The youngest of the hostages in the 1976 Entebbe Operation, Shai Gross, stood before the guests at the Shalva 26th Anniversary dinner last week, his presence a testament to the power of the human-beings to do the unbelievable. Shalva, the Association for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children in Israel, is dedicated to offering high quality care for individuals with disabilities, empowering their families and promoting social inclusion.
Shai told the audience, “When I was six, my parents and I were among the hostages. For a full week we sat, captives in Entebbe with pistols and grenades threatening our lives. The terrorists separated the children into business-class to avoid parents acting up in defense of their children. My mother however, was able to hide me under her seat. I was only six, yet I remember asking her, “Does dying hurt?”
On June 27, 1976, four terrorists hijacked Air France flight 139 with 248 passengers on-route from Tel Aviv to Paris. They were armed with pistols and a grenade with the pin removed which they held as insurance against being attacked by the passengers. The flight was diverted to Entebbe, Uganda, where dictator Idi Amin supported the hijackers. All non-Jewish passengers were released while more than 100 Jewish passengers were held, fearing for their lives.
The horrifying ordeal came to a dramatic end on July 4, when the IDF launched a rescue mission, and a group of Israeli commandos stormed the complex.
Shai recounted the last few moments before they were rescued, “All we heard were gun shots. I was paralyzed with fear. At the time, the only possible explanation to the insanity was that they were coming to finally end our lives. How could it even enter anyone’s mind that the IDF had made it all the way to distant Entebbe?!”
“After a few moments, we realized that we were being rescued by the IDF. That dramatic rush from desperation to salvation… that is a joy I will never forget,” he told a rapt audience.
The moment when the unbelievable happens before your very eyes, when the darkness is suddenly transformed to light, is a familiar occurrence in the Shalva center in Jerusalem. For 26 years, Shalva has been helping children with special needs move beyond their limitations. Shalva programs and services are designed to provide individual treatment for the child when also strengthening the fabric of the family. Providing services for more than 500 infants, children and young adults, Shalva accompanies each child from birth to adulthood. Individual tailored programs are designed to help participants reach their full potential and integrate into the community. The results of this dedication to growth and individual accomplishment could be called unbelievable. At Shalva, nothing is unbelievable. No dream is too big to dream.
Inspired by the willingness of the soldiers to participate, Shai later decided to volunteer himself – at Shalva, in an effort to mirror what those Israeli soldiers had once done for him and give back to the people of Israel. Gross explained how his experiences had shaped him. “This traumatic experience left it’s mark on me. I was emotionally disabled.”
Having personally experienced how a child can be expected to overcome challenges that would try an adult, Shai has added empathy for the children of Shalva. He sees how Shalva’s approach is helping these kids meet their challenges, “Shalva doesn’t see children with disabilities. No. They see superheroes that just need to conquer some challenges. After volunteering at Shalva myself, I have come to realize that we’re all the same: potential heroes trying to overcome our struggles.”