One of the 11 Americans killed in a Hamas attack on Israel has been identified as a 32-year-old academic from Seattle who was hiding in a kibbutz closet when terrorists stormed in.
Hayim Katsman, who received his PhD from Washington University’s Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies in 2021, lived in Holit, a kibbutz near the border of the Gaza Strip, while he worked on research, the Seattle Times reported.
His mother, Hanna Katsman, told ABC News that she initially thought he had been kidnapped but later learned he had been killed by the terrorist attackers early Saturday.
“I’ve received so many messages from people who work with Hayim or who know him, or who meet him on their travels and how warm he is, how open he is,” she told the outlet. “He is a very accepting person and a very loyal friend. He has a good sense of humor. He takes things in stride.”
Avital Alajem, a friend and neighbor who was with Katsman when he died, told CNN that he was hiding with him in a closet when the terrorists broke in and shot him.
Alajem, who was not injured in the attack, praised Katsman for saving his life before he was kidnapped and taken to Gaza with two children.
Hayim Katsman, a 32-year-old academic from Seattle who earned a PhD from the University of Washington, was among 11 Americans killed by Hamas.hannah.katsman/facebook Katsman was killed when terrorists broke into the room where he was hiding friend.hayim. katsman/facebook
She told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that she and the children were later released.
“Hayim in Hebrew is ‘life.’ That’s what the name means. And he gave life to this planet because he saved me, and I was able to save two children,” he said.
Katsman — who lived in the city of Petah Tikva before moving to the kibbutz — was remembered Monday by friends and professors at the University of Washington as an empathetic person.
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His dissertation, which focused on religious Zionism in Israel, was dedicated to “all forms of life that exist between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea,” according to the Seattle Times.
Former roommate and classmate Francis Abugbilla described Katsman as “a sweet soul.”
“On Saturday morning, I sent him a message ‘Hey Hayim, I hope you are doing well in the current situation,'” he told the outlet. “He read it, but I didn’t hear back from him.”
Katsman’s friend, Avital Alajem, praised him for saving his life during the attack. ANONYMOUS/AFP via Getty Images
A fellow alum then told Abugbilla that Katsman was dead.
“It felt like a dream to me. I can’t believe we have lost such a good scholar … who is out there to make the world a better place for everyone,” he said.
“He was always someone who would fight for the less fortunate. For us to preserve his memory, we all have to live up to what he stood for,” added Abugbilla.
Charlie-Moshé Elias, who met Katsman while in the UW’s Jewish studies program, said the scholar has advocated for peace in the region and criticized the Israeli government.
Katsman lives in a kibbutz near the Gaza Peninsula border.AP
Liora Halperin, a UW professor of international studies and history who was on Katsman’s dissertation committee, told the outlet that “his work helps illuminate some of the dynamics that have brought us to this moment.”
In 2020, Katsman won the Association for Israel Studies Baruch Kimmerling prize for best graduate paper, according to the UW website.
“He’s really involved in issues that matter in Israel and in the Israeli/Palestinian space,” Halperin said. “The loss of someone who not only acted to promote a better society, but also devoted his scholarly life to studying the place where he lived is clearly tragic.”
Another UW professor, James Wellman, told KOMO News that Katsman “is a young man and his whole world is waiting for him and I still can’t believe it.
“The fact that this great human being was killed who had no ill will towards either side, he was a beautiful human being,” he added.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
