'Israel should stop water supply to the people who want to destroy us.'
'It is not Israel's responsibility to take care of the people who want to kill Israelis.'
Maya Parizer was attending the Nova music festival close to the Gaza border along with her boyfriend and friends on the 7th of October when Hamas started firing missiles and then butchering people.
Maya was in shock but also angry when she spoke to Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier from Tel Aviv a week after the attack.
"During the Holocaust, when the Nazis wanted to kill the Jews, so many countries remained silent and let the Nazis continue to destroy the Jewish people. We have only this one country, but the Muslims have plenty of countries. This is our home. We want the world to stand up to stop this terror," she says.
- Part 1 of the Interview: 'My boyfriend shouted, terrorists... terrorists...'
When I called you, you said you were at a funeral. Were you at this friend's funeral?
Yes, I was at my friend's funeral.
Remember I told you about the left turn we took. She along with her other friends left 5 to 10 minutes after us.
By then there were many cars on Road 232. When she saw the cars, she took a right turn and just drove. Soon they had to abandon the car and run to take shelter.
There was no specific road there, but they ran just to survive and it took them to the kibbutz where the festival party was.
The shelter in kibbutz Reeim had no doors and it was just open.
Unfortunately, terrorists came to this shelter and started throwing grenades at them and shooting everyone.
Most of the people who took shelter there were from the music party and all of them were innocent people who had come to enjoy at the party.
Except 4-5 people, all the others died in the attack. My friend also was shot and died there.
Not many of my friends were lucky like me. It was a miracle that we escaped.
You feel the left turn you took saved you ...?
Yes. It was also the timing.
Because I was scared of the missiles, we delayed our escape. If we had left at 6:30 am, I would not have been alive today.
All the people who left at 6:30 am were killed.
It was all the decisions we took combined together helped us survive.
How did you finally come out of the shelter?
Because this kibbutz was religious, all the gates were heavily guarded and closed. All the forces of the kibbutz were strong.
So, it did not give the terrorists quick entry like they could in the other kibbutz. So, they decided to come back later.
When they came back, the forces were out to protect the kibbutz.
We went there without knowing all this. That was why we were safe.
But the terrorists went to other kibbutz, butchered the people inside and burnt the houses.
That's why we could hear gun shots outside. The smell of burnt human flesh also reached us...
We don't know how we passed those 24 hours.
By 5 in the morning next day (Sunday), one guy who was with us got a call from the army asking him to join immediately.
People living in the kibbutz directed us to a safe road to escape to the centre.
We went to get our car from the road and took a different road. Still we were very, very, scared because we knew there were terrorists still hiding inside our country.
I sent my location to my friends and family so that they would know where I was, if anything happened to me.
It took us an hour-and-a-half to reach our house.
By then, had the missiles and gunshots stopped?
No...no... Even today, we get a lot of missiles and rockets.
This area remains dangerous because they want to target Tel Aviv and the airport.
Now, we are with my family in the north. The north is also dangerous now because of Lebanon and Syria.
Islamic Jihad is trying to get all our neighbours to attack us.
Did the family from the kibbutz come with you?
Though we asked them to join us, they refused. In fact, they are waiting for a young member of the family who had gone to help others, to come back.
But they have moved a little to the north and not very close to the border, but are still in the danger zone.
Do you think the government and the intelligence agencies failed in protecting its people?
Yes, there is a big failure in the Israeli management.
The prime minister has not said a single word about the people who were kidnapped from the party and the kibbutzes.
I am talking about babies. I am talking about old people. I am talking about disabled people. We don't know whether they are dead or alive.
I am talking because I want the entire world to stand up and not remain silent.
During the Holocaust, when the Nazis wanted to kill the Jews, so many countries remained silent and let the Nazis continue to destroy the Jewish people.
We have only this one country, but the Muslims have plenty of countries. This is our home. We want the world to stand up to stop this terror.
Hamas is equal to ISIS. Hamas is equal to al-Qaeda. It is a terrorist organisation.
Do you agree with Israel stopping water and electricity to Gaza and also asking a million people to evacuate?
Yes. I will tell you why. First, Israel is not the only border with Gaza; there is also Egypt.
But Egypt did not want to open the gate for the people of Gaza to get work, get food, get water or get gas.
But there is a passage for Palestinians to go to Israel to work and go back. Israel brings water to everyone, brings electricity and fuel to everyone.
Then, Israel is butchered by Hamas.
Yes, I say Israel should stop water supply to the people who want to destroy us.
If Egypt cared about the people of Gaza, they should have a passage and give water to these people.
It is not Israel's responsibility to take care of the people who want to kill Israelis.
But we believe there are innocent people in Gaza. Unfortunately, in Palestine they do not believe there are innocent people here as well.
In a conflict, everyone expects Israel to take care of the enemy.
Did America take water to Afghanistan when they tried to end terror there? They did not.
How come the world is angry with Israel for saying bring back the kidnapped people, then we will give water to you?
We see pictures of babies with axes over their head. We see pictures of babies being burnt alive. We see videos of elderly being killed on their Facebook page.
The world needs to say, no more, just like you say no more to ISIS and al-Qaeda.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
