Interview with Shirly Pinto

Daily Moth (Alex): There are about 300 deaf people in southern Israel. Are they okay? Were any killed or taken hostage?

Shirly Pinto: No deaf people were taken hostage. If it happened, it would be very intense, but no deaf hostages. Deaf people did go into shelters. Some are underground and some are embedded in homes. I’ll show you.

(Shirly picks up her iPad and walks around her home)

This is my home. In Israel, you must have a safe room. When homes are built, safe rooms are included. Here it is. If we are under a missile attack, I will go in there and close the door. Look at this.

(Shirly enters the safe room and shows a piece of wood with a hole at one end)

Why do I have this? When Hamas invaded the south, Israeli people went into their safe rooms.

(Shirly shows the door handle)

They closed the door and turned the handles. But Hamas knew Israelites were in the rooms and tried to turn the handles. This piece of wood fits through the door handle and makes it impossible to open it. The plank will “lock” it. Others can’t open it. The handle goes through the hole and secures the door so we can feel safe. It’s because we saw that Hamas broke through the doors and gunned down civilians.

So, a lot of people bought these types of planks to be secure.

Look at this. This is how we know about alarms.

(Shirly shows her television screen, which has a newscaster with a graphic on the right side showing alerts of incoming missiles)

This graphic here informs us about where the alarms are. It is alerting us about the south. I’m in the central part. There are many alarms in the south. I have to pay attention and if I see many alarms, then I know that we may be hit so I go into the safe room.

Daily Moth (Alex): How do deaf people know about the alarms? You mentioned an app.

Shirly Pinto: Yes, we have an app. We also watch TV. I just showed you what it looks like. It mentions the places.

Daily Moth (Alex): What is that sign?

Shirly Pinto: It means place.

Daily Moth (Alex): Oh, where the missiles are incoming.

Shirly Pinto: Yes. The TV may say, “Tel Aviv” and then specify which place it is, in the west or the east. I’m here in Ganei Tikva. If it shows up on the TV, then I go into the safe room. If it is near me, then I will stay on alert. So the TV shows the places and I keep a watch on it.

Daily Moth (Alex): I understand. Wow.

Shirly Pinto: I’m not in Tel Aviv, but my friends there have gone into shelter. There are many deaf people there sheltering in place. Jerusalem as well.

My son asked me why we’re going into the safe room. I tell him that Israel is not safe. He asks me what it is. I tell him about the bombs and that the safe room keeps us safe. My son understands and doesn’t ask more questions. He just plays. He also asks me why he’s not going to school. I told him that we don’t have school right now. We are staying at home all day. Why don’t we have school? It’s because Hamas could see children there and target them. We don’t want that to happen so we are keeping kids with us.

Daily Moth (Alex): Your life as you know it is paused?

Shirly Pinto: It’s stopped. My work, everything, has stopped. It’s like… wow. When I look at my phone and see pictures from just a week ago, it looks like a completely different life. Things were stable and normal. Right now we are staying home all day. It feels very limiting. Can you imagine staying home all day for one, two, or three days? It’s just like Covid-19. We’re staying at home, just like Covid-19. But it’s different.

Daily Moth (Alex): We know that Israel has a very powerful military. You’ve got fighter planes, tanks, and various things. Do you feel safe now?

Shirly Pinto: On Saturday, I didn’t feel safe. Israel’s security forces came too late. (Hamas) had already shot at people. I was wondering where the army was. They didn’t come until one hour later. Many Israelis are upset about this. Hamas had already invaded and the Israeli army missed them. Although Israelis are angry, we aren’t dwelling on this right now. We are focused on the war and when it’s finished, we will ask the government questions. Why were they very late? But it’s not the time for questions right now. We have a war right now. We have to bury our dead and after the war is finished, we have a lot of questions to ask our government about why they were late.

Daily Moth (Alex): The U.S. went through the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Shirly Pinto: Yes, it was bad, the planes hitting the buildings.

Daily Moth (Alex): Do you feel it is the same in Israel now?

Shirly Pinto: Well, the feelings of being upset are the same, the emotions, but it’s different because they (Hamas) want to see Israel destroyed. They hate Israel. America is big and it was just two buildings.

Daily Moth (Alex): The U.S. just lost two buildings but still has a huge country…

Shirly Pinto: Yes, while here, it’s very stressful. We worry about whether they’ll come after us. Will we be destroyed? It’s very scary. Lebanon is in the north, Gaza is in the south, while Syria is over there. We are surrounded by those who hate us. It’s like our army has to defend us all around the borders.

Daily Moth (Alex): Wow, you must feel like someone is about to burst through your door at your home.

Shirly Pinto: Yes, exactly.

Daily Moth (Alex): America is so big so we can see enemies coming from afar.

Shirly Pinto: There are two different things. One is Palestine and the other is Hamas. For the Palestinian people, I don’t know who is good or who is bad. But I’m focusing on Hamas. They’re just the same as ISIS.

Daily Moth (Alex): I’m seeing now that Israel is bombing Gaza for four nights in a row. There are also troops massing there. There is a siege, no food, gas or electricity.

Shirly Pinto: No food, no electricity, nothing.

Daily Moth (Alex): What do you think will happen? Will the army invade?

Shirly Pinto: Yeah. It is Israel’s goal in Gaza — like I said earlier, Hamas is not a small organization. It has grown in size over time. I think Israel made a mistake in not doing more to reduce its size. We have been too lenient with them and they’ve grown. Many Israelis are angry about the Hamas terrorist attacks. So we want to impose a siege and prevent all exit/entry, turn off all electricity, and allow nothing. We are demanding the 130 hostages to come back. Those who are elderly, women, babies. Give them back. Why did they kidnap babies? The elderly and the infirm? Some are injured but have no access to medical care. There are rules of war but Hamas doesn’t care.

Right now, I want to participate in the army. I’ve already served in the army.

Daily Moth (Alex): Yes, you did two years.

Shirly Pinto: Right. I can participate in the (reserves). It doesn’t mean I’m a full-time member, but during a time of war, I’m going to support the effort. I’m not going to shoot, but I want to do various tasks, to support the effort.

Daily Moth (Alex): Provide support with organizing things…

Shirly Pinto: Right. I emailed them yesterday and I’m waiting to be called.

Daily Moth (Alex): Are there other deaf people doing this as well?

Shirly Pinto: Yes, if deaf people want to support, they can. Israel doesn’t turn away people. If they want to provide support, they are welcome because we want to win.

Daily Moth (Alex): Wow.

Shirly Pinto: Many deaf people are showing support to the army by donating boxes of food, water, and other things. This place is like our one home. All Israeli people are very supportive of each other and help each other. There are some babies whose parents were murdered. There are other mothers who provide breastfeeding for them. It gives me goosebumps to see the collective spirit, we are one family. This is so we can live.

Daily Moth (Alex): Wow, I can’t imagine what it’s like to be there, to have bad people right across the fence. So here’s a thought. While the Israeli army is dropping bombs there, there are people in the international community who are feeling sadness for people in Gaza, for Palestinians — who are not Hamas members — they may disagree with what they do, but they’re killed by the bombs. What can they do? They’re stuck in a small area.

Shirly Pinto: I understand. But Hamas is everywhere in the region. Why did those in Palestine people support Hamas or do nothing? Many people who grew up in Palestine end up joining Hamas. I don’t know which ones are a member or not. Should I just sit back while they kill us? It is impossible. Other countries would do the same. Nobody would accept for their civilians or children to be killed. If people ask why Israel is bombing them, I ask why did they come and kill us? Can I stay quiet and allow this? To say “okay” and allow it? They killed 1,500 people. Babies. It’s horrible. It’s like we’re blinded. It’s unspeakable what happened. Do you think if you attack Israel, we will stay meek? Absolutely not. We’ll attack back. We are just one country. We know they don’t want peace or want to enter into talks. They want to wipe Israel completely off the map. I can’t accept that.

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Shirly Pinto: Yesterday I set up a (help center). I just started it for deaf people, people with disabilities…

(Shirly glances away) There are missiles. They’re coming in right now in the southern part.

Daily Moth (Alex): It’s happening right now.

Shirly Pinto: Those with disabilities, those in the south who are stuck at homes… I’m setting up a help center for them so we can get requests for what they need. For example, there are some deaf people who need food. We organize things so people can bring help. We just had four big packages delivered. If someone doesn’t have a phone or a laptop, we provide help with that. So I’m working on that right now.

Daily Moth (Alex): You’re helping out. You’re a leader. Many deaf people know you as a leader and reach out to you.

Shirly Pinto: Yes, I’m getting those requests. I’m also working with the (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). It’s a government organization. How do you sign it? You fingerspell it, don’t you? Americans always fingerspell too much!

Daily Moth (Alex): We’re always fingerspelling!

Shirly Pinto: This is the sign for the ministry of foreign affairs. They asked me about signing out any information to the world about Israeli affairs. I will sign it out for deaf people. So I’m involved with that as of yesterday. So I’m working on making videos and explaining what is happening in Israel. Many deaf people don’t know what’s going on because they only see captions or talking heads, so it’s nice to provide sign language. In Israel, the news channels provide interpreters with 24 hours of access. The interpreters switch places and it goes on continuously. The government pays for this. God help us.

I can see that many people support us, such as an Austrian deaf association, a German deaf association, and I'm getting messages of support for Israel. It is uplifting. But there are groups that hate Israel. They say things like “Fuck Israel.” I just ignore them and move on. I’m grateful for the support from deaf associations. In America, there are some associations for Jewish Deaf people. They have shown a lot of support and provided help, such as donating money. So Jewish Deaf Americans are incredible. They are reaching out all the time. I’m inspired by that support. It helps me go on.

Daily Moth (Alex): I understand. Thank you so much, Shirly. Nice to meet you.

Shirly Pinto: Thank you.