Witness Accounts of Violence in Conflict

I was shocked.

I couldn't breathe most of the video that we

watched. Um, I cried most of it.

Seeing it in such a compilation

was really, really hard to conceive.

Why would anybody, um, have

the will

to do this to unarmed civilians?

My name is Fatima Al-Herbi. I'm from Bahrain.

My name is, uh, Rawan Osman. I'm half Syrian, half Lebanese.

I thought I saw enough on social media, the

footage that's been, uh, um, all over social media

about the 7th of October, but, uh,

it wasn't enough. There were more horrific

acts and barbaric acts towards civilians,

people

sleeping in their beds. We, we saw them wearing their pajamas.

Uh, people were sleeping, and they got killed

just be- because they're Israelis.

So far, as a Syrian, I thought the worst I've seen in my life

is what ISIS has done in Iraq and Syria.

I have never imagined saying I've seen something worse.

Hamas,

um, they're both terrorist organizations,

but the glee we've witnessed in the background,

cheering the death,

the torture, the rape.

They were so joyful and, and cheering, uh,

over dead bodies, and they've been, um,

parading bodies without clothes.

That's, that's not the Islam that I, I, I knew my

whole life. Um, they've been using the God's name also

while, while killing children, throwing grenades

towards children and their families.

Um, that's really annoyed me and, and

surprised me that people were happy doing it.

Um, I don't think that's the way that anyone

should fight for, for a land or for anything.

Uh, if you want to fight for something, especially being a

Muslim, there is laws for wars that our

Islam has put in. You can't harm

civilians with no, uh, arms to

defend themselves. You can't harm women and children,

and we've seen all of this in the, in the movie.

We've seen the people in Gaza cheering the death,

chanting Allahu Akbar, uh, celebrating what happened as

if it's an achievement. I wonder what have they

achieved after the attack on the 7th of October.

It was their initial reaction, and it exposed the

hatred they feel towards the Israelis.

This is something that has to be addressed.

I think of the Hamas politicians

who wanted to make a distinction, saying that their

militants had clear instructions not to harm any

civilians,

um, and that any attacks against children, women, and

elderly were by those who followed the

militants when they opened the fences.

Um,

we've seen the video. I've seen it with my own eyes.

I did not see any instructions to spare, uh, civilians or

children or the elderly. Um, nobody was spared, not even the

Muslims.

You can't use the name of God doing stuff like that.

Our Islam is so beautiful and, and, and peaceful, and

we have a lot of verses, um, um,

sayings that

some of... One of them is if you kill one human is

like killing mankind. So

how can you kill this much of humans by using

the name of God?

The hardest bit for me to watch were,

was the boys with their father,

and I'm a mother,

and I could relate to the fear,

to the dread,

uh, the father and the children were feeling,

running for their life, not knowing what on earth is happening,

uh, the confusion,

um,

and the moment the boys realized that their father

has been killed,

um, and the way the terrorists react to that.

They're just pushing them around, like, "Move on.

Move on." Uh, watching the two boys,

uh, the brother not knowing that

his, his brother cannot see,

um, and them processing what happened,

like this is real. It's not a dream. It's not a nightmare.

Like, Dad died.

And, uh, watching a small boy

wishing he'd, he'd died,

I think his, his childhood ended that moment.

Seeing the bodies without, without their heads

and, and seeing children

crying, uh, over their, uh, their family,

uh, bodies,

um, with blood over their bodies, over their

pajamas, kids just 10, 12,

13 years old,

um, I think those scenes, um,

will always stick in my mind, and I think that will help me

always that to advocate for peace, that

no children,

no woman, no father deserve to, to see such

scenes, no matter what their religion or nationality.

I wish it wasn't

impossible,

um, to play on, on regular media in the

Arab world. Um, Hamas terrorists denied it

happened, and they always

say, "Show us proof."

Well, I have seen it. They've even

used a garden hose to decapitate what to me

seemed as a Thai,

uh, national

from his facial features.

Um,

an Israeli was decapitated with a small knife,

and then his head was

taken away.

Um, I think that's enough proof.

I think some people

don't want to accept the reality and don't want to give

credit of what actually happened that day.

Um,

even if we show them the stuff that it's not shown

for the public, um,

they won't believe it also. Um,

it's a different kind of war, war happening also.

I have seen the horrific scenes coming out of Gaza, but I also

do not allow them to confuse me. I do remember what happened on the

7th of October, who instigated this war, and

as a mother, as someone who grew up in the Middle East,

as someone who

has family across the Middle East and many friends in

Israel, I cannot carry on living as if something

hasn't happened.