Betrayed by Those He Helped: The Murder of Shlomo Mantzur

An 86-year-old survivor of ethnic cleansing. A peace activist. Murdered by the very people he dedicated his life to helping.

The sun set over Kibbutz Kissufim, casting golden light over the fields Shlomo Mantzur had worked for decades. But there was no peace that evening—only mourning, only grief. Thousands gathered, not just to pay their respects, but to confront the sheer horror of what had happened. This wasn’t just a loss. It was a betrayal—one so profound, so obscene, it demands to be shouted from the rooftops.

Shlomo Mantzur wasn’t just any 86-year-old. He had already survived one ethnic cleansing—the Farhud, a 1941 pogrom in Baghdad that saw pro-Nazi mobs slaughter Jews in the streets, loot their homes, and burn their businesses. He was three years old when his family barely escaped with their lives. Iraq made it clear: Jews had no future there. So, like 120,000 others, his family fled to Israel—the one place where Jews weren’t supposed to be hunted down for existing.

And yet, in the end, Shlomo was hunted down. Not by Nazis. Not by Iraqi mobs. But by Palestinians—the very people he had spent his life helping.

Because Shlomo wasn’t just a survivor. He was a believer. In humanity. In peace. In the idea that even in the middle of one of the world’s bloodiest conflicts, kindness could break the cycle of hate. He lived in Kibbutz Kissufim, a tiny community near Gaza, and spent years volunteering to bring sick and injured Palestinians to Israeli hospitals. He drove them across the border himself. He never asked for anything in return. He just helped them* Because he believed they were worth helping.

And they murdered him for it.

October 7, 2023. The day Palestinians—yes, not just Hamas, but Palestinians—launched the most brutal attack on Jews since the Holocaust. They didn’t just fire rockets. They didn’t just attack soldiers. They went door to door, hunting down civilians, executing babies, raping women, burning entire families alive.

And when they stormed Kibbutz Kissufim, they found Shlomo—frail, elderly, 86 years old. Did they care that he had spent his life helping their people? Did they care that he wasn’t a soldier, wasn’t armed, wasn’t their enemy?

No. He was a Jew. That was enough. They murdered him in cold blood and dragged his body back to Gaza like a trophy.

For 510 days, his family begged for his body to be returned. 510 days. Over a year of waiting. Over a year of “human rights activists” looking the other way. Over a year of the same people who scream “ethnic cleansing” at Israel not giving a single damn about a Jewish peace activist being slaughtered by the very people they worship as “freedom fighters.”

But let’s talk about that hypocrisy, shall we?

The Farhud in 1941? Ethnic cleansing.

The Palestinians slaughtering Shlomo in 2023? Ethnic cleansing.

But wait—where is the outrage?

The same people who march in the streets crying about “genocide” have nothing to say when actual Jewish civilians are ethnically cleansed again. The same ones who accuse Israel of “apartheid” were silent while an 86-year-old Jew who dedicated his life to helping Palestinians was gunned down like an animal.

Shlomo Mantzur wasn’t a soldier. He wasn’t a politician. He was a man who believed in kindness. And that got him killed.

His family finally got his body back in early 2025. The funeral should never have happened. He should have been living out his final years in peace, surrounded by the life he built. Instead, he was slaughtered by the very people he tried to help.

And the so-called “human rights activists” will never say his name.

Rest in peace, Shlomo. Even in a world that failed you, your goodness endures.