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The Time to Stay Silent Was Over

(Tablet) Maria Munoz - I am a Native American, born in Colombia, a U.S. citizen and a practicing Christian. I'm also a fierce defender of Israel. I have traveled the world, and although I've experienced wonderful hospitality in many places, Israel is the only place that felt like a second home. The first time I went to Israel, in May 2023, I experienced the strong community between Israelis, something that I felt was missing in the U.S. During that visit, I stopped at Kibbutz Kfar Aza near Gaza. The residents showed us the missile that had been launched at their kibbutz earlier that week. On Oct. 7 I heard that Israel had been attacked. I had no idea about the magnitude of the attack until I heard the news that Kfar Aza had been razed to the ground. I was devastated. To my horror, in the following weeks I was caught on the streets of Washington amid demonstration after demonstration against Israel. I felt too scared for weeks to speak up, as I was worried about facing backlash for saying anything. However, something inside kept telling me that what I was seeing on the media was not lining up with what actually happened. So I returned to Israel in January 2024. As soon as I posted what I saw on my social media, I lost my friend group, was isolated from college organizations, and received hateful messages online. But I have absolutely no regrets. When I went back to Kfar Aza, the bright, flourishing community I once knew was now in ruins. Seeing the burned rubble of family homes was the first time I fully understood the fate of the kibbutz residents. Their voices had been stolen by the self-proclaimed activists of social media who were telling the world that the stories of Israeli victims did not deserve to be heard because their deaths were "justified." I knew this sentiment was wrong. People who were antiwar were now openly celebrating the deaths of innocent civilians. It made me realize people were not using this movement to stand up for human rights. They were using it to ignite hate against Jews - again. If my former friends had seen the atrocious evidence of the attacks like I did, they would also be shouting to the world that Hamas is a genocidal regime, not a revolutionary "freedom fighting" group. I consider Israel the most successful decolonization project of all time. I unapologetically support Israel and the Jewish people. People have tried to call me a Zionist as an insult, but I wear the badge proudly.
2024-07-09 00:00:00
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