B’nai B’rith hosted Marcelo and Diana Wasser, survivors of the Hamas murder, rape and kidnapping rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7, in Costa Rica and Panama for a series of speaking engagements and meetings, including with lawmakers, journalists, students and members of the Jewish community.

In Costa Rica the Wassers spoke at an event in the National Assembly (Congress) organized in cooperation with the Embassy of Israel. In addition, they were guests of honor at an event marking the 85th anniversary of the 1938 November Pogroms (also known as Kristallnacht and the Night of Broken Glass) where they addressed more than 500 participants including Costa Rica’s secretary of state, judges and members of the diplomatic community, and fielded questions from 12 journalists at a dedicated press conference. In Panama, the Wassers spoke at a Jewish community wide event co-sponsored by the embassy of Israel and at an event for Jewish youth and were interviewed on popular television and media programs.

The Argentina-born Wassers made aliya to Israel in the 1970s and are residents of Kibbutz Nirim, where Marcelo is the long-time manager of the cowshed.

They survived a 12-hour ordeal as they hid from Hamas terrorists who infiltrated the kibbutz, killing five people and kidnapping four to Gaza. At each encounter, the Wassers—who have been displaced from Nirim along with some 200,000 Israelis living near the borders with Gaza and Lebanon—described the destructive impact of the Hamas invasion that left 1,200 civilians and soldiers dead, 240 kidnapped to Gaza and thousands wounded, along with a message for a peaceful future that will allow them and their neighbors to return to their homes in a land they love.

B’nai B’rith Costa Rica President Yosi Gabriel and B’nai B’rith Director for Central America Alberto Jabiles arranged the Wasser’s schedule in consultation with B’nai B’rith International Director of Latin American Affairs Eduardo Kohn and B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Director Alan Schneider.

The Wassers will conclude their mission in Latin America with a visit to Argentina.

Video of the event at the National Assembly (in Spanish) is here.