I was a Hamas hostage and I wont cower from Hasan Pikers hate

On Wednesday night, I visited the University of Texas at Austin to address students there — and so did notorious Twitch streamer Hasan Piker.I, a female survivor of Hamas’ brutal terror, came to share my story at the campus’ Chabad student center.On an auditorium stage half a mile away stood Piker, who once said about the day I was shot and taken: “It doesn’t matter if rapes f–king happened on Oct.7, like that doesn’t change the dynamic for me even this much.”This man sold out the 460-seat venue where he spoke within 20 minutes, and another 2,500 people joined a waiting list.He isn’t a fringe character on college campuses; he’s increasingly becoming the mainstream on campus. But his enthusiastic fans are the people who most need to hear my story.On the morning of Oct.

7, 2023, I was dancing at the Nova music festival.I was 21 and naive, enjoying some fun with my friends during a weekend that would feel familiar to any of the students I met in Austin.But in moments, my life changed forever.When the rockets started, my friend group — Omer Shem Tov, Ori Danino, and my brother Itay — ran for our car, but Hamas terrorists opened fire on us.Two bullets hit my leg; Itay was shot in the thigh. Within hours, we were being held hostage in Gaza.I was held for 50 days, in excruciating pain: The bullets had crushed two inches of bone, leaving my foot barely attached.After five days’ imprisonment in a private house, I was taken to a hospital in Gaza, where I remained for the rest of my captivity, separated from my brother and friends.My captors subjected me to a botched surgery that reattached my foot at a severe and incorrect angle.At the hospital, I was held alongside another hostage, Guy Iluz, who had been badly wounded on Oct.7.Denied the medical treatment he needed, he died from his injuries right beside me.I was released seven weeks after the attack, on Nov.

25, and Itay came home four days later.My friend Omer, though, was held for more tha...