From Anti-Israel to Unstoppable Voice: Her Shocking Journey

fight from what and from the Jews. Why are the Jews there? Because Jewish history presence, language, and religion originate there. Because Jews never disappeared from the land. Because refugees returned to their indigenous homeland after centuries of exile and persecution. That is not colonialism. That is return.

I'm half Syrian, half Lebanese. I lived in four different Arab countries. I speak Arabic and I speak Hebrew. And trust me, Israel is not the problem. Israel is the source of pride for many Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqi, Yemonites, and Iranians who are grateful for what Israel is doing today. Thank God for Israel and Messiah high.

I ask Qatar, why didn't you arrest the Hamas chiefs in Dha and demand release of the hostages? Why did you finance terror? And I ask Iran, why do you send billions to Hamas and Hezbollah instead of liberating your own people who are suffering oppression and poverty? Egypt, you charged thousands, thousands of dollars to escape the war. It's a terrific honor to be here again since the beginning of this Atlas Junior's project and the Atlas Award, which I've been involved in a long time. and to be a dual citizen of America and Israel. Uh, one of the heroes of tonight is

Rowan Osman who was born in Syria, uh, raised within a world shaped by deep hostility towards Israel and the Jewish people. And her life journey took a profound turn as personal encounters, thinking, independent thinking, moral reflection led her to challenge the assumptions and dogmas which she had grown up with. Over time, she transformed you transformed from someone shaped by fears, prejudices, and anti-semitic influences surrounding her into one of the clearest and bravest voices confronting anti-semitism. Islamist fanaticism and tribal hatred in the Arab and Western worlds alike. Through public speaking, writing, media appearances, personal testimony, and great bravery, she has become a force of moral clarity, illuminating the dark spaces where conspiracy theories, superstition, ideological fanaticism, and hatred of Jews continue to fuel violence and jihadist attacks against Israel and the free societies more broadly. Her story, your story, is not only political, it's deeply human. It is the story of an individual willing to question inherited beliefs, accept difficult truths, and stand publicly for reason, freedom, and moral responsibility despite intense pressure and personal risk. For this, you have been chosen as the recipient of the 2026 moral courage award. And I'd like to invite Boaz Arad and Ambassador Mike Huckabe up to join us on stage. We can say a word about this award. This is man shaping his own destiny sculpture by Bobby Carlile that man that actually represent what we honoring today. Ran please come so much to meet you. It's an honor. Congratulations He wants me to take the stuff. Of >> course, you got to have that. >> I hope it's not. >> It's a bit heavy. Not too much. So, we'll let Ran now have the stage and the mic. the mic. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you all for being here. Thank you, Boaz. Thank you, Boaz. I'll come back to you in a second. Thank you, your excellency, for taking the time. Thank you all. I truly honestly do not

understand why Israelis always thank me. Even at the hotel where I'm staying, I found a huge plate of fruits and a lot of wine with a note thanking me. I rented an apartment in Jerusalem in August. People asked me why. Because every second Israeli give me their signed book. I have so many books. I had to rent an apartment and now I add statues. I do not deserve a thank you, but this award award is will be a reminder for my grandchildren of how absurd our reality was. I've been to Israel only after October 7th and I've been more than 20 times. My family is only My family's my son Adam who's at university now. university now. The first time I came to Israel, he

asked me, "Why are you doing this to me? You're my only family. We have a big family. But they punish me for what I do for standing with Israel by not speaking to him. And I told them, I do this for you. For you. I will not live in a world where anyone can commit October 7 and get away with it. I've been living in Europe for 15 years. I will not live in a Europe where someone will dictate to my granddaughters how to dress and what to say for you. And now he understands and is a bigger Zionist than I am.

I would like to seize the opportunity to emphasize the importance of social media up until October 7th. I thought it's a waste of time because most of the time it is a waste of time. Except when we wrote a paper on Hamas self-representation post October 7th and we realized how important social media is. I became an influencer. I do not post about my lifestyle, bikinis, snail designs and cakes. We can influence public opinion because this is exactly what the so-called axis of resistance is doing to us. Social media is so important. I'm here before you because thanks to social media. This is how I know Bhazahad. I'm sorry to give away your age, but we're both on Facebook still. I'm also elsewhere. And this is how I bypass something very interesting for you to learn about. Since Israel became a country and the

Arab countries that waged war against it lost, they implemented a strategy to boycott Israel and they embedded in most of their basic laws and constitutions anti-enormalization laws and policies forbidding peopleto-people contact between the citizens of those countries and Israel. even abroad. I'll explain. A Lebanese, an Algerian, a Kuwaiti meet a an Israeli abroad, they're not allowed to talk to them in London, in Sydney. So, I do agree with Antonio Guterish. October 7 did not happen in a vacuum, but it didn't start in 1948. This systematic dehumanization to the Jews led to October 7. So social media is very important and it allowed us to reach out to the other side. This past Saturday we had a space on X an online event where it started with 1,200 1,200 Libanese and Israelis. The initiative was Libanese where we talked to each other. People had hard conversations because they're hurting. Be it in Lebanon or in Israel. They're not. The military intelligence in Lebanon cannot arrest everybody for speaking to Israelis. People cried. It's a start. We have a long way to go. But we are counting and we've been talking about this for a decade. We need the USA to help abolish the anti-normalization laws and policies so that people can start the dialogue and we are heading there although everything seems to be doom and gloom but it is not. I'm making a documentary again based on the request of some Libanese to introduce the Israeli narrative that's been omitted for decades in Lebanon. And this is a study case. Not only the Lebanese will see it. So I discovered a few interesting people. I learned that you sir are the economic atache. Did you know that Israel had an economic attache in Lebanon between 1982 and 1984? I met him in his house in Herza and he told me many interesting stories including the Libanese were importing Israeli bananas.

The world was a bit different and all these efforts were aborted. But I'm going to tell you a story and I hope I was hoping more youngsters will be here. It seems they had enough today but this is recorded. So are you here? I'm so proud of you. By the way, I want you when if you meet miserable older people who tell you, "We tried so hard for peace, it doesn't work." I want you to know that most of what we are fighting against is ignorance. You know, when I was your age, when I

was a teenager, I was one of Hezbollah's biggest fans because Israel occupied South Lebanon. Nobody told me why Israel went and created a buffer zone in South Lebanon. So, when I'm making this documentary, I stumbled upon a story and I called this lady called Haran in Nahar. And I asked her for an interview and she said I haven't given I was nobody was shushed ever. I'm a public speaker only here. Welcome to Israel. The Israelis cannot be controlled. So I called Sad Har and she said no I haven't given an interview for 25 years. And I wrote to her, listen, I grew up in a culture that celebrated Samir Kar when he was released in 2008. I'll tell you his story. I told her, I grew up in that world. You will tell me your story because I have to tell it to the Libanese. Samir Alar in 1979

that cursed year infiltrated the Libanese borders by sea together with his terrorist colleagues. They went into Sadar's home took her husband Danny at the s at the time and her four-year-old daughter. She hid in the attic with her two-year-old daughter and the neighbor. They didn't have electricity because of all the grenades that had been thrown in the building. So, she exited from a different place and she found a neighbor in distress. They crawled in the attic with a toddler. They tried to stop the toddler from crying. Dar accidentally suffocated her daughter. She thought her daughter slept. Her daughter died. daughter died. Meanwhile, Samir Kar and his colleagues took her husband and daughter to the beach. They shot Danny in front of his 40year-old daughter and then they didn't shoot the girl. Samir, my apologies, but I am a storyteller. Samir smashed the skull of the fouryear-old with a rock according to eyewitnesses. Then he was badly injured, taken to the hospital, treated since 1979, he stayed in Israeli prison until 2008. After 2006, after his kidnapped Israeli soldiers and thanks to that operation, Samir Countar was released. Samir Countar was celebrated a hero. I

remember children lining up on streets waving flags celebrating his release. Al Jazzer threw him a birthday party live. They threw him a birthday party during this space on X. I asked the Libanese and I told the moderator, give the mic to everyone to speak. Do you know what Samir Kar did? Did you celebrate his release? Yes. Do you know what he did? Smada told me this story. You know the most amazing thing about

Israel? What Israel's enemies will never understand is really resilience. This is not a cliche. SMAD is a psychotherapist who remarried Yakov who's a psychotherapist. She specializes in treating traumatized children and she had two daughters again. Now this is Israel for you. I would like to briefly say I meet

politicians, parliamentarians, diplomats. It always it's always frustrating because as we say in French long duba, they're like robotic and pariting. I want to say that it is an honor for me to be associated with your excellency with ambassador Mike Huckabe even if for a moment in Tel Aviv stock market. Not because not only because you're the American ambassador, but because you are a mench.

Thank God for you and thank God for all you do. Now to end, normally I'm allowed to speak for 40 minutes but not here. I just want to tell you that I have faith that I believe in Israel that I have thousands of friends in this country, not only Jews. I know that we are in a very, very, very low point, unprecedented. But I know that Israel will prevail. I know the same way I know my son will be fine when I bring him during wars with Iran. You said that it's not a coincidence that you are here. Whether you're religious or not, it's insane that you've survived all this. I know it's going to be fine because I believe in Israel. I'm proud of you. I love you. And I want to tell you recently, two days ago, an Israeli thanked me. I was on the phone about to take the train and he said, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry to to disturb, but I have to go and I'm not going to go without saying thank you for all you do. And I told him, you can't believe it. I'm on the phone with a Lebanese Christian called Paul who lives in Saudi Arabia. He prayed Christian prayed for the Rebe for something and it happened. So he wanted to reciprocate. So he made a website all in Arabic about the teachings of the Rebe. And I told him, Paul just heard you and he said, "It's amazing. It's amazing. This is the Israel that I'd like the world to know. I'm proud of you. I love you. I'm Isai. Thank you.