Tampa man working in Israel escapes as war breaks out: ‘It was just insane’
TAMPA, Fla. - A Tampa man working in Israel when the surprise attacks from Hamas started over the weekend, is back home safe.
Chris Granzow is American with Israeli roots, who visited his family's native land for the first time eight years ago and it changed his life.
"If you believe in the Bible, it will absolutely bring it to life and change your entire perspective of the word," Granzow stressed. "No matter what, it's an extremely deep spiritual place where many people really do find what their purpose is in life. "
Now, he spends half the year in Tampa, and the other half overseas running a boat tour business he owns on the Sea of Galilee, as well as a non-profit called the Christian Agency for Israel.
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"We focus on humanitarian aid, Aliyah and absorption, which is the immigration coming to Israel, and really just helping the people who need it the most in Israel," Granzow explained.
War in Israel image courtesy of Chris Granzow.
He was actually wrapping up a 300-person tour he organized to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, and had just sent everyone home.
When news of the surprise attack from Hamas broke in the south, Granzow was still up north in Galilee with friends, who were now getting calls to fight for the Israeli Defense Forces.
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He first had intentions of staying and helping, but quickly saw things escalating and realized nowhere in Israel would be safe. So, he made the executive decision to get out if he could.
He got on his phone and looked for flights going anywhere. He managed to get the last seat on one of the last scheduled flights to London that left in an hour and a half from when he booked the ticket. So, with just the clothes on his back, and his passport and cell, he raced to the airport in Tel Aviv.
Chris Granzow caught one of the last flights out of Israel as war escalated.
"It was driving through a war zone," Granzow described. "There were tanks being mobilized, you know, groups of soldiers starting to head south. So, you know, just seeing that and thinking literally a few days before we were having a beautiful time with all of our friends and with all these tour groups, having wonderful dinners... singing, dancing, having a great time, and within 24 hours, things flipped and turned into an active war zone. It was just insane."
He said one of the hardest parts was hugging his friends being sent off to fight, not knowing if he'll ever see them again.
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"My heart is with them and I am sad that I can't be there and I can't be supporting them. I can't be on the ground fighting alongside of them," Granzow said.
War in Israel image courtesy of Chris Granzow.
While working in Israel over the last few years, Granzow said he's heard sirens, rocket fire and has had to keep his eye on conflict but stressed that this is just completely different.
"This is beyond different. the scale, the magnitude, just the horrific nature of what's being done there," Granzow added. " I don't want to go into the gory details, but there are literal war crimes being committed against civilians. And it's, you know, Hamas. And they're also indiscriminately doing this. It's not just attacking Israelis. They're also attacking the Palestinians both living in Israel and Gaza. There's Palestinians that are trying to seek refuge out of Gaza right now."
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To help raise financial support and bring emergency supplies to them and everyone on the front lines as well as the innocent civilians stuck in war-torn cities, Granzow started a new campaign through the Christian Agency of Israel, called Raise up Peace.
Part of the campaign is also asking people to share a video of yourself with your friends or family. Raising up your hands in prayer with the hashtag #raiseuppeace and #supportisrael.