TEL AVIV — Naama Levy wants to make the world a better place and idolizes Michelle Obama for speaking up for women.
But now Naama, 19, has been taken hostage by Hamas – and her father wants to know why the former first lady and other famous women have kept quiet about her and the fate of the other hostages.
Yony Levi, 52, told The Post that her teenage daughter, whose shocking abduction was seen around the world as terrorists paraded her in a blood-stained nightgown, was eager to help others.
The 19-year-old is part of a global peace organization that brings together Jews, Arabs and Americans and volunteered at a kindergarten helping Israel’s new immigrants from Ethiopia.
“We talk a lot about Michelle Obama,” Yoni said. “She believes she is someone who not only cares about global women but also someone who has a very good heart.”
As first lady, Obama led the “Bring Our Girls Home” campaign, calling for the return of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram.
Yoni Levy has spent the last 70 days campaigning for her daughter’s safe return from Gaza, including in what is known as “Random Square” in Tel Aviv. Now he asks why famous women won’t speak up for hostages. Courtesy of Yoni Levy Michelle Obama, while first lady, promoted the #BringBackOurGirls campaign to safely return hundreds of girls kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram from their schools in Nigeria, as it tried to stop women’s education.
And last month he traveled to Malawi with Amal Clooney and Melinda French Gates, Bill Gates’ ex-wife, to call for an end to child marriage.
But Levi said: “What I want to know: Why is she, and all the other famous women Naama looks up to, and all the global human rights organizations she believes in, silent about what has happened to my Naama and all the other girls who still a hostage?
“It’s like they’ve disappeared. Their silence screams loudly.
“Naama believes in the power of women helping each other. She believes in the power of women. I’m disappointed because of him.”
Yoni Levy tells how her daughter Naama has volunteered at a kindergarten for Ethiopian immigrants to Israel and for an organization that unites Israelis and Arabs. Courtesy Yoni Levy Levy said of her daughter who was kidnapped and held captive that she felt helpless. “I am a father who cannot protect my daughter. I don’t think I did my job properly.” Courtesy of Yoni Levy
Saturday marked 70 days since Naama and 250 others were kidnapped by Hamas and other terrorists and taken to Gaza.
Her father couldn’t even bring himself to watch the video of her abduction, released by Hamas on social media just hours after the attack began.
“I try to put a barrier in my mind, my soul, because I know I have to protect myself but I have to be strong for it,” she said.
“We know the time is ticking for hostages, physically and mentally. We need to bring them back immediately.”
Yoni Levy did not bring herself to watch the sad footage of her bloodied and bound daughter being paraded by Hamas in Gaza. Free Press In November, Michelle Obama and Amal Clooney went to Malawi to discuss ending child marriage, but said nothing about the plight of Israeli hostages, or about the sexual violence used by Hamas during terrorist attacks. Reuters
Although some women and children were returned during the humanitarian pause, Naama remains one of the 19 women still held hostage along with 113 men.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said last week that Hamas was holding the remaining women because it did not want them to tell the world what had been done to them.
Levy said she tries hard not to think about that aspect of her daughter’s arrest.
“I try not to imagine what she might be going through – when the thought comes, I try to push it away, block it out,” she said.
Naama Levy’s mother, Ayelet Levy Shachar, has also spoken about her daughter’s ordeal, which began 70 days ago on Saturday. Courtesy of Yoni Levy’s ordeal Naama has been used by women around the world to highlight the plight of hostages, including at this demonstration in Paris. But her father said the famous female activist’s silence “screams loudly.” Maya Vidon-White/UPI/Shutterstock
“Because I am a father who cannot protect my daughter. I don’t think I did my job properly.”
Levy spoke to The Post at the headquarters of the Forum for Families of Hostages and Missing Persons in Tel Aviv, after a private meeting where he learned some details about what the freed hostages had described about their ordeal.
To say she was devastated, shocked and overwhelmed would be an understatement; he is the picture of misery.
The only positive news he has is that he is still believed to be alive. He had no way of telling her how much the family — Yoni, ex-wife Ayelet Levy Shachar and Naama’s brother and two younger brothers — did for him.
Naama was a fan of Pink, her father revealed, and said that her family had asked the radio station that the hostages were allowed to listen to to play the star’s song “Cover Me in Sunshine” to try to lift her spirits. Hector Acevedo/ZUMA Press Wire / SplashNews.com
But she said Naama likes American pop star Pink, especially her song “Cover Me in Sunshine.” After learning that at least some of the hostages were allowed to listen to certain radio stations, his family had requested that the song be played regularly. for Naamah.
“Maybe he’s been underground for the last 70 days and we can’t reach him, but we can at least hope he hears this song and it will give him a moment of sunshine,” he said.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
