Actor and singer-songwriter James Maslow visited Kibbutz Be'eri on Wednesday to see the aftermath of the October 7th Massacre firsthand, according to a video posted on social media.
Maslow, who rose to fame through his role in the Nickelodeon television show and boy band "Big Time Rush" with appearances on the network's show iCarly, felt drawn to visit the site of some of the atrocities of October 7th. He documented his visit on social media.
“Kibbutz Be’eri: a communal village on the Gaza border, and one that suffered [one of the worst] attacks by Hamas on October 7th. 85 murdered of the one thousand residents, and 26 taken captive," he wrote. "What strikes me about this community is how peace-loving they are. They employed Gazans to work in their homes, led Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives, and fought for a future of coexistence."
He also highlighted that Hamas used those gestures against the people of Kibbutz Be'eri, before ending with the hashtag #HamasisISIS."
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Meeting with survivors
Shortly after, he shared another post after meeting with a survivor of the Nova music festival, the site of another October 7th massacre. He connected it to music, one of his passions - and the passion of the survivor in question.
"I met a survivor from the Nova music festival which took place near the Gaza border. Yonatan along with thousands of others gathered here to celebrate love and peace. He described the moments the music turned to chaos as Hamas terrorists infiltrated with rocket fire and machine guns. Yonatan wrote a song about his experience," he wrote.
"He sings about the whistling bullets and falling children from his memories in this very field, but he also sings of the sense of growing hope around him as Israelis come together to help one another and fight for their right to exist. As a musician who has played so many concerts just like this…I simply cannot imagine this happening to me or my fans. But it could," he added.
He plans to use his influence in the public eye to open the eyes of the world to the events of the 7th.