The mother of a young woman who was killed by Hamas militants at an Israeli music festival has compared the terrorist group to the Nazis.
Hannie Ricardo, whose 26-year-old daughter Oriya Ricardo was one of the victims at the Supernova psytrance festival on Saturday, described the attackers as “monsters” and said the world needed to stand against them.
The rave, held in the Negev desert, not far from the Re’im millitary base, was directly in the path of Hamas fighters, who stormed over the border from Gaza into Israel on Saturday.
Israeli rescuers said at least 260 bodies had been recovered from the site of the festival. By Sunday, Israel announced that 600 people had been killed, with 100 more being taken hostage.
Speaking to MSNBC’s The ReidOut, Ms Ricardo said she had not known that her daughter had been attending the music festival before she received a call at her home in New York telling her that her daughter was missing.
She said that Oriya, the youngest of her three daughters, was “the source of power of my life”.
“It’s pretty hard to speak in past tense about her,” Ms Ricardo said, audibly emotional. “She brought light everywhere she came – a very happy girl. [She] loved to party and was always the centre of everything.”
Oriya Ricardo was among those killed at a music festival attacked by Hamas— (MSNBC/ TheReidOut)
She continued: “I think that I need to speak about her and for her and for all those… young people that were massacred by the Hamas. They have not a bit of humanity in them.
“These kids went to dance. And these kids, I know for sure, at these parties are peace people, you know… they all fight for peace. And now they’re gone. And among them, my youngest daughter.”
“The only thing I can compare these monsters, these inhuman beings [to], are the Nazis during the Holocaust.
“[They are] the same kind of people and the world needs to know and the world needs to fight them.”
Some commentators have suggested that Saturday’s terror attack may be the worst loss of life for Jews in a single day since the Holocaust, with The Times of Israel quoting Eylon Levy, a former spokesperson for Israeli President Isaac Herzog saying: “It’s no exaggeration to say yesterday was the darkest day in Jewish history since the end of the Holocaust.”
Lazar Berman, The Times of Israel’s diplomatic correspondent, made a similar reference, writing on X: “October 7, 2023 saw the most Jews slaughtered in a single day since the Holocaust.”
Ms Ricardo said that Hamas would next target the US with its attacks, and that the attack on Israel was “worse than 9/11”.
Hannie Ricardo said she felt she needed to speak out on behalf of her daughter and those others killed— (MSNBC/ The ReidOut)
“I feel for these Palestinians. These people I feel for them but they are hostages,” she said.
“They are hostages in the hands of the Hamas, and Iran and all of these terrorists. [Those groups] have no other focus in life rather than killing as many as possible.
“And when they’re done with the Jews, they will come for the Americans – they did it already in 9/11 . I call this massacre that happened in the south of Israel even worse than 9/11. This is our 9/11, and my daughter is one of them.”
She added: “This wonderful, beautiful, cheerful, amazing girl is dead now and I’m going to bury her the day after tomorrow. My heart is broken to pieces, but I will go everywhere to speak about her, for her and against this terrorism.”
