NEW YORK (STATI UNITI) (ITALPRESS) - Dopo essere intervenuto al Consiglio di Sicurezza delle Nazioni Unite, Ruby Chen, padre del soldato israeliano-americano Itay Chen rapito da Hamas il 7 ottobre 2023, ha rilasciato all'Italpress un’intervista all’ONU. Il video è un intenso appello alla coscienza internazionale, a quasi 20 mesi dal sequestro del figlio, catturato a soli 19 anni e poi mai più incontrato o solo visto.
Ruby Chen denuncia la guerra psicologica condotta da Hamas, ma le sue parole più dure sono rivolte al governo israeliano di Benjamin Netanyahu, accusato di aver messo la “vittoria totale” prima del dovere morale di riportare a casa gli ostaggi.
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(Video di Stefano Vaccara)
Ruby Chen denuncia la guerra psicologica condotta da Hamas, ma le sue parole più dure sono rivolte al governo israeliano di Benjamin Netanyahu, accusato di aver messo la “vittoria totale” prima del dovere morale di riportare a casa gli ostaggi.
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(Video di Stefano Vaccara)
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00:00It is 19 months since Itai and the last time that we spoke to him and to be honest the families
00:14are tired. We are tired from the fact that the psychological warfare of Hamas that do not give
00:22any acknowledgement who is in their possession do not allow the international committee of the
00:28cross to come and visit the hostages and provide treatment and medication and also do not provide
00:35any indication of physical status of the hostages and even doing the basic dignity for those
00:42that were killed. Dopo essere intervenuto al Consiglio di Sicurezza delle Nazioni Unite,
00:48Ruby Henn, padre del soldato israeliano-americano Itai Henn, rapito da Hamas il 7 ottobre 2023,
00:54ha rilasciato di tal presso un'intervista all'ONU. Il video è un intenso appello alla coscienza
01:00internazionale, a quasi 20 mesi da sequestro del figlio, catturato a soli 19 anni e poi
01:05mai più incontrato o solo visto. Ruby Henn denuncia la guerra psicologica condotta da Hamas,
01:12ma le sue parole più dure sono rivolte al governo israeliano di Benjamin Netanyahu, accusato
01:17ad avere messo la vittoria totale prima del dovere morale di riportare a casa gli ostaggi.
01:22Prime Minister Netanyahu ha made repeated promises to bring the hostages home. After all this,
01:32do you believe his government is doing everything he can, or has Itai's faith been buried under
01:40politics and military strategy? So when it comes to the Prime Minister and how we feel about him
01:47and how he prioritizes and his government prioritizes the issue of hostages, the families feel a bit
01:57lost. And the international community gave the Prime Minister and his government about 17 months
02:06of a blank check to do whatever is needed to dismantle Hamas, bring the last hostage back. He has been
02:18unsuccessful on those two items. And it is unfortunate, but the families feel that the United States actually
02:30cares more about bringing the hostages back than the Israeli government because they have stated the Israeli
02:38government there are two objectives to the war. One, dismantling of Hamas, returning the last hostage.
02:45And the Prime Minister and his cabinet members have said that they prioritize total victory, which is the
02:53dismantling of Hamas. And I say to him and to his ministers, total victory is when you get the last hostage
03:00chapter. Guy is also a citizen of Israel, the powers of the United States and Germany. Do you believe that
03:10current US and German administration are truly committed in securing his release? Or has their attention and
03:20their responsibility faded over time? So when it comes to the responsibility of the United States, I could say for a
03:29fact that President Trump has done a lot when it comes to hostages, US hostages. And it is a maybe not known
03:41fact that since his inauguration, 46 US citizens have been released from captivity as either hostages or unlawfully
03:53detained. That is an astonishing number. And we need to thank him and a special president's envoy to the Middle East,
04:00Mr. Steve Whitcoff, for all the efforts that they have done in bringing hostages out. But I'd like to remind the audience,
04:07there are still four US citizens that are held in captivity.
04:14Idan Alexander, here in the picture, he was released about 10 days ago. He's from Tenafly, New Jersey. In addition,
04:24there's my son, Itai Chen, that is a New Yorker. And we also have here Omer Neutra, also from Plainview, Long Island. And we have
04:33here a couple, very nice couple, as you could see in the picture, Judy and Gadi Weinstein. They're from New York as well. And they also have not come back. So we have faith
04:46that this administration that got Idan Alexander out 10 days ago, can do this again. And we have evidence
04:54that when they called on Hamas via Qatar to bring out Idan, that happened. So there should be no reason
05:02that they should not call for the other four US citizens as well. And we have seen Germany also that
05:07have been trying to do what they can. It is unfortunate, but they're not at the table, the negotiation table.
05:13So they have less influence. But of course, they're very sympathetic and it's hard to do what they can to
05:18to help the German have the families. The Israeli government has repeatedly accused the United
05:25Nations and Secretary General Antonio Guterres of showing bias or even anti-Semitism in their handling
05:35of the government. As a father of a hostage, what do you do? Do you believe that Johanna has helped,
05:43or kind of the hard work to bring the pie and the harvest home? So when it comes to the UN,
05:51we have the Israeli government position. And I think sometimes it is not helpful,
06:00the way that they view the UN. I think that we, the families, the hostage families, we are not
06:06representing the policy of the Israeli government. We are simple people that, for lack of better term,
06:18we are collateral damage of a tragedy that has been going on in the Middle East for many,
06:25many decades. And we, the families wish something very simple to decouple, decouple the Palestinian issue
06:33from our tragedy. And there is no competition on pain. There are also the people in Gaza that are
06:41suffering. There are those that have been used as human shields again and again by a terrorist
06:48organization that has no value for life or for the deceased and giving them dignity. And we, the
06:54families come to the UN and again look at resolution 2474, which was passed by Kuwait and ask the UN to
07:04implement this resolution where there is a need for state actors and non-state actors such as Hamas to
07:15obey two basic principles, which is providing knowledge of missing people in the areas of conflict. And when it
07:23comes to the deceased, exchanging the deceased as the first step to getting calm back in that region of
07:31conflict. The Pope, the new Pope, Leo King, his first speech is all about the health of the people.
07:43About him and what he should do, what do you expect that the leader of a public church could do?
07:49So first, we wish to thank Pope Leo XIV for stating in his first speech the fact that he wants to see and
08:01prays for the release of the hostages and for a ceasefire in Gaza. It is very important for the family. Sometimes,
08:10you know, politicians get things messed up. And actually, the religious leaders from all faiths, both
08:19Christian, Judaism, as well as Islam, they share the same principles. We are all the children of
08:29Abraham. And we share the same fundamental aspects when it comes to the deceased. And this is something
08:38that is in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, and even in the Quran, that there is dignity to bring
08:45to the deceased. And we urge Pope Leo to reach out to also the Islamic faith, the leaders of the Islamic
08:57faith, and condemn this type of barbaric actions of taking dead people and not providing the families the
09:06of basic first knowledge of what happened to their family members and be providing the deceased with the human dignity
09:16and human rights that they deserve because they do not have a voice and they get lost in the shadows.
09:23And that is not according to any religion
09:26And we hope that Pope Leo continues to speak loudly on this topic of releasing the hostages with an emphasis
09:36on the deceased. They need to have their dignity.
09:39You've met with leaders spoken across continents and carried your son's story to the world.
09:47But do you feel the international community still cares? Or is the world slowly abandoning those
09:55out in Gaza? And in particular, do you think, for example, the Italian government or other European
10:02government? Do you think that they did all they could do to help?
10:11Yeah, so when it comes to the international community, how they could be helpful to US citizens,
10:19but also to the other 54 hostages today in Gaza. I claim that the way to pressure Hamas is not just
10:27military pressure. There are other dimensions to create pressure. There is also economic sanctions.
10:35There's also legal actions that can be on the organization of Hamas. It is unfortunate, but based
10:43on intelligence that I've learned, Hamas, even today, able to pay to their supporters, tens of thousands
10:51of people in Gaza, a monthly paycheck. Where's that money coming from?
10:57There are different charity funds that are also existent in Europe and the Far East, where they're
11:10used as financial hubs for this global terrorist financing network that give monies to Hamas. The US
11:19could sanction those entities, and they do in some cases. But if Europe does not participate and also
11:26sanction those bodies, then those sanctions are not effective. And just as an example, Turkey,
11:32who is a NATO ally, a lot of money from Hamas comes through Turkey. And the question is, what is the
11:38international community or the European Union doing about that? Because what happened to the people in
11:44in Israel could happen also to the people in Europe? It is not a wilder imagination for a terrorist organization
11:52to come from Libya or even from inside Europe and do something similar. And what would be the
12:01consequence? And the international community must make a stand. It should be a liability, not an asset,
12:08to take hostages with no consequences associated to it.
12:13The several weeks that the first UN track were allowed to bring food and help to the civilian population in
12:26Gaza. What is your reaction? Do you think it's a good thing this or complicate the situation of the crisis?
12:34I think that the incoming UN support into Gaza the last 24 hours is hopefully part of a stepping stone
12:51to a larger deal where it started with the release of the US hostage, Idana Alexander, and as a
13:00step of good faith. There's now food coming into Gaza. And I hope that this will continue
13:10with a deal that brings out additional hostages till the last hostage comes out.
13:16If you could hear just one message from you, what would you want to say to your son?
13:34I would say if I had the ability to talk to my son and he would hear this message, I would just
13:39please. Don't give up hope. I know it's been a long time. I know that you might lose hope,
13:47but please do not lose hope. Soon this will end and you will be reunited with your family and your mother
13:55can hug you again as well as I and his two siblings that are also waiting for him. You are loved,
14:02you are not forgotten, and we will get you back. It's not if, it is when.