At the beginning of this war, when the murder of so many Israelis and the hundreds of hostages was still fresh, I didn’t believe the pictures and the statistics from Gaza. The pictures were so obviously doctored, and the hatred expressed so strongly, I couldn’t sympathize totally. Of course the suffering of individuals can’t be ignored But lately, when it became clear we were self-consoring, I began to look for the individuals, remembering Gazan children I ran into in the hospital, remembering the visits to Gaza with my husband and daughter, where the kids played together. The humanity quickly got the better of me.
This morning an op ed appeared in Haaretz by Rafi and Tzvia Valdan. It was in Hebrew, but after I read it I knew I had to share it with you in English. So Ezi translated it – just like that. Here it is:
Nine Dead. Not in Our Name!
Rafi and Tzvia Waldan
HAARETZ
May 29, 2025
Tzvia Waldan is a linguist.
Rafi Waldan is a physician and human rights activist.
Primo Levi’s book received two Hebrew translations. The first was titled “Is This a Man?” and the second “If This Is a Man.” Of the author, who began writing two months after returning from Auschwitz, it was said: he “observes the human beings whom the camp stripped, one by one, of their identity as human beings, wonders ‘if this is a man,’ and clings to moments of grace—remnants of humanity—in which, and through which, man becomes human again.”
Look at the photo of the 11-year-old boy. He is a human being. That is his name—Adam. Until Friday, he had nine brothers and sisters: Yahya, Rakan, Raslan, Jubran, Ayyub, Rifan, Sidin, Lakman, and Sidra—the oldest was 12. But after an Israeli airstrike on Khan Yunis, the nine siblings were killed. Only Adam survived, badly injured.
These ten children, of whom only one survived, are the sons and daughters of Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar, a pediatrician at the Al-Tahrir Clinic in the Nasser Medical Center. She was at the hospital when her children and husband—Dr. Hamdi Al-Najjar, also a doctor—were at their nearby home. The father was also seriously wounded and was filmed being carried out on a stretcher.
Look at the pictures. The videos on social media show horrifying scenes. The burnt bodies of the children being pulled from the house in sacks. Additional evidence of this terrible tragedy comes from various sources, including colleagues of the couple and foreign doctors volunteering in the area.
Not in our name! We can no longer remain silent! This cruel and senseless war must end. We do not agree to massive killing that fails to distinguish between terrorists and young children and infants. We will not settle for the IDF spokesperson’s statement that “the incident will be investigated.” We demand an immediate halt to the barbaric conduct of systematic killing of innocent people.
Meanwhile, we demand that the State of Israel allow the three remaining family members—father, mother, and child—to leave Gaza together and immediately, so they can receive proper treatment and rehabilitation. There are people in the world who will help them and care for them—such as Dr. David Hassan from Duke University in the United States and others from the medical community who will rally to save what remains of the family—three out of twelve.
Primo Levi wrote about the remnants of humanity among Holocaust victims, despite the inhuman conditions in which they were held. Today, when we have control over the fate of Palestinians—life or death—we must ask ourselves: who deserves to be called human? Perhaps, from among the ongoing horrors we inflict on Gaza, this peak tragedy will stir “moments of grace,” a spark of compassion that will save at least the father, the child, and the mother—three individuals among the tens of thousands affected.
And we will not stop demanding the return of all the hostages—now.
