Heroes, Hostages and Victims – all in one Israeli Arab family
Israel is a complicated country. For many, or maybe most Israelis, we don’t usually get out of our boxes and communities and have meaningful interactions much less relationships with people in other sectors of society. Largely, that applies to most of us in most of the diverse sectors of Israeli society: religious, secular, Arab, Jewish, left, right, etc.
A few months ago, I “met” Youssef Ziyadne through reading his story in “One Day in October”, a gripping compilation of stories about 40 heroes of the October 7 Hamas massacre – Israelis who saved lives of others, often at risk to their own. In some cases, they lost their lives while heroically and selflessly saving others from the massacring terrorists.
Sad Saga. Thought to be alive until recently, Bedouin hostages Youssef Ziyadne and his son Hamza Ziyadne’s bodies were recovered this week, 15 months after they were abducted by Hamas terrorists. Youssef and Hamza were kidnapped along with another two of Youssef’s children, Bilal, 18, and Aisha, 17, while working in the cowshed at Kibbutz Holit near the Gaza border. Bilal and Aisha were released on November 30, 2023, after more than 50 days in Hamas captivity. (Courtesy)
Youssef saved 30 revelers from the Nova festival where nearly 400 were murdered. He did so by packing them all into his 14-seat minibus while under fire as he navigated backroads and open fields in order to avoid the terrorists. Unlike the 30 Israeli Jews whose lives he saved, Youssef is a Muslim Bedouin Israeli Arab. He has been celebrated and recognized for his heroism nationally, including Israel’s state president, Isaac Herzog.
While planning this past fall the Root & Branch program (a literally ‘hands-on’ enriching way for Christians to personally connect with Israel), I decided that if I was going to engage someone to be our driver, why not a hero of October 7. It turned out to be a wise choice as it connected the Christian volunteers who had come to harvest olives with an enriching sector of Israeli society to which they would not otherwise have even ever met.
Appealing for Release. In June last year, Bashir Ziyadne (28), at the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, holding images of his cousin Youssef Ziyadne and Youssef’s son Hamza, taken hostage by Hamas on October 7. (Photo: Gianluca Pacchiani/Times of Israel)
Youssef, being Bedouin rather than Jewish opened the participants’ eyes to the sometimes-complicated nature of the Jewish state. In fact, slightly over 20% of Israel’s 10 million citizens are Israeli Arabs – full equal citizens. The participants got to interact with a Bedouin Arab whose modesty, warmth, and charm overcame any language barrier.
Only at the end of the trip, when we were at the site of the Nova festival, did I reveal who Youssef was and why I went out of the way to engage his services that day. It was an overwhelmingly emotional moment as they learned about Youssef, their driver and hero, and how the same vehicle in which we had been riding all week was used to save so many lives.
Youssef and I have stayed in touch. While he’s a hero of Israel, he and his family have also experienced terrible loss and suffering from October 7. That day he was saving the lives of 30 others, four members of his extended family were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists: Youssef (53), and his children Hamza (22), Bilal (18), and Aisha (17). Yes, Arabic speaking Bedouin Israeli Muslim Arabs were kidnapped by Arab Islamic terrorists who showed them no mercy or humanity, underscoring that the accusation of apartheid in Israel is false as even terrorists attack, murder, and kidnap without discrimination. It is a shame that October 7 fails to challenge the “ideology” of the protestors around the world who reflexively blame Israel for everything imaginable, but dismiss or ignore the reality of the clear evil perpetrated by Hamas!
Bilal and Aisha were released in November 2023 as part of the deal that saw 105 of the 251 hostages released. It was hoped that two of Youssef’s relatives still in captivity – Youssef and Hamza – were still alive. It was not to be. Last week, the body of Youssef’s cousin, also named Youssef, was brought home for burial followed thereafter by Hamza. The bodies were found in one of the many terror tunnels in which Hamas still operates and where they still hold the remaining hostages in captivity.
The IDF recovered the bodies of Israeli Bedouin father and son Youssef and Hamza Ziyadne, who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th, 2023, from southern Israel into Gaza, endured brutal captivity, and were murdered – this is their story.
“Our” Youssef has strong words for the inhuman evil that Hamas represents. This week, another relative speaking on national TV added that:
“What they [Hamas] did on October 7, regardless of whether it was to Bedouins or Jews, is not allowed in Islam.”
Another former Bedouin Arab hostage, Farhan al-Qadi, rescued by the IDF from a terror tunnel in August, expressed grief and no doubt experiencing PTSD, mourned Youssef in the national media:
“Youssef, my friend, my neighbor, my childhood friend. It’s very hard. We need to end this war and bring them home, everyone. He was a friend to everyone, a father to everyone, he doesn’t deserve this – nobody does.”
Now, Youssef and Hamza Ziyadna are another two victims of the evil terrorism that we all face and confront equally, on multiple fronts. Join me in extending condolences to the extended Ziyadne family, and pray that ALL the remaining hostages will be found and brought home soon. As Bedouin Israeli Arabs do have a wide support network outside Israel, the Genesis 123 Foundation has launched a tax-deductible fund to support the Ziyadne family at this painful time.
As the news breaks of an imminent hostage deal, we can only pray and hope for the lives of the remaining hostages and that they will soon be returned to their loved ones.
Jonathan Feldstein - President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians – is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Jornal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.
