On Saturday morning Aya Meydan set out from Kibbutz Be’eri for her morning bicycle ride. When sirens began to sound, her husband advised her to come home. But on her way back to the kibbutz, she met members of the Alkarnawi family, from Rahat, who worked in the dining hall of the kibbutz, and they warned her not to return. One of them, Hisham Alkarnawi, hid with her in the foliage for many hours under heavy gunfire from the terrorists. He managed to contact his family in Rahat and ask them to come to the rescue. Along the way, the Al-Qirnawi family saved others who had been wounded at the Re’im festival. After nine hours of hiding in the foliage, Aya and Hisham were brought away by the Al-Qirnawi family, still under fire. Even after they had started to leave, but were still in the vicinity of the battles, they almost came under fire from IDF soldiers who took them for terrorists. The family stayed at Aya’s side even after she boarded the evacuation bus. “To contribute and help is a duty. We’re a single nation. We have to live in peace,” said Hisham Alkarnawi.
