The 2024 Conservative Political Action Committee ("CPAC") Convention presented a session radio and Fox News Channel broadcaster, Mark Levin, accompanied by his wife, Julie Strauss-Levin, with a standing ovation.
Mr. Levin expressed his gratitude towards Christians for rejecting what he perceives as the Democratic Party's anti-Judeo-Christian bigotry and Islamo-Marxist ideology. He criticized Democrats for their perceived weakness towards Iran and Hamas, and accused them of being anti-Semitic for supporting the creation of a second state for Palestinians at the expense of Jewish people.
Levin also condemned Palestinian's treatment of the people they kidnapped from an Israeli music festival and defended the Israeli Defense Forces, accusing them of not condoning such acts. He emphasized the importance of the Judeo-Christian belief system in founding the United States and encouraged people to remember the sacrifices made by American soldiers, mostly White Christian men, at Arlington Cemetery.
Mark
& Julie Strauss-Levin, Senior Counsel America First Legal Foundation, interview Prof. Jonathan Dekel-Chen, a Connecticut-born son of a Holocaust
survivor. Jonathan immigrated to Israel and resided in Kibbutz Nir Oz, inland from the Gaza Strip. The Hebrew University history professor tells the audience about the experience of Hamas-led Palestinians massacre his son Sagui's family's kibbutz and abduct Sagui, who remains in captivity.
00:00:00 In this section, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the son of a Holocaust survivor and former resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz in Israel. Jonathan moved to Israel at the age of 18, inspired by the Zionist dream and the idea of living in a cooperative farm community. He served in the Israeli army and raised his four children on the kibbutz, which was located near the border of Gaza. The kibbutz was a highly productive agricultural farm and a paradise, as described by Jonathan. However, on October 7, 1985, while Jonathan was in the United States for a wedding, his kibbutz was attacked by terrorists from Hamas, who kidnapped his two adult children. Jonathan was woken up early by a friend who had seen the news and was devastated by the betrayal of the terrorist organization that had infiltrated their peaceful community.
00:05:00 In this section, Jonathan recounts the harrowing experience of a Hamas terrorist attack during which his ex-wife and their children were kidnapped. The chaos began around 12:30 PM on a day when border tensions were high. His grown son, Sagui, who was also part of the security team, noticed that civilian first responders were no longer responding to calls for help. Jonathan was unable to contact his son and his son's wife, who were seven months pregnant with two young girls. His ex-wife, one of two women from the kibbutz who managed to escape captivity, was taken away with a group of women and children on a stolen tractor. An Israeli Apache helicopter intervened, but friendly fire resulted in the death of a friend.
Jonathan's son, Sagui, had woken up early that morning to work on a pet project and saw a large group of well-armed Hamas terrorists moving through the kibbutz. For two hours, the residents defended their community against the attackers, but they were eventually overwhelmed. Sagi had gone back to his home to ensure his family's safety and was taken captive around 9:30 AM on October 7th. He has not been heard from since.
00:10:00 In this section, Jonathan Israel, shares the harrowing experience of his daughter Avital, experience of the kidnapping of her husband, and other community members by Palestinian Muslim abductors. While some hostages were discovered alive in tunnels under Gaza in late November, 80 people were taken captive, and 40 were murdered on October 7th. Avital's home was destroyed, and her community was looted and burned. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl during this time, but her husband was not present. Jonathan lost 34 members of his extended family on October 7. He said that day, Hamas won, but Israel and the rest of the world cannot let Hamas win in the long term
00:05:00 In this section, Jonathan recounts the harrowing experience of a Hamas terrorist attack during which his ex-wife and their children were kidnapped. The chaos began around 12:30 PM on a day when border tensions were high. His grown son, Sagui, who was also part of the security team, noticed that civilian first responders were no longer responding to calls for help. Jonathan was unable to contact his son and his son's wife, who were seven months pregnant with two young girls. His ex-wife, one of two women from the kibbutz who managed to escape captivity, was taken away with a group of women and children on a stolen tractor. An Israeli Apache helicopter intervened, but friendly fire resulted in the death of a friend.
Jonathan's son, Sagui, had woken up early that morning to work on a pet project and saw a large group of well-armed Hamas terrorists moving through the kibbutz. For two hours, the residents defended their community against the attackers, but they were eventually overwhelmed. Sagi had gone back to his home to ensure his family's safety and was taken captive around 9:30 AM on October 7th. He has not been heard from since.
00:10:00 In this section, Jonathan Israel, shares the harrowing experience of his daughter Avital, experience of the kidnapping of her husband, and other community members by Palestinian Muslim abductors. While some hostages were discovered alive in tunnels under Gaza in late November, 80 people were taken captive, and 40 were murdered on October 7th. Avital's home was destroyed, and her community was looted and burned. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl during this time, but her husband was not present. Jonathan lost 34 members of his extended family on October 7. He said that day, Hamas won, but Israel and the rest of the world cannot let Hamas win in the long term
Julie urges everyone to visit the website www.BringThemHome.com to learn how they can help and support the families of the hostages. Jonathan expresses his concern that the Israeli government is not prioritizing the lives of the hostages as much as they should and emphasizes the importance of both securing their release and destroying Hamas. .
