A 23-year-old German-Israeli woman who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival by Hamas militants on October 7 has been declared dead, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.
“We are devastated to share that the body of 23 year old German-Israeli Shani (Louk) was found and identified,” the ministry posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.
A source involved with her identification told CNN Louk’s death was announced after forensic examiners found a bone fragment from her skull.
the footage of her being paraded through the streets of gaza is certainly one of the more disturbing videos
I’m confused. Is she not the person in the video where Hamas militants were sitting on a body in the bed of a pickup while people spat on it and slapped it? Or is that a different hostage?
This is so strange to me, “Louk’s death was announced after forensic examiners found a bone fragment from her skull.”
NBC News says “She was one of more than 250 young Israelis murdered by the terrorist group at the festival.”
So many questions. Why of 250 people is the media focused on her? also the found a skull fragment and knew it was hers? is that possible?
Another article said she was beheaded. Seems like a lot of different accounts of what happened.
Its a shame I’m getting downvoted but it’s a known media phenomenon and I can think of nothing more disrespectful to others than to have the pretty woman, usually white and privileged, drive a news cycle.
Damn it’s actually a thing
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_white_woman_syndrome
I thought you were being sardonic
Gosh, I remember people said Ahed Tamimi fit this category some years back.
People on this website are such pearl clutchers. Insert *Hannibal Buress Being Right" meme.
Could you explain why pointing out a instance of a real phenomena is pearl clutching?
Because she was the first hostage that I didn’t have to search about. And big surprise it was a early twenties conventionally attractive white woman. I hesitate to say privileged, but it appears that she had some.
She was brutalized and humiliated specifically because of MWWS. To cite that phenomenon without context reads like they’re trying to shame people for being disgusted by disgusting behavior. It’s as if, because of the existence of MWWS, we shouldn’t feel concern - when, the reality is that the reason MWWS is a problem isn’t because people care too much about white women, it’s because people care too little about non-white women.
A more useful invocation of the MWWS is when a non-white woman is brutalized and no one seems to care, not when it’s a white woman and people do.
The point of equality isn’t to treat privileged people worse, it’s to treat underprivileged people better.
The politics of being an oppressed class within a class of oppressors isn’t new, and there are a lot of opportunities for white women to act in fucked up ways (eg Karens), and for people to treat white women in fucked up ways. She was probably chosen to be specifically humiliated and brutalized because of Missing White Woman Syndrome, and it’s playing out as they expected - which will embolden them to do it again.
Attributing our concern to her whiteness racializes and politicizes her humiliation but it’s still a disgusting humiliation and brutalization.
By citing the MWWS without context, the implication is that we should be ashamed for our concern, as though we only care because she’s white - a statement that is, for me anyway, and I think for more and more people these days, false - but it’s irrelevant - MWWS is a phenomenon, but she was a person. Her treatment was disgusting and trying to undermine legitimate shock and disgust is cruel.
While MWWS and the politics of white femininity are important (and specifically caused this woman’s uniquely horrific treatment), it doesn’t help to discuss them in the aftermath of specific horrors, and trying to shame people for feeling disgusted by disgusting behavior is, well, it’s why you’re being downvoted. The point of equality isn’t to treat privileged people worse, it’s to treat underprivileged people better.
She’s getting more coverage because she’s German (so western media already cares more about her than missing middle eastern peeps) and she was attractive which makes all news sources interested
I’m pretty sure there was increased focus on her due to how heinous her experience was. She was filmed having been beaten and stripped in the back of a truck being driven by chanting terrorists. I mean it doesn’t really get any worse. Others has the same experience but hers was caught on camera very clearly. That is a big differentiator.
She was a foreigner and arrived in Israel to attend the rave. She was also paraded through the streets of Gaza, one of the first viral videos that came out from the recent conflict.
Half-foreign. That’s enough to generate a higher interest in her compared to full ‘locals’
They found the decapitated head of her and analyzed a bone fragment - this is at least what the Israeli president Herzog said in an interview with a German interviewer from BILD on YouTube.
Yes, BILD is normally not a source I would use because of their failures, but this seems to be a valid interview by Mr. Ronzheimer. I am still searching for additional sources.
Herzog’s statement is pure nonsense, as a full head would be analyzed on its own, he claims it took so long because there were so many mangled bodies, and her head was visible in the video that spawned the focus on her. Unless they found a cache of murdered people in Gaza that somehow hasn’t become a story of its own and then bashed her skull in to get a skull fragment rather than taking DNA samples from her head or body, there’s no way all his claims fit together. Her family’s account makes sense. She was killed with a shot to the head near the festival, leaving behind a skull fragment, then her body (with head minus fragment) was paraded through Gaza.
It might be a valid interview, just with someone who was lying for propaganda purposes.
I was confused by this yesterday. Seems like the New York Post claims she was beheaded, citing Isaac Herzog as a source, but after reading it on more outlets seems that they found a skull fragment at the festival area, so not in Gaza. And no they did not find her skull. In fact it seems that her body at least made it to Gaza and her mother had received footage that places her in a Gaza hospital.
Not sure who would benefit from ruining this girl’s memory with propaganda… Oh wait.
