Kidnapping of Shani Louk

Shani Nicole Louk (born 7 February 2001) is a German-Israeli tattoo artist and influencer who came to public attention[1] in the aftermath of the Re'im music festival massacre, as one of the festivalgoers who went missing, when a video was widely shared soon after the attack, showing her seemingly unconscious, being paraded in the streets of Gaza by Hamas militants in the back of a pickup truck. Described by security experts and commentators as Hamas' social media propaganda, it became one of the first viral videos of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. Additional attention was brought to her case after her mother, who subsequently said that she had received information that Louk is alive and in a Gaza hospital, appealed to the German government for help. She has since been counted as one of the eight German nationals taken hostage during the war, according to the German authorities.

Some journalists have linked the spread of the video to the investigations undertaken by the European Commission against Twitter in 2023, for permitting distribution of illegal content.

Shani Louk
Shani Louk
Born
Shani Nicole Louk

(2001-02-07) 7 February 2001
Citizenship
  • Germany
  • Israel
Occupation(s)tattoo artist, social media influencer
Known forMissing person since the Re'im music festival massacre (alleged hostage of Hamas); seen in a viral video

Shani Louk was born on 7 February 2001[2][3] to an Israeli father and German mother, Ricarda Louk, who had lived in Ravensburg, Germany, and moved to Israel in the early 1990s.[4] Louk and her family moved to Portland, Oregon in the early 2000s, and she attended kindergarten at Portland Jewish Academy.[5] She is a resident of Tel Aviv,[4] where she works as a freelance tattoo artist,[6][7][8] and also has a following as an Instagram influencer.[8][9][10]

Disappearance

Re'im music festival massacre

On 7 October 2023, as a component of the initial incursion in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Hamas militants crossed into Israel from the Gaza Strip and carried out a massacre at the Supernova Sukkot Gathering music festival.[11][12][13] The event was an open-air psychedelic trance festival, coinciding with the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, and took place in the western Negev desert,[13] approximately 5 km (3.1 mi) from the Gaza–Israel barrier, near the Re'im kibbutz.[11][14]

Louk was at the festival, accompanied by her boyfriend, a Mexican citizen.[15] After the Red Color rocket warning alarm was sounded,[14] and the attack began, Louk talked on the phone with her mother, saying that there are few places to hide and that she will try to find one.[16][17] She went missing afterward.[18]

Video after disappearance

After the massacre, a video emerged showing Louk,[19][20] partially clothed and seemingly unconscious, with blood on her hair, being paraded in the streets of Gaza City by Hamas militants in the back of a pickup truck; they were exclaiming "Allahu Akbar", and were joined in the cheers by the people in the crowd surrounding the vehicle, some of whom spat on Louk.[21][14][22][23] The video went viral,[24][25][26] becoming one of the first viral videos of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.[24]

According to security experts interviewed by Agence France-Presse, the release of the video, along other videos showing dead or captured civilians, has the character of deliberate and sophisticated propaganda aimed to induce feelings of "helplessness, paralysis, and humiliation" in the population, and that viral spread of such materials causes amplification of narratives desirable to Hamas.[27] Despite Hamas being banned on Twitter as a terrorist organization, some of its propaganda videos have circulated there after being reposted from one platform to the other.[28] Discussed by journalists as one such video was the video showing Louk; together with other Hamas-related content being shared, it prompted the European Commmission to warn the owner of Twitter Elon Musk about permitting spread of illegal content,[29][30][31] and then, on 12 October, to initiate an investigation against Twitter for dissemination of "violent and terrorist content" and other forms of illegal content.[32][33] In a New York Times column, Nicholas Kristof discussed the video as an example of the causes of trauma and anger experienced within Jewish communities in the aftermath of the attacks.[34] According to commentator Bobby Ghosh, Hamas released propaganda videos quickly, wanting to be the first to score psychological warfare gains, however, the video showing Louk did not demoralize Israeli society; instead, her "treatment at the hands of [her] captors drew widespread revulsion and reprobation, and if anything, strengthened Israeli resolve to exact retribution."[35]

Status

In some early media reports Louk is reported as having been killed, and what is depicted in the video as her lifeless body.[36][37] Her family assumes that she is alive and has appealed to the German government for help.[38][39] Her mother, Ricarda Louk, said that on 10 October she received information from a Palestinian family friend that Louk was receiving treatment at a hospital in Gaza for a serious head injury and is in critical condition.[40][21] A later report by the Human Rights Watch states that the family came to believe that Louk has suffered a serious head injury after watching the video.[41] Ricarda also received a bank notice that Louk's credit card had been used on 8 October near Indonesian Hospital in Gaza.[39]

As of 10 October 2023, there has been no confirmation from Israeli, German, or Palestinian authorities regarding Shani Louk's location or her current status.[36] On 13 October, during her visit to Israel, Annalena Baerbock, Germany's minister for foreign affairs, met with Ricarda Louk and other family members of abductees with German citizenship. After the meeting, Ricarda spoke at a press conference saying that German-Israeli citizens will receive support from Germany, and that the German government is "really serious" and "trying to find solutions". Baerbock said that Germany is "in communications with all actors who have contact with Hamas" in order to send a message that the hostages must be freed.[42] Members of the families, Louk included, subsequently met with chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz during his 17 October solidarity visit to Israel.[43] The German authorities count Louk as one of the eight German nationals taken hostage during the war[44]

References
  1. Giebel, Marcus (22 October 2023). "Nach Entführung von Shani Louk: Cousine bekommt Fake-Nachrichten über Geisel-Aufenthaltsort" [After Shani Louk's kidnapping: Cousin receives fake news about the hostage's whereabouts]. Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Retrieved 22 October 2023. Shani Louk ist die bekannteste deutsche Geisel der Hamas (transl. Shani Louk is Hamas' best-known German hostage)
  2. Kensche, Christine (8 October 2023). "Israel: In einer Grube stellten sie und ihre Freundin sich zwei Stunden lang tot" [She and her friend played dead in a pit for two hours]. Die Welt (in German). Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023. Es folgt eine Aufnahme des deutschen Reisepasses der Tochter: Shani Nicole Louk, geboren am 7. Februar 2001 (transl. Below is a photo of the daughter's German passport: Shani Nicole Louk, born on 7 February 2001)
  3. "Relatives of dozens killed or kidnapped to Gaza from rave: 'Nobody is helping us'". Times of Israel. 8 October 2023. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  4. Kalisch, Muriel (8 October 2023). "Israel: Shani Louk, die Deutsche in der Gewalt der Hamas" [Israel: Shani Louk, the German in the hands of Hamas]. Der Spiegel (in German). Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023. Die Familie hat die junge Frau auf dem Video erkannt, ein Ex-Freund von Shani Louk hat es ihnen zugeschickt. ... Die 22-Jährige lebt allein in Tel Aviv... (transl. The family recognized the young woman in the video; an ex-boyfriend of Shani Louk sent it to them. ... The 22-year-old lives alone in Tel Aviv...)
  5. Haas, Elise (10 October 2023). "'Tragic loss': One-time Portlander taken by Hamas". KOIN.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  6. "22-Jährige von Hamas-Terroristen entführt„Wo bist du?" Mutter der verschleppten Shani über letztes Telefonat mit ihrer Tochter". FOCUS. 9 October 2023. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  7. Evans, Holly (11 October 2023). "Mother of tattoo artist missing after Hamas attacks says daughter is alive". The Independent. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  8. Terrones, Betty (11 October 2023). "Quién es Shani Louk, la joven influencer alemana que fue asesinada por Hamás en Israel". La República (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023. Who is Shani Louk, the young German influencer who was murdered by Hamas in Israel
  9. Steinberg, Jessica (9 October 2023). "Survivors share accounts of encounters with terrorists, and an escape from Gaza". Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  10. "Shani Louk, influencer capturada por Hamás, estaría viva en Gaza". El Tiempo Latino (in Spanish). 11 October 2023. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  11. Gillett, Francesca (8 October 2023). "How an Israel music festival turned into a nightmare after Hamas attack". BBC News. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  12. Tabachnick, Cara (8 October 2023). "Israelis search for loved ones with posts and pleas on social media". CBS News. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  13. Borschel-Dan, Amanda (7 October 2023). "Thousands flee rocket and gunfire at all-night desert 'Nature Party'; dozens missing". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  14. Morris, Loveday; Piper, Imogen; Sohyun Lee, Joyce; George, Susannah (8 October 2023). "How a night of dancing and revelry in Israel turned into a massacre". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023. In the video, the woman is facedown in the bed of the truck with four militants, apparently being paraded through Gaza. One holds her hair while another raises a gun in the air and shouts, "Allahu akbar!" A crowd follows the truck cheering. A boy spits in her hair.
  15. Vieira, Eli (9 October 2023). "Shani Louk, a alemã morta, despida e vilipendiada pelos terroristas palestinos" (in Portuguese). Gazeta do Povo. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  16. Tanno, Sophie (8 October 2023). "Festivalgoers, children, soldiers: What we know about the people captured by Hamas". CNN. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  17. "Deutsche von Hamas verschleppt: Mutter von Shani Louk berichtet von letztem Gespräch mit Tochter – Blutbad bei Festival" [German kidnapped by Hamas: Shani Louk's mother reports on last conversation with daughter – bloodbath at the festival]. Rundschau Online (in German). 9 October 2023. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  18. "Shani Louk: Mother pleads for help as daughter goes missing at festival". BBC News. 8 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  19. Abdelaziz, Salma (14 October 2023). "The "I want my family back." Relatives of hostages taken by Hamas plead for their release". CNN. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023. The mother of German-Israeli national Shani Louk, who was seen unconscious at the festival in a video authenticated by CNN, said, "I still have hope."
  20. McKernan, Bethan; Michaelson, Ruth; Graham-Harrison, Emma; Kierszenbaum, Quique; Balousha, Hazem; Taha, Sufian; Sherwood, Harriet; Beaumont, Peter (14 October 2023). "Seven days of terror that shook the world and changed the Middle East". The Observer. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023. Another video appeared to show a partygoer, reported to be Shani Louk, a 23-year-old German-Israeli dual national, being paraded through the streets of Gaza. CNN said it had verified a video showing her being driven in a truck guarded by a man carrying a rocket-propelled grenade, while another held her by the hair.
  21. Squires, Nick (11 October 2023). "German woman paraded by Hamas after festival massacre is 'still alive'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023. In video footage that emerged subsequently, she was seen lying seemingly unconscious, face down in the back of a pick-up truck in Gaza that was full of jeering Hamas militants.
    ... a man pulled her hair while another, outside the truck, spat on her head.
  22. Boffey, Daniel; Jones, Sam (13 October 2023). "Israel's darkest day: the 24 hours of terror that shook the country". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023. A video emerged of Shani Louk, 23, lifeless in the back of a truck, spat upon by Hamas fighters, legs unnaturally bent and her hair matted with blood.
    • Murphy, Paul P.; Goodwin, Allegra; Brown, Benjamin (8 October 2023). "Militants in Gaza cheer as motionless hostage is paraded around, video shows". CNN. Retrieved 20 October 2023. Louk is seen motionless in the video.
      One gunman, carrying a rocket propelled grenade, has his leg draped over her waist; the other holds a clump of her dreadlocks. "Allahu Akbar," they cheer – "God is Great," in Arabic.
      Some of the crowd gathered around the truck, just outside of the Al-Shalfoh bakery and grocery store, join in the cheers. One man spits on Louk's head as the car drives off.
    • Parth, Christian; Frehse, Lea (14 October 2023). "Die verzweifelte Suche nach der kleinsten Spur" [The desperate search for the smallest trace]. Die Zeit. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023. Die letzte wirkliche Spur, die ihre Eltern von Shani haben, ist das Video, das kurz darauf um die Welt gegangen ist: Shani, scheinbar leblos auf der Ladefläche eines Pick-ups der Hamas, beinahe nackt, das rechte Bein unnatürlich abgewinkelt. Männer um sie herum brüllen "Allahu Akbar", "Gott ist groß", einer zieht an Shanis Haaren. Ein Jugendlicher spuckt ihr auf den Kopf. (transl. The last real trace their parents have of Shani is the video that went around the world shortly afterwards: Shani, apparently lifeless on the loading area of a pick-up from Hamas, almost naked, the right leg unnaturally angled. Men around them roar "Allahu Akbar", "God is great", one pulls on Shani's hair. A teenager spits on her head.)
    • "Shani Louk's mother learned of her capture from Israeli music festival after seeing viral video". CNN. 8 October 2023. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023. In video authenticated and geolocated by CNN, Shani can be seen unconscious in the back of a vehicle, being paraded around Gaza. One gunman, carrying a rocket propelled grenade, has his leg draped over her waist; the other holds a clump of her dreadlocks. "Allahu Akbar," they cheer — "God is Great," in Arabic.
    • Sharon, Jeremy (8 October 2023). "Footage of Hamas assault on civilians shows likely war crimes, experts say". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023. Hamas operatives are seen celebrating and cheering in the pickup truck in which they had placed Louk's body, which was contorted in an unnatural angle, while Palestinians surrounding the truck shouted, "Allahu Akbar" [God is greatest in Arabic]. Two of the men spit on her.
    • Murphy, Paul P.; Goodwin, Allegra; Brown, Benjamin; Paget, Sharif (9 October 2023). "Desert horror: Music festival goers heard rockets, then Gaza militants fired on them and took hostages". CNN. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023. In the video, Louk is seen motionless. One gunman, carrying a rocket propelled grenade, has his leg draped over her waist; the other holds a clump of her dreadlocks. "Allahu Akbar," they cheer – meaning "God is great" in Arabic.
      Some of the crowd gathered around the truck join in the cheers. One man spits on Louk's head as the car drives off.
    • "Images of the Mass Kidnapping of Israelis by Hamas". The Atlantic. 9 October 2023. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023. [V]ideo shows a woman, later identified by her family as 22-year-old Shani Louk, stripped down to her underwear and lying face down in a truck, her legs twisted at unnatural angles. Hamas gunmen sit on her body, and bystanders spit on it.
  24. McDermott, Stephen (13 October 2023). "What we know about the hostages taken by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the efforts to free them". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023. One of the first viral videos of the conflict on Saturday appeared to show Shani being paraded on the back of a truck by Hamas militants ...
  25. Agarwal, Mehak (9 October 2023). "Israel-Hamas war: German woman Shani Louk paraded naked by Hamas fighters was robbed, credit card stolen, says report". Business Today. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023. A video of a barely covered young woman with dreadlocks on the back of a pickup truck surrounded by Hamas soldiers went viral on social media.
  26. Fischer, Jan-Frederik; Schiller, Eva (10 October 2023). "Israel: Shani Louk - Deutsche Geisel der Hamas lebt" [Israel: Shani Louk – German Hamas hostage alive]. ZDF (in German). Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023. Das Video der schwer verletzten Shani Louk erlangte im Internet große Bekanntheit. (transl. The video of seriously injured Shani Louk became widely known on the Internet.)
  27. Lebur, Célia (10 October 2023). "Hamas Waging Propaganda War On Israel With Shocking Videos: Experts". Barrons. Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
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  31. Villegas, Sofia (17 October 2023). "When horror comes knocking: Brutal content is being shared on social media with far too little hesitation". Holyrood. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  32. Monnier, Pierre (13 October 2023). "TOUT COMPRENDRE - Pourquoi l'Europe s'attaque au manque de modération de Twitter?" [UNDERSTAND IT ALL - Why is Europe tackling Twitter's lack of moderation?]. BFM TV (in French). Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  33. Fiachetti, Marie (13 October 2023). "Guerre Israël-Hamas : violence, désinformation… Pourquoi X (ex-Twitter) est-il pointé du doigt ?" [Israel-Hamas war: violence, disinformation… Why is X (ex-Twitter) singled out?]. L'Obs (in French). Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  34. Kristof, Nicholas (11 October 2023). "Opinion | Seeking a Moral Compass in Gaza's War". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  35. Ghosh, Bobby (11 October 2023). "Analysis | Hamas Has Already Lost the War of Images". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  36. Attanasio, Joe (10 October 2023). "Shani Louk: New twist after festivalgoer paraded naked through Gaza streets". Yahoo News. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  37. Lukpat, Alyssa (9 October 2023). "What to Know About the Massacre at Israel Music Festival". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023. Hamas militants abducted and killed Shani Louk, a 30-year-old German-Israeli citizen who was attending the festival. They paraded her naked body around in a pick-up truck as supporters chanted "Allahu akbar."
  38. "Familien von Entführten fordern von Scholz Unterstützung" [Families of abductees are demanding support from Scholz]. Die Zeit. Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 17 October 2023. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  39. Marques, Caynã (10 October 2023). "Alemã sequestrada pelo Hamas está viva em hospital, dizem fontes palestinas" (in Portuguese). O POVO. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  40. "Israel: Entführte Shani Louk soll laut Mutter schwer verletzt am Leben sein". Der Spiegel (in German). 11 October 2023. ISSN 2195-1349. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  41. "Hamas, Islamic Jihad: Holding Hostages is a War Crime | Human Rights Watch". Human Rights Watch. 19 October 2023. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  42. Zinsmeister, Nadja (13 October 2023). "Israel: Baerbock appelliert bei Treffen mit Mutter von Shani Louk an Hamas: "Lassen Sie diese Menschen frei"" [Israel: Baerbock appeals to Hamas at meetings with Shani Louk's mother: "Leave these people free"]. Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  43. "Deutsche Hamas-Geiseln: Angehörige fordern Deutschland zu schnellem Handeln auf" [German Hamas hostages: Relatives call on Germany to act quickly]. Stuttgarter Zeitung (in German). Agence France-Presse. 17 October 2023. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  44. "Was über die deutschen Hamas-Geiseln bisher bekannt ist". Focus. Agence France-Presse. 18 October 2023. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
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