ROGER MONROE
The release of all the living hostages held by Hamas terrorists and Palestinian militants was celebrated in Israel and all around the world, but not by our local media. It is shameful. They virtually ignored the historic accomplishment.
On Oct. 7, 2023, the terrorists, without warning, attacked Jewish people and others in the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Videos captured the brutal invasion that included unspeakable crimes.
And so the war began as Israel struck back. It’s estimated 68,000 Palestinians have been killed and close to 1,200 Israelis and foreigners. Seven thousand have been injured by missile and rockets in Israel — a country smaller than Illinois — while more than 100,000 Palestinians have been injured. Good reason to celebrate the peace plan that’s been approved by both warring parties.
Peoria has a healthy population of the Jewish faith. One of my best friends as a student at Woodruff High School was Sanford Cantor. I worked as an account executive at WIRL for Mort Cantor, one of the best play-by-play announcers for Bradley basketball ever.
My roommate at the American Forces Net-work, AFN, in Hoechst, Germany, was a Jew. While serving in Germany, I made a point to visit Dachau, one of the too many infamous concentration camps during World War II. Located in Bavaria about 10 miles northeast of Munich, it was the first and longest operating camp, starting in 1933 and closing in 1945 with the Allies’ victory over the Nazi regime.
There’s no exact number of how many died at the camp, but U.S. military officials estimated at least 32,000. Thousands more were sent to the ovens. I stood in the crematorium room next to a room where many were gassed. It was a horrible site and exists as a mental and emotional challenge to the senses.
The people living in the nearby town of Dachau were forced by U.S. military officials to visit the concentration camp to see first-hand the site of human atrocities. If you want to learn more, get a copy of the book, “The Devil’s Chemists.”
While working for 25 years at Methodist Medical Center, I developed friendships with people like doctors Irv and Leonard Favus, Irving Weigensberg, and Bernie Wetchler. Dr. Wetchler asked me to write a history of his family.
Dr. A.E. Cohen was our children’s doctor and Dr. Brian Cohen looked after Mom and Dad.
Dr. Morie Adland, active with the St. Jude Mid-west Affiliate, attended to my medical issues.
Nancy and Marshall Lipkin were neighbors in Wardcliffe. I’m sure you get the idea: I have a great affection for people of the Jewish faith and it’s why I fly the Israeli flag at my home.
When the peace plan was announced and the hostages were returning, I expected the local media to also join in the celebration by interviewing some of the Jewish members of our diverse population. It didn’t happen, although LaDona Fishkin, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Peoria, sent out a news release. WEEK-TV reportedly shared one line from the release. Since local media didn’t report the historic moment among Peoria’s Jewish community, we will with pride and thanksgiving.
Fishkin wrote, “For 738 days, 48 out of 250 people kidnapped from Israel have been held in captivity by Hamas terrorists in horrific conditions. Through 18 major Jewish holidays and 105 Shabbat dinners, Jewish families in Israel and around the world had empty chairs at our tables, yellow ribbons on our lapels, and fractures in our hearts. Each of those one million minutes was filled with anguish and uncertainty, wondering live or die, knowing that the Jewish people were incomplete without them.”
She went on to say, “We also take this moment to recognize the enormous sacrifice and service of Israel’s soldiers and their families, who put their time, their economic well-being, their bodies and their lives on the line to protect Israel during this horrific period. We mourn the loss of 915 soldiers who died as they fought successfully to get the hostages home and defeat Israel’s enemies. We are grateful to President Trump and his negotiators whose tireless efforts made this day possible.”
As we go to press, the ceasefire remains, despite some unfortunate attacks by Hamas including the execution of 25 members of the Doghmush clan outside a Jordanian Hospital. That attack did not get the extensive coverage it deserved in the national and world media.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH: “Israel was not created in order to disappear. Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success. It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom,” — John F. Kennedy