Former Hamas hostage shocks debate with pro-Palestinian: “My niece saw my abduction in TikTok”

A woman from her, held hostage was found in June at the University of California in Los Angeles and participated in a debute with a pro-Palestinian student as well as the son of Hamas founder, Mosab Hassan Yousef. The debate was held within The Gr8 Debate at the University of California. Moran Stella Yanai from Israel described what she lived in Hamas’ hands: “When I was kidnapped, I was dressed in a military uniform, and so they classified me as a soldier,” he said, adding that he was moved three times, with the last of 13 Hamas members. She noted: “There was a video showing my abduction, and my family learned the news via TikTok. My 12-year-old niece saw it first.” At one point Yanai asks the pro-Palestinian representative to look her in the eye. This particular quote was extensively broadcast in the Israeli media. It is noted that the 3 of them had a constructive discussion with Yanai highlighting the importance of dialogue and understanding different views, calling on the pro-Palestinian student, Alan Doyle to visit Israel to get a more direct picture. The three of them answered spectator questions. Asked what would be the ideal solution for the Middle East, Doyle proposed a state where Jews, Muslims and Christians would have equal rights and equal opportunities. “This will require the removal of current leaderships, including Hamas, Palestinian Authority and Israeli government,” he said. However, he noted that this is extremely difficult. The son of Hamas’ founder, who has for years left Palestine, lived in Israel and then moved to the US, noted that: “They use global sympathy with dark war images to exert pressure on democratic governments, but their tactics include slaughtering innocents, which perpetuates the cycle of violence.” “Hamas and other Palestinian organisations seek the destruction of Israel, which must be stopped if we want to see real peace,” he stressed. “We don’t have to agree, but we have to listen to each other. It is the only way we can move forward” Yanai commented moved. All three had different approaches but managed to discuss and find common ground, concluding that peace is necessary but requires significant changes in leaderships and policies.