A security guard who worked for Taylor Swift on her ‘The Eras‘ tour has returned home to rejoin the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) amid the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The man, who wishes to stay anonymous, shared the update with Israel Today journalist Eran Swisa who in turn shared the news with his followers on social media [via Billboard].
“I got a pretty great life back in the US,” the guard told Swisa. “I got an amazing dream job that I love, great friends that I call family and a very comfortable home. I didn’t HAVE to come here… But I could not stand on the sidelines while families are being slaughtered and burned alive in their homes!!! Just for being Jewish or for being Israelis.”
He continued: “I’m not only standing here with Israel and actually standing here. I’m standing here with humanity.”
“Don’t be on the wrong side of history!! Don’t stand on the sidelines and say nothing… Stand with Israel, stand with HUMANITY!!!!!”
According to updates posted by CNN yesterday (October 16) more than 2,600 people have been killed by Israel’s aggression on Gaza (stats via the Palestinian health ministry). Israel authorities confirmed that 1,400 people were killed in attacks perpetrated by Hamas earlier in October. Tens of thousands of people have been injured in the conflict so far.
Hamas’ terror attacks on October 7, which included massacres at the Be’eri kibbutz and Kfar Aza kibbutz in Israel, was met with a deadly retaliatory response by Israel’s national military, the IDF, largely with missile attacks.
A reported 260 attendees at Supernova Sukkot Gathering, a music festival that was held a few miles from Gaza in Israel, were killed in an early morning attack by Hamas militants. The organisers of the festival have since released their first statement over the “unspeakable tragedy”.
In the wake of Hamas’ assault, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip where 2.2million people live. It means that water, electricity and food has been cut off to the Palestinian territory from which Hamas’ invasion was launched.
Meanwhile, in other Taylor Swift news, the pop star’s new documentary Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has scored the biggest opening weekend for a concert film in history.