Families who escaped Hamas attack in Israel share their stories

NEW YORK — It’s been 20 days since Hamas unleashed a massacre in Israel, killing innocent civilians and holding dozens of others hostage.

The families who survived and have loved ones missing came to New York City from Israel to share their stories.

Three of them sat down with CBS New York’s Shosh Bedrosian for an exclusive interview and spoke with her about the power of using their voices.

After their worlds were turned upside down, homes destroyed, and friends and family now missing, three families are sharing their stories.

“I feel that it’s been very meaningful, being here telling our stories. Telling the world, speaking truth to power,” said Adele Raemer, from New York.

Raemer and her family survived one of the several gruesome attacks on their kibbutz in Southern Israel.

“They tried to slaughter me, my grandchildren — 2, 6 and 8 — would be dead now if weren’t for the fact that their father was in the house with them and had a gun,” Raemer said.

Like Raemer, Michael Avsker’s family’s home was ransacked and destroyed on Kibbutz Nir Oz. His brother-in-law and nephew were taken hostage into Gaza.

“They have a 12-year-old boy all alone there, last seen going on a motorcycle into Gaza,” Avsker said.

Twenty-seven-year-old Maya Praizer survived the Nova music festival and hid in a bomb shelter for 23 hours. Her car dashboard camera captured bodies on the streets, videos of Hamas terrorists torturing innocent civilians.

“I have a lot of friends who are not with me today. Many of them are kidnapped. Two of them, one of them is kidnapped and another is dead,” she said.

All three of them are American-Israeli citizens, now in the United States telling their stories. The group says while in New York, they have noticed the kidnapped posters of hostage victims ripped down.

“What did a toddler do to deserve being kidnapped? To deserve not seeing their parents?” Praizer said.

The group hopes the realities they and their loved ones endured are seen and heard, and their stories touch people’s humanity and compassion.

“I want everyone who is watching to maybe choose to learn about someone, some kid, some elderly, some woman, some man who is being captured. These are not just pictures. There are human beings, and they need our help,” Praizer said.