Ruthy Chmiel Strum He was born in Argentina and lives in Israel. He sits in a hotel chair in the center of Tel Aviv to attend to They got up. She is dressed in a red t-shirt with photographs of her children Jairus y Eitan. They are two of the 101 kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 who are still being held. On a chair next to yours ‘sit’ two posters with the same images of your children.
He brags about having dressed up for the meeting: “I took some hair dye and put it on like this“, he indicates with a movement of his hands over his head, while smiling. A gesture that does not hide its fragility. Immediately, he picks up his cell phone and puts it next to him. “I live close to him for when the news arrives.”
The news he is waiting for is the release of his children. Some relatives of the kidnapped people get as close as they can to the Gaza Strip and with huge loudspeakers they send messages of encouragement to those held captive, in the hope that they can somehow hear them. Ruthy often talks to Iair and Eitan; Sometimes he shouts their names, even though they are hundreds of kilometers away, and starts laughing, believing that one day they will say to him: “Why did you shout so much?”
Ask. He has three sons, Iair, Amos and Eitan.
Answer. They are Iair, Amos and Eitan. 46, 43 and 38 years old. I raised my children very close, they are like a block and they are my pride.
Q. Where do you live?
R. I live in Farzawa with Eitan. In October last year he had just left a job and told me: “I’m going to Nir Oz to see Iair.” (The Nir Oz kibbutz would be hit hard by Hamas on October 7; of its 400 inhabitants, a quarter were kidnapped or killed. The terrorists were there for more than six hours.)
P. Eitan was with Iair on October 7.
R. When the alarm went off at 6:29, don’t ask me why, I called them. I always call Amos first, because he has two small children, but this time I wanted to talk to Iair and Eitan. Look at Eitan’s WhatsApp, his last connection was at 5:50. I saw that Iair was online and I corresponded with him: “How are you? Are they at the shelter?” “Yes, we are all here.” In your house, the refuge is your bedroom. It turns out that Eitan had left the phone outside and gone with them. They closed the doors and locked them.
Q. So, did you talk to them?
R. Yes. “How are you?” I asked them. “Ten,” Iair replied. The last thing I wrote to him was: “Well, at least you’re not alone.” Because he was with his brother Eitan and that calmed me a lot.
Q. What happened then?
R. Then I wrote him several messages, but they didn’t reach him. “Please write when you are online.” At first I didn’t know what to think until we saw on television that terrorists were entering. That day they (Iair and Eitan) were taken away. We don’t know how, but they were taken away.
Q. How are you?
R. One day, after October 7, I promise you that I heard them speak. I heard Iair and Eitan talking. I told my other son, Amos: “Amos, I heard them talking!” “What do you say, old woman? Please…” he told me. My children call me old, it’s something I love and for me it’s great. From the first day I have spoken with them. I speak to Iair and Eitan from the heart or out loud so they can hear me.
P. …
R. Yes, I even shout their names so they can hear me! Sometimes I yell at them until it makes me laugh. It crosses my mind that when they return they are going to tell me: “Why were you shouting so much, old lady!”
Q. What do you know about them?
R. Until November 25, I didn’t know anything about them. But I knew, I knew they were alive! And that day… ah! That day they informed me that they were still alive. They (Hamas) released many women and they told me that they were with them. That reaffirmed what I felt, that they had to be alive.
Q. Did they take them together?
R. Right now I don’t know if they are together, but I know they saw each other. And that helps me strengthen myself.
You have seen people who were with their children in the tunnels.
I met with one of the women who saw them after I left so she could tell me more. I met with another last Sunday (the interview with Ruthy Chmiel Strum took place on October 2, in Tel Aviv).
P. Does it comfort you?
R. Since then there are many people who write to me, who call me, who see me and tell me things about my children that I didn’t know. The times they helped without making noise. Because others are able to say whether they have done one thing or the other, but we… we are not. We do it in silence.
Q. And you, do you take care of yourself?
R. It’s hell. I wake up in the morning and can’t believe what I’m going through. At first he didn’t eat or drink. Now, to be strong when they return. I sleep. In that I am lucky. I don’t need pills or anything to sleep. Sometimes I sleep worse, other times better, but I sleep. I eat quickly, because I can’t think about the fact that maybe they don’t have anything to eat and I do. I eat quickly and remove the plate.
Q. You have two grandchildren.
R. After they were taken away, my son Amos came with his children, ages 12 and 9. They are Gali and Ariel, they both like soccer. I was wearing sunglasses, from crying. They took off my glasses and asked me why I was crying. “We have to cry if we need to. It’s good. But we also have to be strong to send it to them (Iair and Eitan).” At that moment, the children’s parents told me: “Thank you, because that’s how we wanted you to talk to them.” It took a weight off my shoulders.
Q. I hope you can see you soon.
R. I have made a flag with their boys’ t-shirts (the t-shirts from when they were children) to welcome them. I think that when they get out of there maybe I’m not the first person they’re going to see. I don’t care! I can wait more. I just want them to come out and be okay.
Source: www.vozpopuli.com
