Negotiators said to be near deal with Hamas to release dozens of hostages

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Good morning,

Red red wine. It can complete a great Thanksgiving meal, but then, for some, there’s the headache that follows.

New research from the University of California-Davis, says the reason might be from an antioxidant found in grape skins, quercetin, which has many health benefits, but combined with alcohol changes into a toxic compound that can cause headaches.

The simplest solution: switch wines. Both green and red grapes contain quercetin, but the skins are removed immediately after the fruit is crushed in white and rosé wines. Plus, no red teeth!

Cheers!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

🗞 46 DAYS: FAMILIES OF HOSTAGES DESPERATE TO SEE LOVED ONES

HOSTAGE NEGOTIATIONS: STATUS UPDATE
President Biden said Monday he believes a deal to release some of the roughly 240 people taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th is close. But, despite weeks of negotiations, it is unclear if or when a final deal might happen. Here’s what we know:

The U.S. and Qatar are helping negotiate a deal in which Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza would release 50-70 women and children hostages.
- Hamas claims that it can only locate around 50 hostages, and that it will take time to gather them for release.
In exchange, Israel would reportedly agree to a multi-day ceasefire, in addition to the potential release of 150 Palestinian women and teens held in Israeli prisons for various crimes, along with additional aid and fuel into the territory. Hamas is also demanding Israel stop flying drones over Gaza during that time.

BOTTOM LINE: As President Biden’s deputy national security adviser, Jon Finer, said on Sunday: Israel and Hamas were close to a deal but “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,” and that the fragile negotiations could still fall apart. The Israeli President says nothing is certain because the mastermind behind the Oct. 7 Hamas attack is leading talks and is a “psychopath.” The Israeli war cabinet also remains split on what sort of deal to accept.

___________

🎙 ONE-ON-ONE WITH THE SON OF A HOSTAGE

I recently sat down with Rotem Cooper, the son of two kidnapped Israelis. His father, Amiram Cooper, 84, remains in Hamas captivity after 46 days. His mother, Nurit Cooper, 79, is one of four people released from Hamas captivity. She was released with another elderly Israeli woman after 17 days.

Rotem Cooper was born and raised in Kibbutz Nir Oz, which his parents helped found. It was one of the small communities where Hamas terrorists massacred and abducted residents on October 7. One out of four residents from the kibbutz (population 427) were either murdered or abducted that day.

Here is an edited version of our interview for time and clarity:
___________

Cooper: On Saturday, October 7, I was in San Diego and someone said there is a rocket attack in Israel. I called my parents, and I was able to talk to them a few times. They were told to barricade themselves in a safe room that could not lock. Around 9:30 a.m. local time was the last I could talk to them.

All of a sudden, the terrorists had broken in and shot armor piercing bullets through the safe room door — the door is made from double steel. Luckily, my father wasn't standing there trying to hold the door. A lot of members of the kibbutz died that way.

We’ve already had 28 funerals, and we have 75 people missing. It’s a community of about 400. We want to make sure it's the priority for decision-makers in Israel, the U.S., and around the world, that the only acceptable outcome, is for the immediate release of all the hostages with no harm.

Mosh: Do you feel the Israeli government is hearing that message?

Cooper: I’m hearing that recently there are more talks. I think the community put a lot of effort into changing the narrative. The number one thing is to release the hostages, not necessarily to win the war against Hamas. That’s also important. But, much more important, is to focus on the release of the hostages quickly.

❝

“For most of the people around the world, it's numbers. For us, it's people we grew up with. It's our fathers, it's our mothers, it's our sons, daughters, classmates and neighbors. Each one has a story. The community is grieving”

Mosh: How has your mother described the two weeks she was held?

Cooper: She told me that she was held deep underground with my father. They were held with other people from Kibbutz Nir Oz ranging in ages from 76-85 years old.

The conditions were not easy. It's very humid. They don't know day from night. She had a broken shoulder that was broken during the brutal kidnapping. Her glasses, and my father’s glasses were taken right away, so it was disorienting.

They didn't know the level of catastrophe that happened (back home). They didn't know that one out of four residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz were either murdered or kidnapped.

There wasn't much in the way of interactions. And they were cut out completely from the rest of the world. The food was basic. They were pretty much doing nothing all day. They didn’t hear too much of the war above ground because it is quite deep. They felt vibrations, here and there.

She couldn't even go the restroom herself. They were effectively confined to a mattress and didn’t get to walk too far. And, remember, that was 17 days. Now we're talking about 46 days for my father.

Mosh: Did she have any idea why she was released?

Cooper: No. Nobody knows. It was very abrupt. I don't think there was much time for reaction. They took her, and the climb out was quite difficult for her physically. She couldn’t use her (broken) left shoulder. It was maybe 60 feet deep.

Mosh: The other woman released with her, Yocheved Lifshitz, spoke to media following release. Is your mother discussing her experience publicly?

Cooper: She is not doing media. It is really hard for her to speak about it. It’s not the right time to go into details. I understand the curiosity, but I really think that the time to go into details is after the last hostages are released.

Mosh: Tell me about your father.

Cooper: My father is a very central figure in the Kibbutz Nir Oz community. He was the first manager of the agriculture faction. Almost everybody knows him. He also writes songs, mostly for local anniversaries and events in the kibbutz. He has published poetry books.

Other members of my community would drive Palestinians in need of life-saving treatments to Israel. It's kind of ironic that those are the people that got mostly impacted by these attacks.

❝

The members of the Nir Oz community, including my father and my mother, are more on the leftest side of the political map. They were very committed to a two-state solution. It's the irony that people that were kidnapped believed in peace.

Mosh: How do you believe your father is managing? If you could even imagine how he's trying to manage the situation he's currently in.

Cooper: My father really likes to talk to people and develop a conversation with them, so I can imagine that he is developing conversations with his captors. I'd like to believe that he is focusing on the day he is going to come out, because he’s an optimistic person.

Mosh: How closely are you following the headlines, the negotiations? Some families say they need to ignore headlines so they don’t develop false hope. How are you processing all of it?

Cooper: I need to follow the news all the time. Many times a day. It's hard. You kind of develop some hope. You hear there might be some exchange of hostages, some release, and then no, it doesn't work because of this and that. Then you hear they're only going to release kids and women, or they're going to release the elderly. It’s kind of a roller coaster, up and down.

Mosh: What's your message to people who say this attack was justified based on how they say Israel treats the Palestinians in Gaza?

Cooper: I think it’s crazy that anybody thinks that killing babies and cutting their heads, killing civilians, taking hostages, raping women is justified because of some cause. I think you have to look at what happened on that day. Even if you have a cause you believe in, what justifies killing babies and taking them hostage? I think those people need to watch the footage from that day.

Mosh: When you went back to Kibbutz Nir Oz what did you see?

Cooper: It was surreal. First of all, when you come to the community, you still smell the burning. It had been many days after, but the smell was still there…the burning smell. It was just unreal. You walk around and you know that in this house a whole family of five were murdered. In another, they found a skeleton that was burned.

I remember a Kibbutz that was very peaceful, full of kids, full of babies. Now, it's not going to be like that for a long time.

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🗓 ON THIS DAY: NOVEMBER 21

1620: The Mayflower Compact is signed by 41 male passengers on the Mayflower, prior to landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts. They agreed to abide by the laws of the new government they would establish.
1877: Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a way to record and play back sound, making him world famous.
1976: Rocky, written by, and starring Sylvester Stallone, premiers in theaters. It was a huge box-office hit and received 10 Academy Award nominations.
1992: Adam Sandler sings the “Thanksgiving Song” for the first time on Saturday Night Live (above).