For aunt of ex-hostage, the advocacy fight continues on - interview

When the rocket barrages began on the morning of October 7, Ella Mor called her family in Kfar Aza to check on them. When she finally managed to get in touch with her sister’s family, she recalled that it was with her nephew and niece, Michael and Amalia, who were hiding in a cupboard. They told her that Roy and Smadar Idan had been killed, and that they didn’t know what had happened to three-year-old Avigayil.

“I didn’t have any connections with the army, I made a post on Facebook,” Mor told The Jerusalem Post.

She explained that for hours she operate a  “war room” in her house, to try to find someone who could try to rescue them from the closet. Eventually, they were extracted from the kibbutz by rescuers.

“After a few days we discovered that Avigayil wasn’t murdered like we thought, but taken into Gaza as a hostage,” said Mor.

Since then, Mor has been engaged in lectures and advocacy. She began by speaking in Israel, then later to foreign media. She has even met with anti-Israel writers to explain they situation.

“People don’t understand what the situation is in Israel,” she said. “I had a new job as the aunt of Avigayil, to speak up.”

"I had a new job as the aunt of Avigayil"

Such a job takes a toll on advocates, who stop working in order to focus on their activism. There is no help from the government in doing so. Mor stopped working at her homeopathic clinic at first, but returned in a limited capacity because she had to help her patients who had sleeping issues and were suffering from stress, trauma, and depression during the war.

She still hasn’t returned in a full capacity, but expanded her reach to help people through Instagram, through videos explaining what to do in situations of sirens, stress, and panic. She also teaches people, companies , and organizations how to psychologically cope with the wartime environment. 

“I always advise not to watch the Hamas snuff videos, don’t watch the hostage videos, don’t put yourself into a state of trauma,” said Mor. “People think that by watching they are helping, but they’re just doing damage to themselves.”

She also teaches kids in the bomb shelter to stand and stretch so they don’t tense up and enter into states of panic.

“We don’t yet know the most effective way to manage the treatment of so many hostages and their families at the same time,” said Mor. “We’re learning together.”

Avigayil turned four in captivity, but was released in a deal on November 26. For hostages and their families, their ordeal has not ended with their return to Israel. 

“These are three kids whose parents were killed, two who had to hide in a cupboard, one who was in Hamas captivity,” said Mor.

They’ve returned to school and kindergarten — Mor says that it’s important that they have routine. For other families, they still await the rescue or release of their loved ones.

“I’m glad that people have returned to normal life, but we can’t forget the hostages and their families,” she said. “Time has stopped for them.”

Until their release, Mor says she feels the need to continue to speak out on video and explain the situation through lectures.

“It could have been any of us,” said Mor. “It was just a matter of chance.”