Our heart-rending visit to a new memorial site in Israel
Last Friday morning, Ron and I woke early and made the emotionally arduous journey to a new memorial site, remembering some of the atrocities on October 7. It was so sad! I cried so much. It is a place that commemorates where the Hamas terrorists ruthlessly murdered 364 young people at Kibbutz Re’im.
These were kids! Teenagers and young adults who had gathered for a rave in the desert (I know those are crazy, but still, these kids did not deserve to be murdered!). When the terrorists invaded, the kids ran and got in their cars to get away. Who can forget the video of them running through the field for their lives? But Hamas brutally shot them (and did more) while they were in their cars.
Also, an ambulance came to help, and 10 injured concertgoers were put inside. But Hamas saw it and fired an RPG. When it exploded, everyone in the ambulance was burned alive.
For months now, Israel has been working at this site on Road 232 to identify everyone, to know whether a child was killed or kidnapped, and to get whatever remains home to the parents for burial.
Now, the cars are all piled up at a site not far from Re’im. Hundreds and hundreds of burned-out cars are piled upon one another, including the ambulance mentioned above. Every day, buses bring Jewish and some Christian tourists to help them comprehend the pure horror of October 7th.
At Re’im, where the concert was, there are pictures of every person who was killed. It is so powerful. At the memorial we met the mother of Karin Journo. Karin was in the ambulance. They were only able to give her mother proof of death from the DNA on three teeth they found and a spine fragment.
It was crushing.
How can the world ignore them? Come and see. Raise your voice for Israel. Now is not the time to be silent. Pray for our hostages to come home.
