the abdication of responsibility to awaken the State of Israel".
Extinguishing the Light of Abandoning Citizens to Their Fate
Tamir Reicher – Founder of the Hamal Hahiluz Vehatzala (Civilian Rescue and Salvation War Room) and initiator of the hostage ID tags, Li'at Kubrigo and Noa Zimberg Karasik – two of the founders of the Hamal: "We, Tamir Reicher, Li'at Kubrigo, and Noa Zimberg Karsik, extinguish the light of abandoning citizens to their fate.
In the early hours of the black Sabbath, when thousands in the border settlements cried out for help and there was no one to hear – I sent messages throughout the country asking anyone who knew about unreachable or besieged individuals to contact me directly. And the messages flooded the line. Families under fire, wounded in their homes and in the field, terrified, turning to me asking whether they should surrender or fight. Messages from family members whose phones had been traced to the Gaza Strip, begging me to find their loved ones. More and more messages, names, pictures, locations. Without understanding the size of the disaster and the magnitude of our responsibility, we activated a war room for rescue and salvation. In absolute chaos, we directed rescues under the worse terror attack the country has ever known.
In the absence of an organized system to take control of the situation, we mapped the locations of the missing and wounded, directed forces in the field, handled hundreds of calls and pleas. And in the midst of it we understood – every message brings responsibility to save a life. And where, where is the state and why are civilians doing all this? Military and civilian forces used screenshots from Google maps to mark where the terrorists were gathered. In the towns and settlements, most of the rescuers were also civilians who risked their lives and were sometimes unarmed. Some directed combat helicopters using WhatsApp on their mobile phones.
The Civilian Rescue and Salvation War Room that we founded that day turned into the first "Civilian War Room" to start from nothing. It created an unprecedented system of aid and volunteering that has been operating widely ever since and offering every type of assistance possible. In the days and weeks following the attack, we realized that the absent authorities were replaced by civilians who unhesitatingly reported. The War Room responded to the wide-ranging needs that were exposed following the terrible disaster and made sure to fill the void left by the state’s failure.
However, the state’s role in rescuing the hostages is one that neither the War Room nor any citizen can replace. It is the duty of the state to uphold the most basic covenant between itself and its citizens, which is to safeguard their security and return them all to us here.
In order to quench the burning fire that threatens the covenant between us and the state, that is meant to protect us from abandonment, I, Tamir Reicher, I Li'at Kubrigo, I Noa Zimberg Karsik, extinguish this light to awaken the State of Israel."
Extinguishing the Light of the Displaced
Michal Lahav – Evicted from her home in the North for the past 7 months: "I, Michal Lahav, daughter of Tamar and Yehoshua Lahav, evicted with my family from Kibbutz Snir on the northern border, extinguish the light of the displaced.
Hundreds of thousands of residents of the north and south, entire families have been uprooted from their homes for over seven months, living in uncertainty, not knowing when they will return home.
The state, which failed to defend us, its citizens, on October 7th, and which used us as a human defense line, is now abandoning us. The government has no plan in place; in its absence, we, the evacuees, have become exiles in our own land, moving between crowded hotel rooms and rented apartments, with no control over our lives. Uprooted from workplaces, from hospitals, from various treatments, unable to plan a day ahead.
Our children are left without a functioning educational system, our dead are buried in darkness, accompanied by the rapid response teams and without dignified rites. The lives of thousands of families are packed in bursting suitcases, and we move between crowded hotel rooms and rented apartments. Our empty houses are bombed, many of us have already found other homes and will not return to the north or south.
Our children serving in the army come home on leave from the war, often after long weeks away. But there is no home, no quiet corner, and they must try to find serenity and strengthen themselves for their return to the front lines – in strange hotel rooms, with no privacy.
Our lives are conducted in uncertainty, our future is shrouded in fog with no foreseeable end. The fire that still threatens our lives, and that uprooted us from our homes – it is up to the state to extinguish it. The flame that threatens us as a society, where evacuees and exiles become routine – I will extinguish. I extinguish this light to awaken the State of Israel."
Extinguishing the Light of the Weariness of Reserve Soldiers’ Families
Doron and Shir Shabbtai – Social worker, lawyer, residents of Sderot: "We, Shir and Doron, residents of Sderot, parents to Negev and Nissan, extinguish the light of the weariness of reserve soldiers’ families.
On Simchat Torah, we hid in a small safe room with another six members of our family. Sixteen hours of terrified listening to the sounds of the slaughter outside and the battle at the nearby police station. Hours of leaning against the door handle of the safe room. Of pacifying a hungry baby because there was no baby food. Of prayers. The next day, Doron was called to reserve duty, and we were uprooted from our home and moved to the other end of the country. For almost 190 days, we barely spoke. When there were visits, they were short. When there weren't, we feared the worst. From a family who shared equal and supportive parenthood, I became a single parent. I had to cope alone with two toddlers upon whom the sky had fallen, as it had on me.
Many reservists’ families spend the war with great difficulty, in great fear and uncertainty, but the enlistment is obvious. We fulfill and embrace our moral and social obligation to enter “under the stretcher”. But what are we carrying on this stretcher? The state, on its part, did not fulfil its obligation to us. The State of Israel, which relies on reserve service, must stand alongside reservists and their families. It is clear that if Doron is called again to reserve duty, he will report without hesitation. But the state, which takes us for granted and has failed in its support of us, must do its part as well. Allocating appropriate resources and expanding the pool of reservists are imperative. We believe in the Zionist vision, in the importance of the reserve system, and in our society's abilities, but it is up to the state and its leadership to fulfil their share of the contract. Reserve families are an asset to be safeguarded at all costs, and the state has no right to abandon them. Us.
We extinguish this light to awaken the State of Israel".
Extinguishing the Light of the Abandonment of Women’s Personal Safety
Ravid Menashe – Founder of the Center for Recognition of Women's Injuries in War: "I, Ravid Menashe, the daughter of Niva and Shmuel Wohlman, the granddaughter of Hannah Wohlman nee Zaida of blessed memory, a Holocaust survivor and heroine; a social activist for women's rights and eradication of violence against women, and a partner in the establishment of "Building an Alternative", an organization for recognition of women's injuries in war, extinguish this light that symbolizes the neglect of women's personal safety in Israel by the government on both a routine and emergency basis. October 7th was a day filled with violence and sexual violence that we had never experienced before. The harsh documentation, alongside the testimonies that began to arrive, left no room for doubt – after all, the bodies of women have a weapon of war since the dawn of time. We understood that it was urgent to release these testimonials. We quickly saw, however, how the Israeli government appropriates the deliberate harm to women as a basis for legitimizing the war, while silencing, normalizing and sabotaging the negotiations for release of the abducted men and women as they blatantly ignore what they are undergoing in captivity. How will this government, which for years has blocked resources, reduced budgets, and stifled initiatives related to the protection of women, protect them now when they are being held by murderers?!
The bodies of women are not a national asset!
Pain, fear and shame make it difficult for us as a society to clearly see what we already know for sure is happening. End the exclusion of women from the decision-making sphere, end the casting of doubt on the contribution of women to the fight, and end indifference to the suffering of the women in captivity.
I extinguish this light, and with it the criminal obtuseness, to awaken the State of Israel".
Extinguishing the Light of the Neglect of Mental Health
Dr. Dafna Shafet – Psychiatrist in the Public Health System: "I, Dr. Dafna Shafet, daughter of Miriam and Yosef Shafet, niece of Sergeant Michael Stern of blessed memory, a psychiatrist in the public health system, extinguish this light to protest the neglect of mental health. The 7th of October brought about a tremendous surge of people who need and deserve mental support – survivors of the border settlements and the Nova festival, bereaved families of the murdered, the fallen soldiers, and the abducted – and in fact, all of us. Despite years of neglect, the mental health system functioned well. It was inspiring to see how mental health teams, along with civil society, mobilized to provide treatment throughout the country. Blessed be the worthy and heroic torch lighters who are being honored in the parallel ceremony at Mount Herzl. But healing from trauma requires, first and foremost, that the trauma end, and as long as the hostages are in captivity – there will be no healing. Healing requires a safe environment, and as long as bombs continue to fall and tens of thousands are uprooted from their homes – there will be no healing. Healing requires a cohesive and supportive community, and as long as the leadership divides us and even incites against the families of the abducted whom it abandoned – there will be no healing. Healing requires listening and respect, and as long as the citizen faces indifference and bullying – there will be no healing.
The actions of the authorities wound our souls. Depression, anxiety – this is what our lives look like right now. But I am here today because I refuse to despair and I insist on fighting for my country. As someone who has been treating Holocaust survivors for years, I know – I don't believe, I know – that even after the greatest disaster, there is life, there is hope, and there is renewal. I extinguish this light in protest of the neglect of mental health, but what has been extinguished will rise again. I extinguish this light to awaken the State of Israel".
Extinguishing the Light of the Cheapening of Life
Yael Alon – Bereaved mother and daughter: "I, Yael Alon, daughter of Yitzhak Bar Shada (Klarfeld) of blessed memory, and the mother of Dor of blessed memory, Rinat and Noam, extinguish the light of the cheapening of life. I was seven years old when my father Yitzhak fell in the Yom Kippur War. For fifty years, I lived in the shadow of that failure, the failure that was supposed to channel the capabilities of a country like ours towards a better path and build us as a society, responsible for one another, and trusting each other as well as the military and political leadership. We thought the lesson had been learned.
On October 7th, I understood that we’ve learned nothing. On October 9th, my beloved son fell in battle in Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
I stand before you today, a testimony to the sorrowful fact that we have failed again. The death of Dor and of so many others, men and women, male and female soldiers, shows in the harshest way possible that our lives and the lives of our children are not as sacred as they should be.
My son fell in a battle imposed on us by the greatest failure since the establishment of the state. Now it is clear – the country cannot continue on this path.
The leadership cannot continue to act as if our lives and the lives of our children are not sacred. We cannot tolerate this continued cheapening of human life. Tonight, I extinguish the fire that consumes the most basic values of the state, and with it, I extinguish the commitment of the leadership to its citizens, the commitment to sanctify their lives, not their deaths, and to protect them at all costs.
I extinguish this light to awaken the State of Israel".
Extinguishing the Light of Abandonment of the Hostages
Meirav Svirsky – the sister of Itai Svirsky, who was murdered in Hamas captivity, and Carmit Palti Katsir – the sister of Elad Katzir who was murdered in Hamas captivity, speak out.
"My name is Meirav Svirsky, daughter of Orit and Rafi Svirsky who were murdered in Be'eri on October 7th. The sister of Itai, who was abducted from our mother's home and murdered after 99 days of torment.
My name is Carmit Palti Katzir, daughter of Rami Katzir who was murdered in Nir Oz in October, and of Hanna Katzir who was abducted and released. The sister of Elad Katzir who was abducted and murdered. His body was returned to Israel.
It is not a great honor to be here. We did not do anything to earn all the new titles we received this year. We did not choose them; reality imposed them upon us. We are the families of the murdered, we are the families of the hostages, we are the families of the abducted who were murdered in captivity. Our family members were abandoned to die in their safe rooms on October 7th. They endured hours of horror in which no one came to save them, while we were in contact from afar, absolutely helpless, witnesses to atrocities that destroyed and continue to destroy our world. Our family members were abducted cruelly and violently to Gaza. There they experienced terror, dread, fear of death, hunger and pain. Long days that ended with them being left to die. From the very beginning we realized there would be no victory for us. We lost so much. But perhaps the return of our loved ones can give us some hope.
And so, one ray of hope came with the release of my mother (Hanna Katzir, the mother of Carmit Palti Katzir. Ed.), but this light quickly faded with the decision to return to battle rather than continuing the negotiations for release of the rest of the hostages.
We continued the battle, the fight, we made our voices heard everywhere, and warned that the worst might happen as a result of the military pressure. But the decision-makers did not listen to us, and indeed, the worst happened.
Itai and Elad were murdered in Hamas captivity, and thus were abandoned a second time by the Israeli government. A government, and its leader, who repeatedly prioritized fighting and devastation over saving lives, over the lives of Elad and Itai.
It is so painful when political decisions directly harm the lives of our families. It is so painful to be captives of our own government which itself is captive to extremists. It is so painful that in the name of unity, we are essentially told to be silent. And in the name of unity, we are supposed to soften the struggle for our loved ones. We were abandoned, the country was abandoned, and all the values we were raised on were abandoned. And in the midst of all this, we are the mothers of young children, trying to raise them to be good human beings. And in order to do that, we need to create hope, and to hold onto it so that we can continue to fight for a better future. This future will only be possible when all one hundred and thirty-two abductees return. The living – to rehabilitation, and the dead – to proper burial. Only then will the healing of our families and of everything that was destroyed begin. We, Carmit Palti Katzir and Meirav Svirsky, broken-heartedly extinguish this light of abandonment of the hostages. We call upon everyone to end this chapter of abandonment and begin the chapter of repair, starting with the return of all one hundred and thirty-two abductees. We extinguish this light to awaken the State of Israel".
The Light of Hope
Einav Zangauker – mother of Matan Zangauker, abducted to Gaza, ignites the "Light of Hope": "I am Einav Zangauker, the mother of Matan, who has been held hostage in Gaza for 220 days and nights, the mother of Natalie and Shani. Tonight, I speak on behalf of our entire people. We must all wake up!
My dear Matan, if you can hear me, I will not stop fighting for your return. With me is your loving family and a large community. Yesterday, I dreamt of you, and I woke up to the nightmare I've been living for seven months. What nightmare are you undergoing? You and 131 other citizens, some without mothers to fight for them.
We have a people but our country has been abducted. We have amazing people, but no government to guide us. We will be the pillar of fire that leads the camp. We will be the ones to repair the world! We who understand that what matters most is life! Human life! The lives of all of us!
Mutual responsibility means the same shared determination to fulfill the commandment to redeem the captives and bring you home, Matan. You and the other one hundred and thirty-one hostages.
I light this light of mutual responsibility and hope for the rescue of the hostages, and the rescue of the country. Now!
Photo of head picture: Inas Osrof AbuSeif
