Honestly with Bari Weiss
‘We’re Releasing Dangerous Terrorists. . . and We Accept the Price’
20 Feb 2025
I’m sure you remember the images of Kfir and Ariel Bibas. They were just nine months and four years old when they were kidnapped by Hamas along with their mother, Shiri, on October 7, 2023. It was impossible to look at the image of her shielding them, her eyes full of terror, the children clinging to her, and not think of the Holocaust. For more than 500 days, people around the world prayed for the safe return of these babies. Our hopes were raised on February 1, when the fourth member of the family—Yarden Bibas—was liberated after 484 days in Hamas captivity. But as this episode goes live, Kfir, Ariel, and Shiri Bibas won’t be returning home alive. Hamas instead will hand over their remains. How can Israel live alongside an enemy that kidnaps and murders babies? And what does it mean for us to live in a world, where people in the West tore down posters of the Bibas children. My friend, Commentary magazine senior editor Seth Mandel, explains why in The Free Press: “In a better world, the faces of the Bibas children would be everywhere at all times. In the world in which we live, by contrast, posters with those faces get torn down from bulletin boards. . . . The crimes against the Bibas family are indeed the symbol of the anti-civilizational menace that is Hamas—but also of the cowardice of the political and cultural leaders of the enlightened West. . . . It is impossible for the rest of us to pretend that we didn’t see a chunk of society, whether in person or online, rush to cross that line and cheer on the people who kidnapped two babies . . . .Kfir became a symbol because he is the answer to every relevant question about this conflict. His case is the war boiled down to its essence. Kfir is the dividing line. In a better world, there’d be no one standing on the wrong side of it.” Before the devastating news of the Bibas children broke, Bari sat down with Matti Friedman, Free Press correspondent in Jerusalem. They happened to talk on the very day that Kfir and Ariel’s father, Yarden, was released after being kept in unimaginable conditions. Now Yarden confronts the nightmare that his entire family was murdered. Bari and Matti talk about the toll of this war, why returning the hostages is so fundamentally important to the future of Israel, about the rise of anti-Jewish hate, and about how to be American, Jewish, and Zionist all at the same time, and how Jews are waking up to a new reality in 2025. If you liked what you heard from Honestly, the best way to support us is to go to TheFP.com and become a Free Press subscriber today. Go to groundnews.com/Honestly to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on today’s biggest news stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Von der Freien Presse, das ist Honestly und ich bin Barry Weiss. Ich bin sicher, dass Sie sich die Bilder von Kfir und Ariel Bibas erinnern, auch wenn Sie ihre Namen nicht erinnern. Sie waren nur neun Monate und vier Jahre alt, als sie von Hamas verabschiedet wurden, zusammen mit ihrer Mutter Shiri, am 7.
Oktober 2023.
Es war unmöglich, es zu sehen und nicht zu denken an den Holocaust. Für mehr als 500 Tage haben die Menschen weltweit gebeten, dass diese Babys sicher zurückkehren. Und unsere Hoffnungen wurden am 1. Februar erhoben, als der vierte Teil der Familie, ihr Vater, Yarden Bibas, nach 483 Tagen in Hamas-Kabinett liberiert wurde.
Keith Seagal, Yardan Bibas und Offa Calderon. Der Name, den die Leute vielleicht zuerst kennen, ist Yardan Bibas. Die Abduktion von Mr. Bibas und seiner Frau Shiri und ihren Kindern Ariel und Kfir von nahe Oz war eine der definierenden Bilder des Anfangs dieses Konflikts von Oktober 7. Diese zwei kleine, rötige Kinder wurden in den Arm ihrer Mutter auf einem Motorrad abgeholt.
Und seitdem gibt es seitdem wirkliche Sorgen um den Tod, speziell von Shiri und den zwei Kindern.
But as this episode goes live, Kfir, Ariel and Shiri Bibas won't be returning home alive. Hamas instead will be handing over their remains.
Hamas says it will hand over the bodies of four hostages on Thursday, including the two youngest people held by the Palestinian armed group. Es ist schwer zu erklären, wie schrecklich diese Nachrichten sind.
Mein Freund, Kommentar-Magazin-Senior-Editor Seth Mandel, erklärt, warum in der Freien Presse. Hier ist, was er schreibt. In einem besseren Weltraum würden die Gesichter der Bibas-Kinder überall sein. In dem Weltraum, in dem wir leben, sind die Gesichter von Bulletin-Boards zerstört.
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