Project Max Ambassadors – healing the hearts of Israel’s children
By Rolene Marks
On a sunny Saturday afternoon, the kind that entices children out of their homes and into the fresh air, the sound of laughter punctuated the silence. Children in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in Israel’s verdant north, gleefully played football. In a matter of seconds, everything changed and the unthinkable happened. A missile fired by Iranian terror proxy, Hezbollah fired towards the area and killed 12 of the children who were so happily playing just moments before.
The victims were named as Alma Ayman Fakher Eldin, 11 Milad Muadad Alsha’ar, 10; Vinees Adham Alsafadi, 11; Iseel Nasha’at Ayoub, 12; Yazan Nayeif Abu Saleh, 12; Johnny Wadeea Ibrahim, 13; Ameer Rabeea Abu Saleh, 16; Naji Taher Alhalabi, 11; Fajer Laith Abu Saleh, 16; Hazem Akram Abu Saleh, 15; and Nathem Fakher Saeb, 16 and 11-year-old Gevara Ebraheem.
Twelve angels. Thirty-nine children were seriously injured including one little boy who remains hospitalized.
Benny Ben-Muvhar, head of the Mevo’ot Hermon Regional Council, told Channel 12 news that four or five of the children killed were members of a single family. It was one of the most horrific days of the war. The 7th of October was a day of unparalleled brutality and Hamas did not spare anyone – Jew, Christian, Muslim and Druze. Since that day, Israeli warriors have been fighting for our country – Jew, Christian, Muslim and Druze. We have been suffering as a country and our Druze brothers and sisters are a part of us, we share a holy covenant of blood regardless of what external political pundits.
The sirens blared – but was so quick that the children did not have time to enter the shelter. The result was an unfathomable tragedy.
Israel was plunged into mourning and in the days that followed, many made the visit up north to offer their condolences and show solidarity in this relatively isolated village; but as the weeks and months passed, the visits stopped. People went on with their lives. Devastated parents and a heartbroken community were left to mourn and try to pick up the pieces. The community felt forgotten.
This attack killed twelve innocent children playing football and while the media covered the tragedy, they quickly moved on – but the community was not forgotten.
Project Max is an organization dedicated to combating racism, antisemitism, and intolerance through sports. Through Project Max, athletes from the NBA and NFL have had the opportunity to visit Israel in the wake of 7 October, meet with survivors, hostage families, and gain a clearer understanding of the complex geopolitical challenges faced by the Jewish state.
In recent weeks, two NFL legends, Nick Lowery and Tony Richardson, both Project Max ambassadors visited Israel in a trip made possible by Athletes for Israel – and made sure that Majdal Shams was on the itinerary.
Eric Rubin, CEO of Project Max spoke to me about the visit:
“No parent should have to bury a child. It was important to go to Majdal Shams to let the community know that we have not forgotten about them. Given the children were murdered playing sports, I thought it would be very meaningful to bring athletes, American Football players there. In addition, the Druze are very proud and patriotic residents of Israel. It was important to show that it has not just been Jews who have been effected or killed since October 7, but also Arabs -Muslims, Christians, Druze and Bedouins were taken hostage or killed. Israel is a diverse tapestry and we need to let the world know that the terrorist’s barbarity impacts everyone. We also needed to make sure the Druze people know they are no less Israeli or victims of this war.”
Rubin continues:
“During former NBA Champion Josh Powell’s visit to Israel, we met some of the survivors of the Majdal Shams attack in Ichilov hospital. During that visit, we heard the horror stories but also saw the resilience of the children and their families. I committed to them that I would do what I could to make sure the world didn’t forget what happened to the 12 angels and all the survivors. It was important to me to keep that commitment and bring Nick Lowery and Tony Richardson there so they can tell the story to the world. But at the same time, it was extremely important to meet with the families, hear the dreams and aspirations of these children who were brutally murdered, and do what we could to try and bring some hope, positivity, love, support and smiles to our beautiful Druze cousins.”
We often speak about the power of sports to bring healing and build bridges and this visit was the embodiment of that. This was more than just a solidarity visit; for a brief moment, the families and children of Majdal Shams could experience moments of joy instead of pain and loss. For a brief moment, the sound of children’s unbridled laughter as they played sports with two of the best in NFL history rang out in the hills.
Sharing his thoughts, Nick Lowery said:
“Why did we go to Majdal Shams? We went to make sure that the community knew, they absolutely knew they were not forgotten. At first, it was awkward, they did not know how much we understood or wanted to understand but we went there to look them in the eye, hear their stories as much as we were able to. We wanted to hear a little about their sons and daughters. We wanted to make sure that this tragedy which also injured 39 children that it didn’t ruin permanently those surviving children their capacity to move on with their lives.”
An emotional Lowery went on:
“The universality of the grief – the father who is a first responder who found his daughter dead on the field and had to leave his own daughter who was so alive minutes before to take care of the children who still had a chance. The father with the brilliant smile who found out that they couldn’t find his son because his son was blown up because the missile literally hit his son in the body and they began to find small pieces of it later, there was a separate shrine to him.”
The visit had a profoundly emotional effect on Lowery and Richardson. It was etched on their faces. There is no doubt that for the community of Majdal Sham – especially the children – spending time with Mike Lowery and Tony Richardson and the care and empathy shown to them, will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Throughout this war, many have been silent about the suffering of Israel’s children. Project Max, through visits from their ambassadors are ensuring that Israeli children, who have endured the unimaginable are seen, heard and most important, hugged.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
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