A Son’s Conversation With His Mother as Gunmen Attacked Her Kibbutz

We were corresponding until she wrote that they’re inside the house. And then communications stopped. The kibbutz was overrun. Everybody was locked in their houses. We heard gunshots. I heard them over the phone outside the window. And she was hiding in her safe room. You know, she was joking. She — about the stuff she should have had in the safe room, like a toilet or a knife. And she’s an extremely nonviolent person, so. But in the end, she said, “OK. The jokes can stop. I just – I love you.” And I wrote her, “I love you.” And that’s it. It was very helpless, a helpless feeling. In my mind, I still not 100 percent sure if she’s in Gaza or she’s dead on the ground in her house. She works in the peace industry. She was co-C.E.O. of an organization. They had projects in Gaza. That was her life’s work. She was always very invested in that, in making the world a better place. And she failed. I’m in touch with so many friends of hers and colleagues, and they’re working with me because she was so meaningful for them, and she’s meaningful for me also. And you don’t always show it as a son. I hope she — I hope she — she felt it when she was taken. I hope she felt how much I love her.