Postings from the Jewish State

11th Posting

A Tour of Kibbutz Nir Oz

This week I had the opportunity to join a guided tour of the “Gaza Envelope,” the area of Israel most horrifically impacted by the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught. The tour was organized by the NGO Israel Defense and Security Forum and our guides were former soldiers and local residents who were directly affected by the attacks, including some who lost family members and life long friends.

It was the most powerful and wrenching tour I have ever experienced, and I’ll comment here on only a small part of it. Perhaps in future postings, I’ll return to this event, as I think that what we saw and heard on the tour demonstrated the necessity for Israel to free itself from the ongoing danger of close-by terrorists – not that I presume to know how to accomplish this. We do know that land swaps, offering and giving away territory, and even befriending Hamas neighbors have been repeatably followed by terror attacks on Israel. At this point I find it hard to imagine a positive outcome resulting from any of the attempts at peace that have already been tried for decades.

It is also painful to know that some of the terrorists who murdered or kidnapped people at Nir Oz had actually been employed by the kibbutz. Nir Oz had not only given them jobs, but members of the kibbutz had also helped them get medical treatment in Israel and had related to them with the same respect as they treated members of the kibbutz. The kibbutzniks of Nir Oz not only advocated for, but actively practiced, co-existence.

Our guide at Nir Oz was a lovely, strong, and beautiful woman who has been a member of this kibbutz for the past 40 years. She steered us through the winding paths of the kibbutz with loving care and stoic courage that I immediately admired. Indeed, I found myself fantasizing about going back in time only a short year and a half ago, before this kibbutz was terrorized, to the time when the destroyed homes we were seeing were alive with children and families and long-time Kibbutzniks tending their gardens, eating meals together in the kibbutz dining room, and yes, supporting the State of Israel by their presence.

The surprise attack from Hamas came early in the morning of October 7 and Nir Oz defended itself by itself. The IDF finally arrived hours later. Around 117 members of the kibbutz were kidnapped or murdered that day among the 400 people living on the kibbutz.

Our guide walked us through the shuttered rows of houses, and along the broken pathways, among the gardens now growing wild. Speaking tearfully and yet maintaining her composure, she told us about her neighbors who had lived in these houses and her friends who who had been kidnapped.

Those who have returned from captivity or had escaped that day are now living in other parts of Israel. Some do not plan to return but many do intend to rebuild their homes and reclaim their kibbutz lives.

We walked past one house whose family we felt we knew. It was the Bibas family home. After 484 days in the darkness and deprivation of Hamas tunnels, Yarden Bibas was finally released by his terrorist captors. But they had murdered his family: his wife Shiri and their two, beautiful, red-headed children, Kfir and Ariel.

Our guide took us into a few of the houses and as sad as they looked from the outside, the insides were far worse. There were panels half off the walls, bloodstains on the floors, whole rooms that were simply rubble, broken toys, and devastation.

The tour left me with a haunted feeling of the terror that had exploded here on October 7 and also with knowledge of a strong community horrifically invaded by terrorists who wanted only to destroy both a peace-loving kibbutz and our whole unique, small country.