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Adele Raemer

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Adele Raemer
Born (1954-12-17) December 17, 1954 (age 70)
The Bronx, New York City
EducationHeriot-Watt University (MATESOL)
Occupation(s)EFL teacher, blogger, photographer


Adele Raemer (born December 17, 1954) is an American–Israeli blogger and educator who is a resident of Nirim, a kibbutz close to Israel's border with the Gaza Strip.

Early life

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Raemer is descended from Russian Jews who fled as refugees to the United States.[1]

Raemer grew up in The Bronx in New York City.[2] She was educated in a Zionist Youth Movement, Young Judea and following her high school graduation, in the early 1970s, she went on a gap year program with Young Judea in Israel.[1][3] After returning to the US, she initially planned to attend NYU and study theatre, but she decided to return to Israel following the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War.[1]

Life in Israel

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Raemer made aliyah in 1973, and was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces.[1][4][5] She has lived in kibbutz Nirim since 1975.[6] she began teaching in the regional high school that same year.[7] In the early 1980s, Raemer gave birth to her two daughters in the kibbutz.[8] She had another son in 1990.[citation needed]

Raemer was an English teacher for 38 years, before retiring in the early 2020s.[5][9] In the 1990s, she worked with some Gazan teachers on cross-cultural programs.[5] Raemer has also worked as a counselor for the Israeli Ministry of Education.[6]

Before 2005, when Israel withdrew from Gaza, Raemer visited regularly to shop at the markets and to visit the beach.[1][5][10]

Raemer evacuated from Nirim during Operation Cast Lead in 2008.[1] She remained in the kibbutz during Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, and during the 2014 Gaza War, in which Raemer's home was damaged.[1][11] Following the war, she joined the Movement for the Future of the Western Negev, a group pushing for the Israeli government to negotiate a peace with the Gaza Strip.[12]

In 2019 Raemer participated in a cycling marathon organized by the Gaza Youth Committee.[6]

Raemer was in Nirim on October 7, 2023, when it was attacked by Hamas militants.[4] Raemer and her son hid in her home's safe room, while her daughter, son in law and three grandchildren hid in their home's safe rooms.[4] Following the attacks, Raemer and her family, together with the rest of her kibbutz population were relocated to a hotel in Eilat.[2] In the middle of February, the members of Kibbutz Nirim decided that to try to preserve the unity of the community, they moved to apartments in Beersheva, where they remain until today until they can return home.[citation needed]

Since the October 7 attacks, Raemer has travelled abroad four different times to share her stories and the stories of her community. She went to the United States in late October with a group of survivors, organized by private US-Israeli businessmen, where she met Senators and Congresspeople. In November, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs brought her on another delegation to Berlin to speak with lawmakers there. In February 2024, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews sent her to Nashville, Tennessee to speak with journalists from Evangelical Christian media. She was invited by the Christian Broadcasting Network to the White House Correspondents' dinner in April as their honored guest. At that time she was interviewed by CBN[7][13] and Daystar TV. Following that, she participated in the Moral Hearts' Alliance initiative, together with Eagle's Wings in a Solidarity Sunday engagement in the Rock Church and World Outreach Center, telling the stories of October 7th and commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day.[citation needed]

Online presence

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In 2011 Raemer created a Facebook group called Life on the Border With Gaza, in which she and other Israelis share their experiences.[1][5][14][15]

Raemer began blogging for CNN iReport in 2012, during Operation Pillar of Defense.[1] In 2013, Raemer was nominated for a CNN iReport Award.[16] Today she blogs for the Times of Israel.

In 2018 Raemer spoke at the UNHRC's Independent Commission of Inquiry about events that had occurred that year on the Gazan border.[17] She was chosen due to her social media presence, and her posts on and records of the events(including documenting fires caused by incendiary devices).[1][17][18] Haaretz named her one of the "10 Jewish Faces Who Made Waves in 2018" for her testimony.[18]

In 2019 Raemer testified to the United Nations Security Council about the events of Operation Protective Edge in 2014 and life on the border.[19] Raemer still believes that there are "good Gazans" in Gaza who do wish to collaborate and live as good neighbors, but tragically, far fewer than she believed before.[20]

Personal life

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Raemer has two children from her first marriage (Maytal and Lilach), and another from her second (Adam), from which she inherited a stepson (Daniel). Raemer's second husband, Laurie, died by suicide in 2008.[5] She has 8 grandchildren, all of whom live in Israel.[citation needed][21]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sugár, Sáron (2023-02-25). "Life on the Border with the Gaza Strip — An Interview with Adele Raemer". Hungarian Conservative. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  2. ^ a b Fordham, Heather; Carrion, Adolfo (October 21, 2023). "Former Bronx resident reflects on near-death experience in her home near the Gaza border". News 12 – The Bronx. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  3. ^ "Wanted: Responsible adultism at the UN against Hamas's 'kitetifada'". The Jerusalem Post. 2018-11-27. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  4. ^ a b c Pelad, Anat (October 10, 2023). "Israelis Shelter Inside: 'I've Never Feared for My Life Like Now'". WSJ. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Al-Sharif, Manar (February 8, 2022). "Letter from both sides of the Gaza border: things people may not know". Plus 61J Media. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c Gordon, Dave (2023-02-24). "Adele Raemer". Jewish Independent. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  7. ^ a b "Survivor of Hamas' Barbaric Oct. 7 Attack Has a New Life Mission". CBN. 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
  8. ^ Raemer, Adele (2014-07-03). "What I don't want to happen at my daughter's wedding". CNN. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  9. ^ Hoare, Liam (August 2013). "Southern Kibbutzim, Under Fire and Losing Faith". The Tower. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  10. ^ Lidman, Melanie (August 6, 2014). "They thought it was rockets they had to be scared of". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  11. ^ Lynfield, Ben (2015-07-08). "The traumatised kibbutz living with a fragile ceasefire". The Independent. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  12. ^ "At Kibbutz Near Gaza, Wounds Are Still Healing 1 Year After War". The Forward. 2015-07-13. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  13. ^ CBN News (2024-05-04). "She Survived Hamas on October 7th, but isn't Safe in the U.S." YouTube.
  14. ^ Ben-Moche, Erin (2019-11-13). "An American-Israeli Shares Her Experiences From the Gaza Border". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  15. ^ "Fear, loathing and hope mingle for Israelis spooked by Gaza protests, kites". euronews. 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  16. ^ Hawkins-Gaar, Katie (2013-04-03). "36 stories that prove citizen journalism matters". CNN. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  17. ^ a b Tzuri, Matan (2018-11-26). "UN representative to Israelis: 'Why do you keep living on Gaza border?'". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  18. ^ a b Sommer, Allison Kaplan (December 19, 2018). "10 Jewish Faces Who Made Waves in 2018". Haaretz. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  19. ^ "Gaza border resident to testify at UNSC Middle East hearing". I24news. 2019-12-18. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  20. ^ Raemer, Adele (2023-12-22). "I used to believe more Gazans want to live in peace, as I do". The Times of Israel.
  21. ^ I am Adele Raemer, I am citing myself
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