An Israel woman living in New York City whose daughter was killed when Hamas terrorists stormed a music festival last Saturday is lashing out at anyone who supports Hamas.
Oriya Ricardo, 26, was among the roughly 260 people killed in the attack, her mother, Hannie Ricardo, said, according to the New York Post.
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“You have terrorists and a lot of people in America support them. In the name of freedom of speech, you let them talk and support these terrorists,” Ricardo said.
“They are hateful people and they live in order to kill. This is not war. In wars, as stupid as they are, they have armies fighting against armies,” she said.
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“This was a Nazi-organized operation. This sort of cruelty you saw during the Holocaust. … Is this a war? It’s not a war. It’s slaughtering people for fun,” she said.
We’re learning more of the identities of the victims in Israel, and it’s already directly touching NYC.
An Upper East Side mom is mourning her daughter, Oriya Ricardo, who was murdered at the music festival. Her boyfriend found her body. Heart wrenching. https://t.co/EvZ1ENCcOa
— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) October 12, 2023
Hannie Ricardo has lived in New York City for the past four years, according to the Daily News.
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“I know you have this amendment of freedom of speech, but you also support that freedom of hate. What do you do with that? Freedom of hate — is that good? Just give me one good reason for freedom of hate,” she said.
Hannie Ricardo flew to Israel after the massacre.
“I was still hoping that she would come back to me,” she said, according to CBS. “I found a message from her on WhatsApp saying, ‘Mom, I love you so much,’ and I realized that was kind of a goodbye.”
“My girl tried to run away and cried, but they caught up to her after 100 meters from the car and shot her,” Hannie Ricardo told the Post.
Ricardo said her daughter’s boyfriend found her body near the festival site, according to NBC.
She had tried to escape with a friend who was shot and killed as they tried to drive away. She had messaged her boyfriend that her friend died in her arms, then tried to run away on foot, but was killed.
On Wednesday, the family of Shira Eylon, 23, learned that she also had died trying to flee for safety after the attack on the festival.
Her sister, Adar Eylon, said she had called her father as bombs fell at the start of the 7 a.m. attack, and told him she was too scared to drive and would wait half an hour in hopes the incident would pass.
Shira later texted her father that she could hear gunfire.
“That was it. We lost connection with her,” Adar Eylon said. “We couldn’t find her. The country was in complete chaos — no one would give us information.”
Her body was found in a wooded area where many festival attendees ran for shelter.
“They told me it felt like the Holocaust — Jews running away from Nazis,” Adar Eylon said.
