This message needs to be shared more widely, and not merely in the Times of Israel, but in the New York Times. By creating a situation that subjects their fellow Gazans to famine--a famine covered in every newspaper in the free world--Hamas is winning the propaganda war. The famine is real but all context is lost. Who makes people dig their own graves? The Mafia, Nazis, Hamas--people existing in a moral void. Your voice and others like it need to be heard.
The New York Times, really? The definition of moral bankruptcy, a paper that tried to hide Hitler's atrocities during WWII. The story needs to be told to the faces of every capitulating politician in every country in the world by everyone in their constituencies with a moral backbone. We, indeed, live in topsy turvy times where right is wrong, compassion confused by hatred.
However one feels about the NY Times, it is the place where a writer like Peter can find the faces of all those capitulating politicians in one fell swoop. Surely their record of hiding, or merely ignoring, Hitler's atrocities--common among the American and world press of the era--doesn't enter into the equation if one's goal is communicating Israel's current position to the elite and the masses.
In article: "Hamas may have hoped to spark opposition to the Netanyahu government by releasing images like this of the emaciated Israeli hostage Evyatar David, but it is also a reminder that Hamas is prolonging Gaza’s suffering."
Serious question: Do we really think that is what Hamas hoped for (or is the only thing they hoped for)?
They are evil psychopaths -- so psychopathic that they love and indulge in the attention the videos are (and aren't) getting...which is why they should be shared - so that people understand just how depraved they are.
To them, it's a demonstration and evidence of their "power".
The New York Times is too busy posting Ezra Klein’s 90-minute interview of Mahmoud Khalil than to cover something so trivial as the hostages held and tortured by the Palestinians for 670 days.
a man sees what he wants to see, and disregards the rest . . . doctor my eyes . . .
.
I spoke with a dear friend about my visit to the Nova traveling exhibit, when it was in Toronto.
the victims' cellphone videos. the blood, the shoes and sandals. the bullet-ridden porta-johns, cars, and tents.
.
she couldn't understand, why would you want to see that?
I wonder, why would you want to pretend it away? how can you validly hold any opinion about Gaza, Israel, Hamas, while trying not to see
the harsh reality?
.
I want my soul to feel the pain, otherwise I don't feel justified having (and pushing) my opinion. It's just fluff otherwise. Virtue signaling, performative viewfinding.
.
If the world really cared about the Palestinian people, the world would be stepping in, pushing Israel out, taking Gaza over. Is that happening? Hail no, not a peep of a cricket about anything like that. For "the world" it's a political game. They conveniently forget, for Israel: it's existential. It's life or death, for the Middle East only free democracy.
Yes, the world has turned upside down, the people of the world have gone insane, right is wrong and wrong is right, there is mass brain washing. But exactly because it is so unbelievable, so unreal and so inexplicable, we must see the hand of Hashem in all this because there is absolutely no reason for this to make sense. Doesn't mean we should sit back and let it be. On the contrary, we need to speak up, speak out, DO something... anything, everything... to tell the truth, dispell the lies and propaganda... one person at a time if that's the only way. Hashem is watching it's up to us to act. Thank you for this posting Peter.
These are amongst the worst moments since 10/7, agreed. I feel just pain and grief. And utter contempt for the politicians and “human rights” activists who continue to fail the real tests of their proclaimed beliefs.
I have looked at the picture again and again. And, honestly, if I were told it was the picture of a Palestinian I would have believed it. It is the picture of a starving, imprisoned young man.
The world hasn’t gone mad. But our international organizations, human rights organizations and international news organizations are mad. They were mad in the 1930’s, during WWII, during the Six Day War, during the Yom Kippur surprise attack on the holiest Jewish day to October 7, and now.
This is an excellent article, Peter!! You are right. This picture demonstrates the evil that is becoming more and more obvious all over the world. It is horrifying. And it makes me want to sob. It shows that without God mankind will stoop to unspeakable horrors. Despite the propaganda against Israel these kind of pictures need to be shown so people are forced to see the truth of man's inhumanity to man. All the pictures of Oct 7th need to be released so the world sees the truth; just like Eisenhower released the pictures of the Holocaust. That way you can try to lie but the facts are always out there in pictures. The pictures force you to see the truth and that you too could be the next victim.
I see the fake photo of a baby dying of hunger published by the NYT and many respected media outlets around the world, and I see the true face of Hamas which wants to rid the world of Jews completing Hitler's genocidal insanity, and I see why we want to keep fighting and why Netanyahu proclaims that the IDF will take over and remain in Gaza. I see the terrible mistake of pulling out of Gaza when Israeli settlers had made it a more beautiful and livable and peaceful place and the decades of devotion to the singular purpose of killing Jews financed by billions meant to feed and shelter and better the lives of the displaced pawns in their game to end the modern day state since 1948. I see the terror and the suffering I see the endless needless state of hatred and war loving death and martyrdom not life as if the pain already suffered is too great to ever be overcome, and I cannot yet easily see the day when reason takes over instead of the insanity of hatred and vile vengeance and we all live together in peace.
“This is what undoes me: not just the cruelty of Hamas, but the moral collapse of the world that now strengthens Hamas, feeds it, praises it, and amplifies its lies.” I have been trying to find a way to articulate that it is not only the horror of 10/7 and the ensuing orgy of global antisemitism that is so disturbing but this complete moral collapse on a global scale. Thank you for stringing these words together to name this particular sort of pain.
I see a young man, around the same age as my youngest cousins and I can imagine how awful his mother, his family must be feeling. I will not look away and I will continue to keep the hostages visible.
I saw Auschwitz. It was like it came back to haunt us. Interestingly, in some of this, you and I were thinking on a parallel track. I said that Palestinian culture was backward and considered women inferior and damned LGBTQIA+ people. Then I read where you said; "Hamas is not a resistance movement. It is a terror regime that wouldn’t hesitate to throw you off a rooftop if you were gay. It would take your rainbow flag, your liberal ideals, your open-minded slogans—and vanish you without a trace. There are no pride marches in Gaza. There are no human rights commissions in Hamas tunnels."
While I have long advocated for a 2-state solution, it must NEVER, EVER be a step towards obliterating Israel. HAMAS must be obliterated, for me that is a given!
You may disagree with me about this: I don't think Israel should occupy Gaza. Once again, I am stuck in the middle between the factions. But if I am forced to choose, I greatly prefer the Jews because I feel much more in alignment with the progressive culture you have. I guess that is the bottom line. I hope I never have to choose. We all want the war to end. We all want the hostages released to go home. We all want a free Gaza AND a protected Israel.
I live in the Chicago area and find it remarkable (and remarkably sad) that, of 10 different people I've dined out with since the first video was released, not one knew what I was talking about when I asked if they had seen it. (And these are not Luddites.)
Not only have we reached a point when people don't know evil when they see it and hear it we are in a time when people are literally shown only what they want to see and hear
Call it the curse of the algorithms, selective media consumption, the busy-ness of life, etc. It is nonetheless a tragic irony in a time with more access to more information instantaneously than ever before
Another holocaust and people don’t learn from the past. Israel and its people come back time after time because of our unity no matter which century or time slavery in Egypt. Thank you, Peter for honesty, truth and well written account.
Peter, thank you. As always. You helped me know for myself how to share this horrible truth because I think it has to be shared. I have been struggling with what is right to say, what is right to do knowing I had to say and do something. So your words have guided me to post photos on my social media of Evyatar with one word: אֶמֶת
This message needs to be shared more widely, and not merely in the Times of Israel, but in the New York Times. By creating a situation that subjects their fellow Gazans to famine--a famine covered in every newspaper in the free world--Hamas is winning the propaganda war. The famine is real but all context is lost. Who makes people dig their own graves? The Mafia, Nazis, Hamas--people existing in a moral void. Your voice and others like it need to be heard.
The New York Times, really? The definition of moral bankruptcy, a paper that tried to hide Hitler's atrocities during WWII. The story needs to be told to the faces of every capitulating politician in every country in the world by everyone in their constituencies with a moral backbone. We, indeed, live in topsy turvy times where right is wrong, compassion confused by hatred.
Peter, another brilliant essay!
However one feels about the NY Times, it is the place where a writer like Peter can find the faces of all those capitulating politicians in one fell swoop. Surely their record of hiding, or merely ignoring, Hitler's atrocities--common among the American and world press of the era--doesn't enter into the equation if one's goal is communicating Israel's current position to the elite and the masses.
And I see the Times's Bret Stephens has published a column that, to me, seems a fine summation of the situation, with a possible course of action: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/opinion/gaza-war-israel-netanyahu.html
Thanks for the link - excellent article!
In article: "Hamas may have hoped to spark opposition to the Netanyahu government by releasing images like this of the emaciated Israeli hostage Evyatar David, but it is also a reminder that Hamas is prolonging Gaza’s suffering."
Serious question: Do we really think that is what Hamas hoped for (or is the only thing they hoped for)?
They are evil psychopaths -- so psychopathic that they love and indulge in the attention the videos are (and aren't) getting...which is why they should be shared - so that people understand just how depraved they are.
To them, it's a demonstration and evidence of their "power".
I posted a link to the Stephens article and this HAMAS supporter trolled me. But I thought the article was pretty good.
Well, it's better then the NYT's lies and failure to apologize regarding the Gazan child on its front page, so in relative terms I agree
The New York Times is too busy posting Ezra Klein’s 90-minute interview of Mahmoud Khalil than to cover something so trivial as the hostages held and tortured by the Palestinians for 670 days.
"what do you see?"
.
a man sees what he wants to see, and disregards the rest . . . doctor my eyes . . .
.
I spoke with a dear friend about my visit to the Nova traveling exhibit, when it was in Toronto.
the victims' cellphone videos. the blood, the shoes and sandals. the bullet-ridden porta-johns, cars, and tents.
.
she couldn't understand, why would you want to see that?
I wonder, why would you want to pretend it away? how can you validly hold any opinion about Gaza, Israel, Hamas, while trying not to see
the harsh reality?
.
I want my soul to feel the pain, otherwise I don't feel justified having (and pushing) my opinion. It's just fluff otherwise. Virtue signaling, performative viewfinding.
.
If the world really cared about the Palestinian people, the world would be stepping in, pushing Israel out, taking Gaza over. Is that happening? Hail no, not a peep of a cricket about anything like that. For "the world" it's a political game. They conveniently forget, for Israel: it's existential. It's life or death, for the Middle East only free democracy.
.
Peter,
Unfortunately- I can only see the next Evyatar, and the next, and then the next.
Evil cannot be reasoned with.
Negotiations are meaningless.
There are no alternatives-
Hamas must be completely ground into dust.
Yes, the world has turned upside down, the people of the world have gone insane, right is wrong and wrong is right, there is mass brain washing. But exactly because it is so unbelievable, so unreal and so inexplicable, we must see the hand of Hashem in all this because there is absolutely no reason for this to make sense. Doesn't mean we should sit back and let it be. On the contrary, we need to speak up, speak out, DO something... anything, everything... to tell the truth, dispell the lies and propaganda... one person at a time if that's the only way. Hashem is watching it's up to us to act. Thank you for this posting Peter.
I feel broken. That picture of Evyatar tore me apart when I saw it, just like when Hersh and five other hostages were murdered last year.
These are amongst the worst moments since 10/7, agreed. I feel just pain and grief. And utter contempt for the politicians and “human rights” activists who continue to fail the real tests of their proclaimed beliefs.
I have looked at the picture again and again. And, honestly, if I were told it was the picture of a Palestinian I would have believed it. It is the picture of a starving, imprisoned young man.
I’m not sure what point you’re making here.
I was seeing two people who are related. I was seeing Abraham, the father of many nations.
Unfortunately, the terrorists holding him hostage don’t see (or value) that connection.
I hear and understand what you are saying. Isaiah 2.3 and 66.12. The great hope for all the world.
The world hasn’t gone mad. But our international organizations, human rights organizations and international news organizations are mad. They were mad in the 1930’s, during WWII, during the Six Day War, during the Yom Kippur surprise attack on the holiest Jewish day to October 7, and now.
This is an excellent article, Peter!! You are right. This picture demonstrates the evil that is becoming more and more obvious all over the world. It is horrifying. And it makes me want to sob. It shows that without God mankind will stoop to unspeakable horrors. Despite the propaganda against Israel these kind of pictures need to be shown so people are forced to see the truth of man's inhumanity to man. All the pictures of Oct 7th need to be released so the world sees the truth; just like Eisenhower released the pictures of the Holocaust. That way you can try to lie but the facts are always out there in pictures. The pictures force you to see the truth and that you too could be the next victim.
I see the fake photo of a baby dying of hunger published by the NYT and many respected media outlets around the world, and I see the true face of Hamas which wants to rid the world of Jews completing Hitler's genocidal insanity, and I see why we want to keep fighting and why Netanyahu proclaims that the IDF will take over and remain in Gaza. I see the terrible mistake of pulling out of Gaza when Israeli settlers had made it a more beautiful and livable and peaceful place and the decades of devotion to the singular purpose of killing Jews financed by billions meant to feed and shelter and better the lives of the displaced pawns in their game to end the modern day state since 1948. I see the terror and the suffering I see the endless needless state of hatred and war loving death and martyrdom not life as if the pain already suffered is too great to ever be overcome, and I cannot yet easily see the day when reason takes over instead of the insanity of hatred and vile vengeance and we all live together in peace.
Dear Peter, there is nothing I can add to your posting—except to say a profound thank you!!!
“This is what undoes me: not just the cruelty of Hamas, but the moral collapse of the world that now strengthens Hamas, feeds it, praises it, and amplifies its lies.” I have been trying to find a way to articulate that it is not only the horror of 10/7 and the ensuing orgy of global antisemitism that is so disturbing but this complete moral collapse on a global scale. Thank you for stringing these words together to name this particular sort of pain.
I see a young man, around the same age as my youngest cousins and I can imagine how awful his mother, his family must be feeling. I will not look away and I will continue to keep the hostages visible.
I saw Auschwitz. It was like it came back to haunt us. Interestingly, in some of this, you and I were thinking on a parallel track. I said that Palestinian culture was backward and considered women inferior and damned LGBTQIA+ people. Then I read where you said; "Hamas is not a resistance movement. It is a terror regime that wouldn’t hesitate to throw you off a rooftop if you were gay. It would take your rainbow flag, your liberal ideals, your open-minded slogans—and vanish you without a trace. There are no pride marches in Gaza. There are no human rights commissions in Hamas tunnels."
While I have long advocated for a 2-state solution, it must NEVER, EVER be a step towards obliterating Israel. HAMAS must be obliterated, for me that is a given!
You may disagree with me about this: I don't think Israel should occupy Gaza. Once again, I am stuck in the middle between the factions. But if I am forced to choose, I greatly prefer the Jews because I feel much more in alignment with the progressive culture you have. I guess that is the bottom line. I hope I never have to choose. We all want the war to end. We all want the hostages released to go home. We all want a free Gaza AND a protected Israel.
Thank you.
I live in the Chicago area and find it remarkable (and remarkably sad) that, of 10 different people I've dined out with since the first video was released, not one knew what I was talking about when I asked if they had seen it. (And these are not Luddites.)
Not only have we reached a point when people don't know evil when they see it and hear it we are in a time when people are literally shown only what they want to see and hear
Call it the curse of the algorithms, selective media consumption, the busy-ness of life, etc. It is nonetheless a tragic irony in a time with more access to more information instantaneously than ever before
Another holocaust and people don’t learn from the past. Israel and its people come back time after time because of our unity no matter which century or time slavery in Egypt. Thank you, Peter for honesty, truth and well written account.
💔
Peter, thank you. As always. You helped me know for myself how to share this horrible truth because I think it has to be shared. I have been struggling with what is right to say, what is right to do knowing I had to say and do something. So your words have guided me to post photos on my social media of Evyatar with one word: אֶמֶת