Althouse: "Rut Hodaya Perez is... [a] 17-year-old Israeli girl who has myotonic dystrophy.... But that didn’t stop Hamas gunmen from snatching her..."

October 21, 2023

"Rut Hodaya Perez is... [a] 17-year-old Israeli girl who has myotonic dystrophy.... But that didn’t stop Hamas gunmen from snatching her..."

"... on Oct. 7 from a trance music festival near the Gaza border during their spree of kidnapping and slaughter. Rut is now among the large and varied group of captives that Hamas is believed to have dragged back to its underground labyrinth of tunnels in Gaza. 'She is not built to live in a place like that,' said her sister, Yamit...."

From "For the Most Vulnerable Hostages, a Plea for Mercy/Hamas released two American hostages on Friday, but concern is rising about the hundreds still held in Gaza, especially the injured and ill" (NYT).
"American officials said that representatives from Qatar, an American ally that maintains good relations with Hamas, had helped persuade the group, which controls Gaza, to free Judith Raanan, 59, and Natalie Raanan, 17. It was not clear why the Raanans were released before others.... Israeli officials said that Hamas had taken at least 20 children, including toddlers; more than a dozen people in their 60s, 70s and 80s; and people who suffer from Parkinson’s disease, heart problems, diabetes and cancer...."

44 comments:

gilbar said...: ..Judith Raanan, 59, and Natalie Raanan, 17. It was not clear why the Raanans were released before others

i wonder how much they cost US?; 10/21/23, 6:43 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Do all the pro-Nazi/Pro-Palestinian supporters give a crap about these hostages?

NO.; 10/21/23, 7:05 AM
Duke Dan said...: That is 2 more than I ever expected to get release alive. Glad to have been a little bit wrong.; 10/21/23, 7:14 AM
Jeff said...: "Plea for mercy." Yeah, that'll work.; 10/21/23, 7:41 AM
Michael said...: "during their spree of kidnapping and slaughter"

Spree? Seriously? Is that like a shopping spree? Apparently to the NYT it is.; 10/21/23, 8:35 AM
Rusty said...: Pleas for mercy will go unheard. Like the indians who would raid the hudson valley and killed and kidnap the settlers. Only those who were strong enopugh to keep up were kept. The rest were killed.
Only the hostages of value will be kept alive. Like the tribes of N. America, who considered torturing captives high entertainment, The hostages will be lucky to just be killed outright.
I pray the girl makes it out alive.; 10/21/23, 8:39 AM
JK Brown said...: Biden promises Hamas, well Palestinains, $100 million in "aid" and gets two hostages. How many hostages did he get for the $6 billion?; 10/21/23, 9:02 AM
Money Manger said...: These are the first trades as the two sides begin to discover the market exchange value of the remaining 200 hostages.; 10/21/23, 9:25 AM
Michael K said...: Mercy ? Hamas? You're kidding, right ?; 10/21/23, 9:58 AM
Tom T. said...: Spree? Seriously?

"Spree killer" is a thing.; 10/21/23, 10:01 AM
stlcdr said...: Gaza. Tunnels. Sure sounds like a swell, up and coming, first world country (sic)...; 10/21/23, 10:08 AM
Iman said...: Hamas spokesperson is taking Saturday off?; 10/21/23, 10:10 AM
Political Junkie said...: Is there anyone on the Palestinian side who is publicly organizing for a release of the hostages?; 10/21/23, 10:26 AM
n.n said...: DEI... DIE #NoJudgment #NoLabels

All's fair in lust and abortion. Forward!; 10/21/23, 10:39 AM
JAORE said...: Finger in the wind. Hamas will see how much "good will" they get out of this token. Qatar wll see if this lessons the pressure on them for hosting Hamas.

A handful, at best, will follow hoping world pressure will build undermining the Israeli effort to do what they must.; 10/21/23, 11:27 AM
rcocean said...: OK, well thats sad. But this hostage suffering is small potatoes compared to the over 4300 Gaza civilians that have killed in the Israeli retaliation so far. This hostage should be released, and Israel should offer a cease-fire and stop bombing Gaza. And they should restore electricity, water, and allow food in.

WHy this crazy refusal to report on the suffering of the people in Gaza? Instead we get endless personal stories of invididual Israelis. Its as if dead Palesteinians are no big deal, not worth talking about, but Jewish deaths are the worlds greatest tragedy.

I'm sure that average Americans don't believe that, but you'd never know that from reading the USA media.; 10/21/23, 11:47 AM
MadTownGuy said...: Rusty said...

"The hostages will be lucky to just be killed outright."

The story of Olive Oatman is instructive:

"Olive Ann Oatman (September 7, 1837 – March 21, 1903) was a white American woman celebrated in her time for her captivity and later release by Native Americans in the Mojave Desert region when she was a teenager.She later lectured about her experiences.

...

In 1850, while traveling from Illinois to California with a company of Brewsterites, her family was attacked by a small group from a Native American tribe. Though she identified them as Apache, they were most likely Tolkepayas (Western Yavapai). They clubbed many to death, left her brother Lorenzo for dead, and enslaved Olive and her younger sister Mary Ann, holding them captive as slaves for one year before they traded them to the Mohave people. While Lorenzo exhaustively attempted to recruit governmental help in searching for them, Mary Ann died from starvation and Olive spent four years with the Mohave.

Five years after the attack, she was repatriated into White American society. The story of the Oatman Massacre began to be retold with dramatic license in the press, as well as in her own memoir and speeches. Novels, plays, movies, and poetry were inspired, which resonated in the media of the time and long afterward. She had become an oddity in 1860s America, partly because of the prominent blue tattooing of her face by the Mohave, making her the first known white woman with Native tattoo on record. Much of what actually occurred during her time with the Native Americans remains unknown."

From what I've read about her (outside of this article), she and her sister were treated lower than slaves, given barely enough food to survive - in her sister's case, not even that much - and the local Army commander was not much help even though there was credible evidence of Olive's survival.; 10/21/23, 11:51 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: The news about the NYT is itself fake news. Verification badge was removed August 5, 2023. Nothing reported and no “news” source can be trusted. Not without independent evidence. That’s why I would like to hear from the families of the ten Americans still held.; 10/21/23, 12:12 PM
holdfast said...: I wonder how much Sleepy Joe paid for those two?

Oh right, $100mm in "aid" to Palestinans.

Stop bribing and start threatening, you gutless simpleton. Give us back our people or we'll land our own Marines to go get them, supported by two full carrier air wings. And we won't be gentle and careful like the IDF. This will be size 15 boots ugly America in all its excessive firepower glory.; 10/21/23, 12:14 PM
Eva Marie said...: “It was not clear why the Raanans were released before others...“
Could this have something to do with it?
“A day after former Israel-based NBC correspondent Martin Fletcher said two members of his wife’s family were being held hostage by Hamas in Israel, they have been released.“; 10/21/23, 12:14 PM
holdfast said...: If we want to establish a "market rate" it's simple. For every 1 of ours they kill, we should kill at least 1,000 of theirs.

That's the rate set with the Gilad Shalit exchange. The Palestinians set the rate. Now they can live or die with it.; 10/21/23, 12:16 PM
Leora said...: The people who were released are family members of the wife of a former MSNBC foreign correspondent. I would expect that's why they rated release.; 10/21/23, 12:43 PM
Sebastian said...: "that didn’t stop Hamas gunmen from snatching her..."

Why should it? They mean to destroy Israel and kill all the Jews, like the book instructs. In the meantime, a little torture and humiliation go a long way. Plus it satiates the Jew hatred of their western allies, so what's not to like?; 10/21/23, 1:03 PM
Jim Gust said...: Plead for mercy from Hamas? Your time would be better spent trying to teach your dog to talk. The more you plead, the happier the Hamas goons are.; 10/21/23, 1:06 PM
rehajm said...: There's something sick about ranking hostages in order of vulnerability.; 10/21/23, 1:33 PM
Free Manure While You Wait! said...: "OK, well thats sad. But this hostage suffering is small potatoes compared to the over 4300 Gaza civilians that have killed in the Israeli retaliation so far."

And that number, 4300, has been verified by whom? And does it include the "500 killed" in the "hospital bombing"?

"WHy this crazy refusal to report on the suffering of the people in Gaza?"

Access?; 10/21/23, 3:37 PM
Old and slow said...: It's nice that rcocean feels so much sympathy for the people of Gaza, someone should give a shit, and I certainly do not. Here's a tip for the suffering people of Gaza; don't expect life to be free of consequences. Go on a murderous killing spree, and you ought to expect a bit of pushback.; 10/21/23, 3:59 PM
Eva Marie said...: “There's something sick about ranking hostages in order of vulnerability.”
Really? The thinking is that the hostages who are most fragile should be released first to minimize deaths.; 10/21/23, 4:18 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Get This...
https://www.westernjournal.com/homeland-security-official-handled-asylum-claims-leave-role-palestinian-organization-resurfaces/

PLO spokesperson vetting "refugees"

Your children are so fuc*ed.; 10/21/23, 4:44 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Old and slow said...

"It's nice that rcocean feels so much sympathy for the people of Gaza, someone should give a shit, and I certainly do not."

And there it is. This is the entire problem in a nutshell. Being more concerned about the hostages than them. More concerned about the Israelis than them. More concerned about the Jews, in general, than them. More concerned about Hamas - by a long shot - than them. Which is amazing, because they're the wronged party.; 10/21/23, 5:00 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Heads up: Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll found dead outside her home; 10/21/23, 5:11 PM
Josephbleau said...: I would like the caring long suffering Palestinian women and children of Gaza to demand that the hostages be immediately released and that if any were raped they would be returned with those who raped them in chains. I am told these Palestinian women are peaceful, will the Palestinian men kill them all if they support the hostages? I don’t think so. Establishing a market price for hostages is a grave crime. When the US government traffics in hostages the responsible officers should go to jail. Humans can no longer be captured for sale, that era is long over.; 10/21/23, 5:14 PM
rcocean said...: Here's an excellent interview of an Arab comedian by Peirs Morgan about the Hamas-Israeli conflict:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4idQbwsvtUo

Bassem Youssef makes an excellent point: How many palesteinians have to die before Bloodthirsty Keyboard Commandos or Ben Shapiro or Crazed Lindsey Graham or the Israeli Government are satisfied?

As he says, it would nice to have a set exchange rate, since the "price" seems to go and up and down over the last 10 years.; 10/21/23, 5:44 PM
rcocean said...: Here's an excellent interview of an Arab comedian by Peirs Morgan about the Hamas-Israeli conflict:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4idQbwsvtUo

Bassem Youssef makes an excellent point: How many palesteinians have to die before Bloodthirsty Keyboard Commandos or Ben Shapiro or Crazed Lindsey Graham or the Israeli Government are satisfied?

As he says, it would nice to have a set exchange rate, since the "price" seems to go and up and down over the last 10 years.; 10/21/23, 5:44 PM
SteveGW said...: There was a time when the American government would demand 'Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead' and mean it.; 10/21/23, 5:54 PM
Political Junkie said...: rocean - In simple terms, your side started the war. Your side will suffer. That's it.; 10/21/23, 6:26 PM
Rusty said...: stlcdr said...
"Gaza. Tunnels. Sure sounds like a swell, up and coming, first world country (sic)..."
How did the tunnels happen? Oh! Yeah! Material aid such as concrete and rebar and electrical supplies and sewer pipe etc. That was donated by NGOs was comandeered by Hamas and used to build tunnels.
Maybe that's the reason Gaza is such a shithole. The people they voted on to run the country turned it into one. Poor Palestinians.; 10/21/23, 6:39 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Mark Lamont Hill seems to have a pretty good grasp of this; 10/21/23, 7:07 PM
Big Mike said...: Bassem Youssef makes an excellent point: How many palesteinians [sic]have to die before Bloodthirsty Keyboard Commandos or Ben Shapiro or Crazed Lindsey Graham or the Israeli Government are satisfied?

Enough so that they never even begin to think of doing another October 7th ever again. Hopefully that’s some number below 100%. Not that they’s have to kill everybody — children sufficiently young could be put into orphanages and raised as good Christians and good Jews. And the prettiest young women could be put to work in Tel Aviv brothels. The IDF might also take a lesson from the way Leonard Wood and John J. Pershing handled the Moro Rebellion in the Philippines during the years before World War I. The US Army spread rumors that captured Moro terrorists were executed after being wrapped in pig skins, so instead of 72 houris, their souls were headed straight for Jahannam. No one has since been able to find any evidence that the US Army actually did this to the captured Islamic terrorists, but there is no denying that enthusiasm for being an Islamic terrorist did fall off after the rumor began to make the rounds.

In 1948 the Palestinians joined with neighboring Arab armies to drive all the Jews into the sea. They got their butts kicked. Ditto in the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War, and numerous insurgencies and Intifadas. All of them ended by Israel kicking Arab butts. How many Arab butts need to kicked — and how hard — before they decide it’s time to eschew violence and live peaceful lives? Whatever that number is, double it. However much pain to inflict, times ten. End it, now. There need to be consequences for rape and murder.; 10/21/23, 8:51 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Political Junkie said...

rocean - In simple terms, your side was the last to strike. Your side will suffer. That's it.

FIFY; 10/22/23, 1:09 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Big Mike said...

"In 1948 the Palestinians joined with neighboring Arab armies to drive all the Jews into the sea."

Which no one should do when someone's trying to take their home; 10/22/23, 1:10 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Dave Chappelle triggers WALKOUT from Boston show after comedian slammed Hamas attacks on Israel, Israel for cutting off water to Gaza and said pro-Palestine students should not lose job offers

And there it is - again; 10/22/23, 1:19 AM
Tim said...: I feel sorry for the hostages, but my advice is to go into the tunnels and kill every terrorist there despite the cost. In the long run, it will be less costly in lives. And once you have killed every current member of Hamas, it will take a long time to build back to the place it is at now.; 10/22/23, 7:31 AM
Big Mike said...: Which no one should do when someone's trying to take their home

Bottom line — they lost. People who start wars and then lose them are going to suffer. This has been true since civilization began. People also suffer when they have wars thrust upon them and they lose, but one can at least feel sorry for those people. One laughs at the suffering of those who start wars and lose them.; 10/22/23, 8:15 AM