WhatsappEvyatar David and Rom Barslavski are not just hostages. They are symbols of a world turned upside down.
(Aug. 3, 2025 / JNS)
In the past week, the world saw images it will not easily forget: two Israeli hostages—Evyatar David and Rom Barslavski—reduced to skin and bones, crying for food, pleading for help, while their Hamas captors casually ate in front of them. These were not staged photos. They were not manipulated. They were real, raw, and horrifying. And yet, the world seems largely unmoved.
Since the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, the global narrative has largely focused on Palestinian suffering, much of it amplified by a media campaign full of distortions, omissions, and falsehoods. Hamas has successfully portrayed itself as the voice of the oppressed, deflecting attention from its barbaric war crimes, including the starvation and torture of hostages.
Meanwhile, European governments continue to issue statements urging “restraint,” not on Hamas, but on Israel. Hamas’s demands in ongoing negotiations remain untouched: release all prisoners, including those serving life sentences; retain full control over its weapons and infrastructure in Gaza; and maintain its grip over the people it brutalizes. And still, the world hesitates to act.
The grotesque irony is that while Israel is falsely accused of causing famine in Gaza, Hamas is actively using starvation as a tactic, not against its enemies, but against the very captives it holds as human bargaining chips. This is cruelty, not collateral damage. It is deliberate, not incidental. It is not the tragic byproduct of war—it is the war.
Western culture, particularly in Europe, has become increasingly incapable of recognizing evil in its clearest form. In its rush to defend the “oppressed,” it has become complicit in the abuse of the innocent. The bodies of hostages, resembling those of Auschwitz victims, are displayed not to shock the conscience of the world, but to pressure Israel into surrender.
For Hamas, the suffering of its victims is a tool. And for much of the international community, it is a useful moral prop. In the name of “balance,” leaders like Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer hedge their words, ignore Hamas’s atrocities, and respond instead to the winds of public opinion.
The United Nations remains silent on the emaciated hostages. NGOs that obsess over Israeli checkpoints say nothing about videos showing Hamas firing on its own civilians when aid is distributed without their permission. No outrage at the 800 Israeli soldiers killed in ambushes during efforts to free Gaza from Hamas’s grip. No resolutions on the rockets raining down on Jerusalem, twice in one week.
What is being waged against Israel is not merely a military conflict, but a campaign of moral inversion. The actual aggressor is painted as a victim. The true victim is told to make more concessions.
Evyatar and Rom are not just hostages. They are symbols of a world turned upside down. A world where Hamas can starve them on camera and still be considered a negotiating partner. A world where the worst forms of cruelty are rewarded with diplomatic recognition, media sympathy and aid dollars.
Israel stands largely alone in resisting this inversion. But it is not the first time. And it will not be the last.
