Dana is a 27 year old Israeli woman living in fear on the Gaza border. The brave young woman took to YouTube to share her story about the horrors she faces daily and to challenge the media’s pro-Hamas bias.
"This isn’t a political video. I’ve never been very strong on political views, but I do know that you get most, if not all, of your information from the media and as we all know, the media tries to- or says they try to- be objective, but we know that they can’t really do that. And I know how Israel is portrayed overseas…I’m just telling my story as it is," Dana says in the opening of her video.
The violent situation in Israel has been happening for about 14 to 15 years, Dana explained. She said that her family did not have safety rooms for the first few years the violence was going on. The lack of safety rooms forced them into the hallway, or the stairs, or the toilet to take shelter. Once there, they would cover her brother and sister and wait for the oncoming bomb to fall, hoping that the bomb would not hit them. It was not uncommon to have 30 to 40 alarms a day.
Eventually they got safety rooms. Once the alarm goes off, she supposedly has about 15 seconds to run to the safety room, Dana said. "It’s relatively better, but still it’s scary…" she told viewers.
Dana tried to fix any incorrect ideas or assumptions about Israel perpetuated by the media. She said, "I don’t know how you see the IDF in the news overseas. I’m sure that many times Israel is portrayed as the bad guy, but I know as a citizen…that the IDF is very, very humane- sometimes so humane that they will not bomb a building or a car…because they know there are children nearby or a hospital nearby and so they will just let a terrorist run free, go dig his tunnel…whatever, just as long as the IDF doesn’t hurt anyone that is innocent."
She expressed sadness over the loss of life in Gaza. "I feel very bad for the people in Gaza who are not in the Hamas who are innocent. It’s just a horrible situation to be in…We aren’t happy about this happening, it’s very, very sad," she said.
Hamas is quickly growing in strength and their threats are become dangerous each day. "What I’m afraid of is the method that they have been working on for a few years and…they’ve started to use it now, which is the tunnels. A few tunnels were found in the southern area of Israel and this morning I woke up from" the bomb alarm "and I ran to the safety room- I met my family there, and after it fell, my father told me that they found a tunnel outside of our kibbutz. They killed 9 or 10 Hamas terrorists that were already out of the tunnel," she said. She explained the spot were the tunnel was located is not too far from their kibbutz and that they go there for picnics and the spot is home to beautiful flowers that bloom during February and March, which attract visitors from all over Israel. The terrorists left the tunnel and walked freely around the area until they were killed.
"They have found a way into our homes now and that is scary because now I can’t walk around in the kibbutz and just know where the closest shelter is, because now they’re just digging their way up from Gaza into our country and it’s a whole new threat and it’s a very scary threat to walk around your own home and be afraid," Dana worriedly told viewers.
"It hurts for everyone in the country. So next time Israel is portrayed as this heartless monster, think of this video, think of what we are going through. Our country is wonderful…We just want peace, that’s all…Let’s just hope it ends quickly and as safely as possible," she said, before ending the video.