Fashion designer Julia Haart spoke at a rally for the hostages Saturday evening. Haart has become famous as her story was featured on the Netflix miniseries "My Unorthodox Life".
"I came from New York to stand, body and soul, with the Jewish people," she began.
"A few days ago, I met a young man named Dekel Lifshitz. His grandmother Yocheved and his father Oded were both kidnapped by the monsters of Hamas. He told me a story of how he and his family were sitting in the shelter as missiles were flying. His grandmother looked at him and said, 'We suffer the missiles of Hamas, but imagine how the Palestinian people feel - they have to live with Hamas every day.' That is the spirit of the Jewish people. We cry for those who bomb us. We feel pity for those who attack us. We celebrate life, not only for Jews, but for every human being."
"It reminded me of a speech by Golda Meir, fifty years ago. She told a story of a family hiding in a bunker while bombs fell. The little child looked at his parents and said 'I'm scared,' and his parent told him, 'Don't worry, those are our missiles, going back.' The little child said 'But what about the little children there? it's not their fault that their parents are murderers.' That is the spirit of the Jewish people. We have love in our heart for everyone, for all of humanity."
Haart continued, "I look at the marches of the Jewish people today, and you see song, dance, and music. You look at the pro-Hamas marches all over the world, and you see violence, anger and hatred. A few days ago, an article came out in the New York Times, and I want to read it so the world will feel shame that they support people who brutalize teenage girls, who rape and murder innocent children. You tell me how this is freedom fighting, how putting nails in the thighs of a seventeen-year-old is a sign of freedom. Are these the people governing your streets? Do you want them coming to America? Do you want them coming to New York, to Paris, to London? People who took thirteen and sixteen-year-olds, raped them, and when they screamed, stabbed them in the back? Carried mutilated heads of little children?"
"Tomorrow night, we celebrate the new year. We have come so far, we have all this technology, all this creativity, and yet, look at the world. We will never change, as long as we continue to support monstrosity, brutality, and savagery. I condemn those who stay silent. I condemn those who march in solidarity with the monsters and murderers and killers and rapists. We will not be silent. We will not go quietly into the night. They deserve to come home now, and the Red Cross, the same people who murdered and raped are the same people holding every innocent. We demand that you protect them and give them medical assistance."
"I have never been prouder to be a Jew, to stand with all of Israel," she concluded, briefly speaking in Hebrew. "My heart, flesh, and soul are with the hostages, and with all of Israel."