Dov Hikind sneaks into Gaza

New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-48th District) is among the many infiltrators to have snuck into Gaza through the IDF roadblocks.

“It was very easy to get in,” Hikind told The Jerusalem Post as he stood outside the Neveh Dekalim synagogue on Saturday night.

This is his fifth trip to the area since January. He said he came to stand in solidarity with the residents in their most difficult hour.

“In no way will I interfere with what the police and the army will do,” said Hikind, adding that he came to bear witness to the “human tragedy.”

Another New Yorker who felt the same was Helen Freedman, executive director of Americans for a Safe Israel. She said she came down Friday on an Egged bus, with just a small handbag.

When soldiers asked for her identification, she gave them her New York City press card. Like Hikind, she too has made many trips to the area.

In the winter, her zeal to show her true colors led to her brief detention at Ben-Gurion Airport when she arrived sporting a bright orange T-shirt with the words “not one inch.” This time around she was more circumspect and refrained from any such outward displays.

She spent her first two hours in Gaza on the phone, just telling people, “I made it.”