“Our loved ones held captive by Hamas, may the world listen and help us”

An aberrant humanitarian violation has been taking place in Gaza for several years now. Two citizens with mental health issues and the bodies of as many Israeli soldiers killed in the summer of 2014, one of whom during a ceasefire, are held captive by the terrorist group Hamas without anyone knowing anything about their fate. For the first time since this void opened in their lives, the relatives of Avera Mengistu and Hisham Al-Sayed, Hadar Goldin, and Oron Shaul are together abroad, supported by the Israeli embassies in Italy and the Vatican, to ensure that their protest is heard.
It is a mission between Rome and the Vatican that led them to gather with, among others, the solidarity of the Pope, representatives of the Italian government, and European institutions and also to receive the embrace of the city’s Jewish community during the lighting of the fourth Chanukkiah candle in the Great synagogue.
“It’s the first time they have been traveling together, and the moment chosen is not accidental, given the coincidence of Chanukkah and the Christian holidays. It is a symbolic circumstance that brought us to the Pope, hoping that his special relations with the Islamic world can be of help”, Shuli Davidovitch, director of the Division for Diaspora and Religious Affairs at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, told Pagine Ebraiche. “Unfortunately – she remarked – at present we have no information about the hostages or the bodies of the fallen. Hamas has never let us know anything. However, we know that the asking price is high: the release of hundreds of terrorists”. It is a theme, she pointed out, “on which there is debate in Israel also because, regrettably, various terrorists released as part of the exchange that led to the return home of Gilad Shalit have gone back to doing what they did before their capture”. A fundamental point, she continued, “is that the international community understands that there is a humanitarian issue and that the behavior of Hamas violates every most elementary right”. “We are working day and night at this matter – she concluded – because Israel does not leave anyone behind regardless of their identity: Jews and non-Jews it makes no difference”.
“We went to the Pope because this is also a religious issue. People’s souls belong to God, they cannot be held in this unworthy way”, explains Hadar Goldin’s brother, with his mother by his side. “I saw the Pope moved. He assured us that he will use his influence to bring attention to this issue. In the meantime, you – he adds – we will continue to have hope: it is a good thing that, as Jews and Israeli citizens, we do not have the privilege of ever being able to lose”. He also hopes for strong solidarity from the Jewish world. “It is essential that, even in the Diaspora’s public opinion, silence does not fall on our loved ones. In Israel there is great solidarity: I feel it in the ordinary people who embrace us and express warmth in so many ways. At an institutional level, however, one sometimes gets the impression that more ‘silence’ on our part would be preferred. A consequence, I assume, of the trauma triggered by the Shalit case”.
Also the Mengistu family is trying not to lose hope. “In recent years, we have met various heads of state and ministers. Today, dialoguing with the Pope, we had the feeling that his contribution could be significant”, they said after the visit to the Vatican. “Each family has its history and path within this country. However, acting together gives us more strength than moving individually. Luckily, we Ethiopians have a lot of faith: we are people of faith, united, with a strong sense of community. These are all characteristics that help us face this very tough test”.

Above, the lighting of the menorah at the Great Synagogue of Rome with the family of Avera Mengistu.