Terror survivor to lecture on human rights

Michael Dickson, director of the StandWithUs Israel Education Center, with Kay Wilson

TORONTO — Kay Wilson, a survivor of a terror attack in Israel, will be the guest speaker at the second annual StandWithUs Canada Campus Champions Dinner to be held on June 1 at a private home.

“Kay travels around the world for us as a motivational speaker on issues of human rights, and on justice for victims of terrorism. She will be speaking about tolerance and seeking peace for those who were murdered because they were Jewish, Israeli, or just cared about Israel,” said Meryle Kates, executive director of StandWithUs Canada.

StandWithUs, a 13-year-old non-profit organization headquartered in Los Angeles with chapters around the world, is dedicated to informing the public about Israel through fact-based materials, speakers, advocacy and leadership education. 

Wilson, who is coming to Canada for the first time, is a 50-year-old British-born Israeli tour guide, jazz musician, and cartoonist. She spoke to The CJN from her home in Israel’s Negev Desert.

On Dec. 18, 2010, she said, she was on a hike on the Israel National Trail with American friend Kristine Luken when she saw two Palestinians crouched in the bushes.

“I was concerned. I had hoped they didn’t see us, but they did. They asked for water in Hebrew. I responded in Hebrew, and they went away. I told Kristine, who is a Christian, not to panic and that we should get back to the car. I then took out a very small penknife from my backpack. 

“We were walking through the forest trail, and behind me I heard Kristine scream. That’s when one of them jumped on me. I stabbed him with my knife and managed to knick him in the leg. It was the DNA of their blood on my penknife that enabled the police to catch the terrorist. It also linked them to the unsolved murder of an Israeli woman, Netta Blatt-Sorek. According to their own confession, their motive was to ‘kill Jews,’” she said.

“I didn’t understand. They didn’t rape us and they weren’t particularly interested in stealing anything. I was trying to pretend I was a tourist, but he discovered my Israeli ID and he saw my Star of David. I started conversing with him in Hebrew but in vain. After half an hour of eternity, they separated us by a couple of metres. I was pushed onto my knees, my head was pushed forward. I understood I was going to be beheaded and they started stabbing and grinding the machete into my bones. The only hope I had was to play dead, which was incredibly difficult,” Wilson said.

She said she watched in horror as Luken was butchered to death. 

“They left, but within a few seconds they came back and one of them rolled me onto my back. I watched him plunge the machete into my chest. I still didn’t move. I had my eyes open. The machete missed my heart by four millimetres.” 

When the men left, Wilson staggered, bound and gagged, through the forest for more than a kilometre until she found help. 

“Through the valley of death, I started to compose a piano arrangement to Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I used it to distract myself from thinking of my friend. Thinking I am going to be dead in a couple of minutes while also thinking about D Flat Major – absolutely insane.”

“I sustained 13 stab wounds in my lungs and diaphragm, and six open-compound fractures of my ribs. Many ribs had also splintered into my lungs, and I had a dislocated shoulder, a crushed sternum and a broken shoulder blade. I don’t know how I survived. No one is more surprised than I am that I am alive.  

“I tell the story because in Jewish thought we are told to bear witness, and I need to bear witness to what humanity is capable of, and to the life and death of my friend. Choosing life, love, and laughter over death, hatred, and sadness, are the tools that help me deal with my experience,” Wilson said.

Wilson will also be speaking at StandWithUs Canada’s community-wide event at Beth Tikvah Synagogue on June 2.