“I was coerced into reciting Islamic prayers and made to wear a hijab,” Agam Goldstein-Almog recounted, also noting the antisemitism she has experienced since her release.
Agam Goldstein-Almog, who grew up in Kibbutz Kfar Aza near the Gaza Strip and was taken captive by Hamas on October 7, described in a Washington Post opinion piece published last week her harrowing experiences while being held in Gaza, and the antisemitism she has faced since being released in November as part of a ceasefire deal.
“Growing up in Kibbutz Kfar Aza next to Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip meant a childhood that could be interrupted at any moment by sirens warning of a Hamas rocket attack. Sibling fights or quiet nights were instantly turned into a scramble for the nearest safe room. Hamas took control of Gaza a few months before I was born in 2007, so living in its shadow is all I have ever known.
“Having 15 seconds to run to safety might not be a common theme in childhood nostalgia, but I convinced myself that it had made me stronger than kids from the comfortable Tel Aviv bubble.