Emily Damari says she hid her homosexuality from Hamas captors
The former hostage recounted having asked one of his jailers what he would do if he discovered his brother was homosexual – His response: 'I would kill him'
Former hostage Emily Damari revealed on Sunday in an interview with N12 that she had hidden her homosexuality from her Hamas captors during her nearly 500-day captivity in the Gaza Strip.
"They must not know such a thing," she reflected. "From their point of view, they think it's a disease." Damari recounted asking one of her jailers what he would do if he found out his brother was gay. His response: "I would kill him." Her captors regularly questioned her about her single status. "That's just the way it is," she would respond. "I keep to myself, I am a good girl."
The terrorists had given her nicknames, first calling her "Saja'iya, meaning hero," then "John Cena," the American wrestler, in reference to the many physical exercises she performed to relieve her stress. Damari reveals having been held in a Palestinian family home with children, notably alongside Ziv Berman. "One day, an explosion came and completely destroyed the house. I saw it with my own eyes – I was in the room with Ziv, and I saw through the window a building a meter away engulfed in flames."
After being treated at Shifa Hospital, where a doctor sedated her, she woke up missing two fingers. "I respond: 'Cool... I'm a hostage in Gaza, I'm missing two fingers – what could be worse?'" The ex-hostage admits feeling constant guilt since her release. "Getting on the plane, sitting down, eating, drinking – everything comes with a lot of guilt," she said, keeping in mind the 58 hostages still being held. Damari was released in January with fellow hostages Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher. She revealed that Gonen and she briefly considered suicide during their detention.