In Honour of the Bibas Family

By Olivia Pierson
First published on the Good Oil 20th February, 2025 

[Edits at end of post]
​
This morning on the 19th Feb, we received the heart-punching news from a Hamas spokesthing that Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas, and baby Kfir are to be given back to Israel as nothing more than remains.

Hamas have lied before about who is alive and who is not, so I hope this news is profoundly wrong. This family has been in my prayers (for what they are worth) since Oct 2023 revealed the horrible images of a terrified Shiri, clutching to her breast her two beautiful red-headed little boys as they were marched into captivity by the rabid dogs of the Islamic world - jihadists; in this case, Hamas. There are so many, war be upon them.

Yarden Bibas, their husband and father, was only freed from captivity a couple of weeks back. I know I'm not alone in feeling shattered by the possibility that this might be the grim reality of the next hostage swap, come Thursday (NZ’s Friday).

Here in NZ today, where summer’s easygoing pace continues on a million miles away from this unfolding tragedy, I’ve felt like screaming into the void, being so far away yet connected to this dark, terrible news.
 
My family's safe and sound here, and it prompts me to thank God for how lucky we are. The Bibas family has asked for privacy and caution considering there's still no official confirmation from Israel about these deaths. Hamas has a record of lying about hostages being dead when they aren’t. They thrive on terror, and screwing with people’s minds through that medium is their special currency. I cannot wait until we don’t have to breathe the same planetary air as these disgusting subhumans.
 
But in the meantime, with the political pressure from Trump and Netanyahu, it seems like Hamas are cornered like the rats they are, and we know the only leverage that they have are these abused captive hostages because their families and their country love them - and want them back. 

The stakes are beyond high in this so-called “stage one” exchange for a ceasefire. Israel is totally over a barrel wanting all hostages back, dead or alive, before “stage two” takes shape, whatever that’s going to look like. 

If Shiri and those precious babies are really dead, and with more hostages due for release this upcoming Saturday, it just hammers home why Israel's stance against Hamas is the right one. Hamas must be decimated totally.
 
It's not about just politics anymore: “War is a continuation of politics by other means,” as Carl von Clausewitz wrote in his theory of war. It’s the human tragedy that unfolded from Hamas’ purposeful genocidal terrorism against Jews. My heart goes out to the Bibas family, and to all the families of hostages caught up in this heinous conflict. From a distant and largely irrelevant country, NZ, some of us feel the weight of Israel’s impending loss, and it's a stark reminder that Islam is not compatible with Western freedoms in any form. We already know this. The ground zero of this attack was a music festival full of Israelis who were politically Palestinian-friendly peaceniks, dancing and jiving in the name of “love.” Let that never be forgot. The Palestinians couldn’t have cared less that any Israelis gave a shit about them.
 
I also wish to communicate at this time to my atheist brethren with no hope and no faith beyond this evil tragedy, that perhaps when we die, Jesus takes us to glory instantly where we are perfected again into a state of unimaginable grace, with our troubles on this earth becoming no more than a distant memory. I hope that’s true.  I can only find comfort right now in the thought that Shiri and her dear little sons are at peace in the embrace of the divine love of God, because humans are crap at this, if their ideas, unchecked lusts and self-rationalising beliefs are bent toward evil.

When my heart is heavy, as it is today, I go to music to sustain me, as it can express the more tender aspects of human existence that help us transcend what cannot be made sense of down here on Earth in our terrestrial meat-suit. But one thing that does make sense is the drive for justice regarding this human atrocity. Human beings cannot turn a blind eye to the cause of justice when other humans indulge in cruelty and wickedness that just defies all things decent. For those who are directly affected by such cruelty, like the Bibas family and all those who feel for them, may this funeral hymn bring comfort to your soul.

Rest in peace Shiri, Ariel and Kfir.

[Edit from author: 
-Feb 20th, NZ time, Israel confirmed that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas are in fact dead.
-Feb 21st, the world saw the ghastly spectacle of their remains handed over to Israel in coffins, along with Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted on Oct 7th, 2023. RIP.
-Gazan society, men women and children celebrated the sad spectacle with gleeful singing and dancing.]