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“My name is Dinka Kay. I was born in Israel in 1994, to a Ukrainian immigrant family. Growing up in Israel during the early 2000’s meant that the first thing you were taught in 1st grade was how to get safely to a bomb shelter, how to put a gas mask on in case of a chemical attack, and how to avoid crowded places in case of a suicide bombing.”
War is, sadly, an ever-present reality for many living in Israel. Violence ebbs and flows like seasons that ignite every few decades in yet another Israeli-Arab conflict. Many in Israel ask themselves, “Who is it this time? Will the fighting ever stop?” If there was ever any doubt regarding the hopes and aspirations for both Israel and Hamas, they are made perfectly clear in their founding documents:
“The State of Israel… will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace… it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex…”
Israeli Declaration of Independence, 14th of May, 1948
In contrast with:
“The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”
Hamas Covenant, Article 7, 18th of August, 1988
It was a promise that Hamas intended to keep and followed through, October 7th, with an attack not on a military base, weapons armory, or Israeli government building – rather a music festival. One that not only had Jewish people in attendance, but people from around the world. Over 200 were taken hostage and many were paraded in the streets as a celebration of what Hamas called a victory.
Dinka Kay is one such individual who, fortunately, was not present but knew many who were. She works as a content creator for games such as League of Legends, popularly enjoyed around the world, and is a model, taking photoshoots like the one she was at on Friday, the 6th. In her words:
“At 6:30AM I jumped awake from the missile sirens and immediately ran to the shelter along with all of my neighbors. Children were crying, dogs were shaking, but most of all we were all extremely confused.
We thought it was maybe just a test, but the moment we were about to go back, another siren went off which is when we realized this might be something serious… Because unlike south of Israel that is targeted by rockets almost on a daily basis, the center was rarely targeted. The only time it was, was during full scale wars.”
The attack came at a surprise. Dinka remarked that many strides had been taken in recent years to bring Israel and the Arab world closer together. “…Things felt like we were stepping to a better future with Gaza. Israel was about to sign an agreement with Saudi Arabia, the government produced additional work permits to residents of the Gaza strip,” she said, even adding that, “…The ‘Arazim Industrial Zone’ project that was supposed to provide 10,000 new jobs for Palestinians from Gaza, renewable energy across the Gaza strip, and a new water pipe system to provide Gaza residents with fresh water.” It took one morning to literally and figuratively wake the entire country to a completely different, yet familiar reality.
“I was sitting there, scrolling through Facebook, reading and watching videos and posts, my eyes growing wider by the second… Then one of my friends said terrorists broke into Beeri, and her family’s house was set on fire, that’s when it dawned on me. So I did the same thing when Russia invaded Ukraine. I rushed to the Palestinian Telegram threads and instantly lurched when I saw what they were posting…
The images and videos I saw on the Palestinain Telegram were similar to the ones I saw in Bucha, Ukraine – when the Russians destroyed our home and mass murdered, raped, executed, and tortured over 500 innocent Ukrainian civilians. When I saw Noa (Argamani) screaming “please don’t kill me” while being kidnapped on the motorcycle something in me just cracked. I couldn’t believe I was reliving Bucha all over again.”
It is understandably difficult to stomach the fact that not one, but both of Dinka’s lineages were embroiled in deadly conflicts against foes adamant and determined to wipe countries off the face of the earth. The popular Palestinian slogan, “From the River to the Sea,” calls for the complete extermination of Israel and all that live within its borders. Worldwide, incidents of anti-semitism have risen precipitously, particularly after Hamas made a rallying cry to sympathizers. France, China, and the US are all countries that saw the effects practically instantaneously, from Jewish businesses, civilians, and diplomats. On Sunday, a Palestinian supporter killed a Jewish man in Los Angeles by bludgeoning him with a megaphone. Here, in Miami, the Jewish school of Beth Am in Pinecrest has been patrolled and watched by officers day and night.
However, in the face of such tragedy, it is not enough to just watch. For Israelis and Jewish people around the world, they don’t have much choice in the matter. In her own way, Dinka has been doing her part, speaking out about the massacres committed by Hamas through her online platform, providing her fans and viewers an intimate look at everything happening within her country, home, and bomb shelter. She was no stranger to this, either.
“I spent the past year and a half helping my mom in Ukraine by fundraising, fighting Russian misinformation online, and assisting both civilians and the Territorial defense with life saving equipment.
My initial response [to the Hamas attack] was to weep, but when I saw the fake news emerging, and the international media trying to push terrorist propaganda I started to fight it the same way I did before.”
Despite facing stiff criticism from some fans and even fellow creators sharing the online space, Dinka remains steadfast and determined to do right by her community and her people, not only because of the personal stakes, but because of the way this war will ultimately affect the rest of the world. She argues, “Putting aside Israeli innovative contribution and historical connection to the land… Allowing Hamas… Russia’s proxy terrorist group (which is the 2nd richest terrorist organization in the world), and the IRGC [Iranian Armed Forces] to ethnically cleanse the land, and cut off their only control in the Middle East will breed an even larger terror threat to the West and especially to the United States.”
Many around the world call for a two state solution. Hamas does not. Dinka was keen on noting this, pointing back to the Hamas Convention and highlighting Article 13:
“But the Jews will not be pleased with thee, neither the Christians, until thou follow their religion; say, The direction of Allah is the true direction. And verily if thou follow their desires, after the knowledge which hath been given thee, thou shalt find no patron or protector against Allah.” (The Cow – verse 120). There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad.”
So, what is there for us to do? Many in the US dispute aiding Ukraine, many others are divided on their allegiances between Palestine and Israel but it is in this conflation between Hamas and Palestinians that many who oppose Israel have fallen victim to. In Dinka’s own words:
“Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Authority and other factions that are against the Jewish people in Israel have been pushing these narratives into intellectual spaces, especially college campuses and other academic spaces which represent the future political class of the next generation – convincing everyone that the source of all problems is Israel.
They’ve been creating coalitions with minority groups such as the african american community, LGBTQAI+, hispanic, native american, women’s rights groups, and convincing each and every one of these minorities that if they want to end the injustices they themselves experience (which is a completely legitimate cause), they must also be against Israel. This is something that has been happening for over 25 years now. Which is why now when there are attacks against Israel there is no way to resonate, no way to use facts, evidence, or information, because they already have a clouded vision that the source of all problems is the Jews and Israel. And that’s exactly how antisemitism has functioned throughout history. If there’s a problem, just blame it on the Jews.”
For her, hope for peace relies in only one path:
“Rid the region of all terrorist organizations and give the people their freedom of speech. Right now if the Palestinian people were to speak up they’d either be executed or would just ‘disappear’. Then, as Middle Easterners we need to work together to heal our generational trauma and have a conversation on how to have a safer region in our area.”
And for us, here at home in Miami:
“Stay strong, be there for each other, educate others, and prevent it from happening again by not staying silent… All the extremes, from the far right, to the far left, far capitalist, far communist, far white supremacist, far black supremacist, they all come to one conclusion and that’s that the Jews are the problem… Especially The Jews who live on a sliver of land that’s smaller than lake Michigan.
If you see this, do not stay silent. There is nothing wrong with calling out people for their vile behavior… Although I myself am grieving for my loved ones, there is still a place in my heart that aches for the innocents in Gaza who have lost their homes and loved ones as well. By the end of the day we are all victims to Hamas’ brutality. And people need to understand there are no sides – for Hamas is a threat to life and the free world itself.”
If you read this and feel compelled to take it one step further, organizations like United Hatzalah have committed themselves completely to Israel’s aid and to the aid of Jews living in our local communities. You can learn how they’ve handled their own experiences of October 7th in our program here and if you’d like to donate, feel free to visit them at www.israelrescue.org.
If you are interested in following Dinka Kay and learning more about her work as a content creator on social media, you can follow her on Youtube: Dinka Kay, Twitter/X: @DinkaKay, Instagram: @dinkakay and Twitch: twitch.tv/DinkaKay
Andres Pena is a Pinecrest resident and graduate of New York University with degrees in both English and American Literature and Political Science. He works for Miami’s Community News as both a writer and administrative assistant. For more inquiries on US and Global News, contact andres@communitynewspapers.com or call 305-951-6726.
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