“I was ready to kill my captors—then, I sang to them.” - Omer Shem Tov

I feel such a responsibility to keep telling these stories. It’s the reason why I’m taking so long to finish my own story, The Seduction of Islam. The book is written, but I’m going through it carefully to be sure I said what I needed to say, in the right way. Nothing is more important to me right now.

You can listen to me read my reflections here:

Everyone who has children or grandchildren, or perhaps you lead a children’s class at your church or synagogue, or you are a schoolteacher or wherever it might be that you have the opportunity, please share Omer Shem Tov’s testimony with youth.

These are the stories our children need to hear. These are the heroes they need to look up to as examples of courage and faith. When you listen to Omer speak, you know it is the truth, you know it is authentic, because he lived it. His voice silences dissenters. No one can dispute his testimony.

He also reminds us of Charlie Kirk’s true legacy, not the one both the left and the right try to twist Charlie into for their own political ambitions.

As I wrote about in “I went ‘undercover’ at Whole Foods, and this is what I discovered,” I met Charlie, not on a stage, but as an ordinary young man who regularly came through my line when I worked at Whole Foods in Scottsdale.

Just as I went to Luxor and lived there for three years to find out the truth of Islam, I worked at Whole Foods for six months to find out what it was like working for a company taken over by Amazon—and then, I wrote about it. Unexpectedly, I loved working there. I loved the people I worked with and enjoyed finding out about the different everyone who came through my line. The experience restored my faith in salt-of-the-earth Americans.

I’ve told this story before, but it bears repeating. Charlie would come in on Sundays and buy tons of baby food. I doubt many people recognized him, but I did because of my research and writing. The first time he came through my line, I told him I knew who he was, but I would just call him the “baby food guy.” He laughed and his whole face lit up. From then on, he always came through my line, and we would talk about ordinary stuff, like how tired babies make a parent feel.

When you see someone face to face, in the real world, you see them as an ordinary human being, just like you are, not some caricature to be turned into a devil or a saint. The internet has made us lose that connection to reality, to realizing we are all flesh and blood and capable of the worst mistakes and the best achievements.

It’s disturbing how people will spew the most horrific filth online about someone they never knew, whose challenges they have never faced, without a second thought. The Bible says that what we choose to put inside of us is what will eventually come out. If we put filth into our spirits that is what we will become and that is what we will put back out into the world. If we fill ourselves with good, with light, with love, that is what we will become and that is what we will put back out into the world.

It’s very simple. But people have forgotten this basic truth. It’s why every other word so many say—and our children say without a second thought—is F-you. How did that happen, how did it become normalized?

Omer Shem Tov made a choice in those tunnels to be the best human being he possibly could, even while surrounded by the worst human beings. He did not sink to their level. He rose above it.

Our youth need to know that the more they make the right choice, the more difficult life could become, not easier. They could even be hated for it. We don’t live in a movie. There is no app that can gloss over the reality of our situation. We live in a world where fame, fortune and “likes” mean more than courage and truth and we need to refuse that trap.

505 days in captivity, in tunnels so dark at one point, Omer thought he had gone blind. He was alone, he did not see another hostage, no kindness, no caring human touch did he feel.

Alone in that darkness, Omer began to pray. Every day he spoke to God:

“I whispered, ‘God, how are you? How was your day? Are you okay?’ And in that darkness, I felt his presence. I thanked him for everything, for the food, even though there was almost none. For the water, even when it was salty. For my life, even though it was in danger every single day.”

He didn’t rant at God. I’ve heard this often from those who survive captivity. They choose to thank God, not curse him.

He tells how one day, the IDF was fighting above the tunnel, and they left behind books. In one of the books, was a piece of paper with Psalm 120 on it. In the longer video, that I have linked below, he says that his mother was reciting the same prayer at the same time.

This is the power of prayer:

In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.

Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.

What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?

Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.

Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!

My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.

I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

He talks about this spiritual warfare between good and evil. And he thanks President Trump. In the video below, he talks about how the guards hoped that Kamala Harris would win and when Trump won, he could see their fear.

This is what we must never forget about President Trump. Yes, even he is made of flesh and blood and none of us have met him face to face, none of us can imagine what it must have been like to face the challenges he has faced, to be hated as he has been hated by the left, to the point that he was almost assassinated as Charlie Kirk has been.

I found this out myself in Luxor, Egypt—the power of a strong American president—when I stood at the gate and faced 20 angry men who wanted to break down that gate and attack my friend and only I stood in their way. When I said I was an American, they backed off. I knew without a doubt it was because of President Trump. If it had been Biden or Kamala, my story could have gone very differently. The men I faced were cruel and filled with hate. Those who follow Islam and who think of us as infidels only respect strength. That’s it.

It’s hard for Americans to understand the world beyond our borders. But we are beginning to because that world has invaded our country, thanks to years of indifference. Trump changed our nation’s passive attitude to one of strength and for that, we should be thankful. We do not want what is happening in the UK and across Europe and Australia to happen here. We can’t be afraid to speak plainly about this very present danger.

What happened on that TPUSA stage, and I’ve shared three posts about it now, is indictive of the battle that is only just beginning to rage in the United States between factions that want power after Trump is gone and that threaten to tear our nation apart. Compare Omer’s speech to that of Tucker Carlson and you see who has truth on his side and who is the liar.

You can listen to the longer speech of Omer HERE It is a more in-depth and personal account, not on a big TPUSA stage—although, it was important for him to be on that stage to counterbalance the evil that also stood there and tried to pollute his message.

It is extremely important to speak with youth about this battle, about a higher good that we should fight for, above our personal ambitions. We need to warn our children of the confusion, the conflicting messages all vying for their attention, and make it very clear what is right and what is wrong.

I am so thankful for all of you, my subscribers. I am going to spend these next two weeks devoting time to family and my book. God bless you all!

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