Calistogan escapes from Israel after Hamas attack

By Dave Stoneberg

CALISTOGA, Calif. — After spending two months in Israel on business, Linda York, 73, is finally safe at her Calistoga home, horrified at the brutal deaths of many who were abducted following Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel. “It was old people, young people and babies who were abducted,” York said, but most frightening was that the young people and babies were being killed in a brutal way. “That was ongoing,” she added.

Calistogan Linda York in front of Temple Mount in Jerusalem - Submitted Photo

York finally left Israel at midnight Sunday, Oct. 8 on the last seat on her flight that left Ben Gurion Airport, before U.S. carriers suspended flights to and from Israel.

Earlier on Sunday, York went to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem but was told to make any travel arrangements that she could. “I called and got this really nice man at United Airlines that searched and searched and found me the last flight of Air Emirates that left Tel Aviv,” York said. “I had to fly to Dubai and then fly to SFO. He helped me so I got my ticket. The price of a one-way ticket during this crisis was close to $8,000 and that was for economy.”

Before the flight, York had a problem: How to get from her hotel in Jerusalem to the airport, 40 minutes away. “None of the taxi drivers wanted to drive because they knew the airport was a target. I had used an Arab/Israeli cab driver before and made friends with him and his family. I called him and told him I needed to be at the airport,” York said. The man’s wife didn’t want him to go, in part because the couple have five children.

“The cab driver picked me up, we had to go through three checkpoints to get to the airport,” York said. Once he dropped her off, it was bedlam. She got on the Air Emirates flight.

York waited for 5-and-a-half hours in Dubai before making her connection to San Francisco, for a flight that took 18-and-a-half hours. “The plane leaving Dubai was one of the biggest planes I have ever seen and it was totally packed with people who were leaving Israel,” York said. She arrived home on Monday afternoon.

In a bomb shelter

Two days earlier, on Saturday night, the bomb sirens started going off in Jerusalem. When she first arrived in Israel, York had been instructed to use the “Home Front Command” app on her phone, which tracks where she is, where the nearest bomb shelter is and how to get there. She never thought she was going to need it.

York went to the nearest bomb shelter, called Room 13, and was with her neighbors. “We started getting news about the music festival, about Hamas coming in and they were using bulldozers to knock holes in the walls of fences that divide Gaza from Israel. Then we heard there were many, many Hamas that literally just walked into Israel and they were shooting people at the music festival,” York said. It was shocking, she added, because it wasn’t army versus army, it was terrorists shooting mostly young people who were there to enjoy a music concert.

York knows and works with a man who came to Israel 25 years ago from Ireland. He volunteered at a kibbutz, a commune, near Gaza. This man’s wife died two years ago because of cancer, and the couple had a child, Emily, who was 8 years old. On Saturday night, she was at a sleepover at her friend’s house. “She and her friend were kidnapped and taken to Gaza,” York said. Later Emily’s father found out his daughter and her friend had been killed. York said his reaction was to thank God, “because he said he was so afraid of what they would do to Emily after being taken and held hostage by Hamas.” York’s reaction: She couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that little children were being killed.

Giving blood

After leaving the bomb shelter on Saturday night, York thought about what she could do and went to Israel’s Red Cross, to give blood, because she has universal donor type O blood. “I was there for four-and-a-half hours,” but because of her blood type, she kept getting pushed to the front of the line. A few hours later, early Sunday morning, York’s friends and family from the U.S. called and told her to leave.

Calistoga’s Linda York is President and CEO of StickyLickets - Tim Carl Photo

York was in Israel on business. Years ago, she created a product called StickyLickets, which are all-natural, edible stickers that children can put on fruits and vegetables. “It makes them want to eat more produce and healthy food,” York said. She is a 73-year-old grandmother, with a son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters, who live in St. Helena. York bought a license from Paramount Pictures and wanted to create stickers with their “Paw Patrol” characters. Her factory in the United States had stopped manufacturing natural products and after a lengthy search, she found an Israeli company, Gilro Ltd., that could produce the product. Six months ago, York started working with Gilro and two months ago went to Jerusalem to oversee the production of StickyLickits at the factory. “I’m a grandmother and one of my passions is to get kids to eat healthy,” she said.

During her time in Israel, York said, “I had an opportunity to work at the factory with an amazing group of people and I also had a chance to explore quite a bit of Israel and Palestine. I came to know quite a few Arab families as well as Jewish families.”

After the attack, York didn’t realize the seriousness of the situation, she said she was more concerned about her friends, both Jewish and Arab. But on Sunday, which is a workday in Israel, she was told the managers at the Gilro factory were gone as was everyone younger than 55, because they had been called up to serve in the Israel army and had been sent to the Gaza front. Her friends at the factory were pleased York was leaving – they didn’t want to have to worry about her safety, in addition to worrying about their families and their country.  

Today, back in Calistoga, York is torn: she feels so much concern and love for the people in Israel. “I got out of the country. It wasn’t so much that I was lucky, they are bound and determined to fight for their country.”

Dave Stoneberg is an editor and journalist, who has worked for newspapers in both Lake and Napa counties.