Marcelo Garzón (Buenos Aires, 1961) is a being of light. He emigrated to Israel in 1977, where he formed a family that never stopped growing and shining, until October 7, 2023. At Kibbutz Nir Oz, Hamas terrorists kidnapped his son-in-law, Dolev Yehud, the husband of Marcelo's daughter and father of four children. One of them was born on October 16, without his father being able to embrace him. Today, 87 days after the tragedy, his family still has no news of him.
Gabriel: How did you experience October 7th?
Marcelo: We lived through a massacre. We woke up in the morning to the noise and tremors of missiles being sent from the Gaza Strip to our region. That morning, as we were awakening from the shock, we immediately called on the phone, as we always did when we heard the siren. To find out what was happening and how they were doing.
My daughter answered, telling us that she was locked in with her three children, aged three, six, and eight, in the shelter of the house. She was also 37 weeks pregnant. Meanwhile, Dolev, a nurse and volunteer with the Magen David Adom (the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross), went out to help the people who were fighting and defending the territory of the kibbutz that was invaded.
My daughter had to spend more than nine and a half hours locked in. Without food, without water, without communication. In silence and total darkness. While trying to reassure the children she had with her. And listening as the terrorists destroyed all the belongings they had at home: fridge, sofa, television, and everything else.
Dolev went out to help and was kidnapped that same morning. Until today, 87 days later, we have no news of him. We have no information. We are going through a very difficult time. My daughter, on October 16, gave birth to their fourth daughter, Dor. Without Dolev's presence, as would be expected. A marriage that creates lives should be there to receive them, embrace them, hold them in their hands, and give them the first kiss.
And he wasn't there. Sigal had to go through it all alone. Not entirely alone, because we were there—her sisters, her parents, and Dolev's mother and father. But without her husband. Dolev is an upright person, a first-class father. When he came home from work, he would take off his work shoes and put on his slippers. And he would start doing the household chores, taking care of his children.
What motivated him the most was helping others. He always helped people in need. In accidents, when missiles fell, people who weren't feeling well... he attended to them. He was attentive to everything happening in the area.
"What I miss the most about Dolev is seeing him when he went and kissed my daughter on the forehead."
So, he wasn't just an innocent person. He also helped.
Absolutely. He felt so good when they called him to provide that first aid until the ambulances arrived... he had a suitcase with bandages and other tools in his car all the time. When he traveled on the road, if there was an accident, he would stop, get out, and attend to them.
He, like his siblings, Arbel and Netta, were raised to always help others. Simple, modest, smiling people who love life, who are here for others, for their children and spouses. What I miss most about Dolev is seeing him when he went and kissed my daughter on the forehead.
Dolev and Sigal have been together since they were 12 years old. Now they are almost 36. 24 years together. They created a family, four children. The agony we feel because he is not here is immense, overwhelming. Along with Dolev, his sister Arbel, 28 years old, was also kidnapped.
Together with Ariel Cunio, 26, the three, and others I know personally, people I worked with, are on the other side of the border. Until today, we have no information, no signs of life. And every day that passes feels like an eternity.
And you know they are there because the army confirmed it?
Dolev was not found in the territory of the kibbutz, nor outside of it. No forensic evidence. The conclusion is that they were taken to the other side alive.
Do you know if they are alive now?
We have no data. Nothing. The Israeli army, the government of Israel, and the departments in charge of the whole issue of the kidnapped have no 100% certain information about them.
How is your daughter?
My daughter breaks down at night and regains herself in the early morning. She is fully aware that she has four children to take care of and raise. And she does everything possible to make this immense trauma as painless as possible for the children. There is no brightness in her eyes. You can see the sadness. A person who has lived 24 years with Dolev. Dolev lived in our house from the age of 15. He was like one of us.
With all the love between them... As they say, they have been together since childhood until the end. It's what they wanted. They never wanted to separate, and unfortunately, due to everything that happened, through violence, they were separated.
And you? How do you feel?
We, my wife and I, along with my two other daughters, and Dolev's parents and his brother, are always around them, providing Sigal and the children with an atmosphere to continue hoping that everything will end in the best possible way. The Earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun. As long as the Earth keeps rotating on its axis, there is always a future and always hope.
A few weeks ago, with the ceasefire, the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners began. Did you hope that Dolev might come out then?
As a South American, my parents always raised me with the motto "women first, then children, and finally men." When we were on the bus and a pregnant lady got on, my father didn't have to say a word. I would stand up and tell her to sit.
For me, they are not hostages; they are kidnapped because they were taken from home, from bed, forcibly brought. They are not prisoners either. At this moment, we harbor no sentiment other than hope. When the first phase of hostage exchanges, involving children and women by Hamas, in the last touch, they broke the deal. We were hoping for Arbel to be released.
It was quite strong, tough. Every day waiting for her name to come up... and it didn't. In the end, it was cut off. And now that they are talking about another phase of exchange, I believe they should exchange them all for all.
So you would be willing to have all the Israeli hostages released in exchange for all Palestinian prisoners.
Without a doubt. I would even say that if I could, I would go there for him to come out. He has to be here, raising his children, being with his family. I would do it without any remorse.
And do you understand that there are people who say that all Palestinian prisoners cannot be released?
We, as a nation, have an obligation to bring back everyone on the other side. At any cost.
No price is too high...
There is no price for life. The state of Israel, created in 1948, was formed on the basis of the Holocaust. My entire family, on my mother's and father's side, was exterminated in the Holocaust. My grandparents were able to escape to South America before World War II.
Over 55 million people died in World War II. How can something like what happened on October 7, 2023, still occur? It is something unacceptable. It is something inconceivable. It is something incredible.
Nations, which united to fight and defeat the conqueror of all Europe, how can they allow this to happen today? And not have the courage to say, "Enough is enough."
In this sense, do you feel abandoned by the UN?
In a way, I can tell you yes. I am not a very political person. I am not a military person. I am a simple person. All I wanted, want, and will continue to want is to live my life in peace. I built my family, they gave me grandchildren. I want to be with them until my last day. I want nothing more, I need nothing more.
I hope that someday a leader will come who knows how to unite nations so that the world has a much better future, not a future of war. Also with the Palestinians. May he have the capacity and faith that humanity can integrate and root out all these fundamentalist groups that prevent nations from living in neighborliness and peace. Perhaps a leader from some country. There are many interests at the UN.
Did you feel supported by the Israeli government?
The nation consists of a government and a people. The government of Israel was democratically elected, through elections. And it is the one currently governing the state of Israel. I have no other government. I have hope and belief that the people in charge of the country are doing their best to end this episode, this massacre, and bring back all the kidnapped.
Lately, I have talked to left-wing Israelis whose priority is not so much to win the war but for Netanyahu to leave. Because they say he is interested in war.
It is not the time to judge the leaders. That time will come. Each person will cast their vote. If things change, they will change. Right now, we must all be united to try to end this conflict. And, first and foremost, bring back all the kidnapped.
What does Israel mean to you?
It is an example of a nation. It is an agricultural power that sells agricultural patents worldwide. I live in a desert area. Well, it extracts crops from desert areas. It has always wanted to give to the rest of the world to achieve more progress.
In such a short time, it has built a country with so many values... and the value of life is above all. The meaning of living, the value of life, is one of the highest levels. The state of Israel was built in just 75 years. It is a start-up nation. It lives by designing, programming, achieving.
What does Palestine mean to your people?
I live in a municipality, Eshkol, that is completely rural. It is based almost exclusively on agriculture. People in the area volunteered to bring medical treatments to Palestinians who needed them, to hospitals in the center of the country. To Palestinians with cancer, with chronic illnesses. They took them and brought them back.
So, not all Israelis are colonizers, as some people in my home country say.
How can it be that something like what happened to the people who were helping on the other side occurred? They were giving them work. Everything went wrong.
What is the solution to all this?
Through war, there will be no solution. War has no future. This conflict has been going on for many years. It's like the question of "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" There is plenty of land in the world. We need to know how to manage this crisis, this conflict. We need to stop making wars and think. Think about how to solve this problem.
Is there any message you want to convey to the world?
I will give you two messages. First, my son-in-law Dolev suffers from a chronic illness. And he needs to receive his treatment, his remedy, daily. If he doesn't get it, his life is deteriorating. I ask the Red Cross, please, to reach him to verify if he receives his medicinal treatment. The list of remedies he needs has been sent to the Red Cross. They have all the information. I ask, please, try to find out if my son-in-law is okay.
On the other hand, I hope that what happened on October 7 is not the beginning of something bigger. That all the nations of the world have the capacity, energy, and intelligence not to end humanity. Humanity must move towards an eternal future.
The universe is so vast... why don't we unite and try to conquer it? And not exterminate ourselves. Not conquer the entire universe, but a little. The universe is something that expands at over 60 kilometers per second. It is immense. And there is so much to discover, so much to learn, so much to investigate.
Let's put all our energy into this. Humanity has supreme values. We can take them to other planets. And feel that, instead of ruining our planet, we unite to be better.
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