182 Days
The killing of seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen was a punch to the gut, tragically adding to the already too-high death count in this horrific war. The seven, who sought only to help, feed, and serve, represented the best of humankind, with the purest of intentions, making their loss all the more tragic, and making this war ever-more despairing.
That dire news came on the heels of the US decision to abstain from the UN resolution demanding a ceasefire, and Senator Chuck Schumer’s call for new elections in Israel, making it a hard week – to put it mildly – for Israel and Israel’s supporters. Immediately following Schumer’s speech and the abstention vote, yet another hostage negotiation broke down, owing to an emboldened Hamas who, like the rest of the world, doesn’t have to look too hard to see the cracks in the supposedly unshakable US-Israel bond.
All this, while the hostage families grapple with holding onto hope while stuck in a groundhog day of endless trauma as the minutes/hours/days tick by and negotiations lead nowhere. Unbelievably, a phone call yesterday between Biden and Netanyahu did not even mention the hostages. 134 hostages, eight of them American, have now been held by Hamas for 182 days. Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the mother of Hersh, 23, whose left arm was blown off by a Hamas grenade before being taken hostage, attaches a piece of masking tape to her shirt daily, bearing the number of days the hostages have been held. Yesterday, Rachel took to Instagram to report she has run through a whole roll of masking tape. That detail made me weep as it puts into high relief how long this nightmare has gone on. 182 days is Fall and Winter and now Spring. Nearly 6 months, the time it takes a newborn to become a baby that babbles and smiles. Almost half a year. 4,368 hours. A full roll of masking tape.
If only there was something that could be done to return the hostages and put this tragedy to an end.
Well, there is.
Hamas must return the hostages. If Hamas lays down their weapons and returns the hostages, the war ends. The only legitimate ceasefire is a Hamas ceasefire, for it is Hamas that brought war to Israel’s door on October 7, murdering, raping, beheading and capturing innocent Israelis. And so it is Hamas who can and must end the war.
Hamas is responsible for the loss of innocent Gazans because Hamas is using them as human shields, hiding in their homes and hospitals. It is Hamas who is thwarting humanitarian relief, making off with the food and medicine for their own use. It is Hamas that has promised to perpetuate October 7 over and over, making it necessary for Israel to check the aid supply chain for weapons that would allow Hamas to be successful in another murderous massacre.
Getting back the hostages must be first and foremost. Why has this essential demand been diminished? I am speaking to you, Prime Minister Netanyahu. Your goals in this war have strayed from what should be the absolute and primary imperative: bringing the hostages home now. How do you sleep at night knowing that on your watch, your people were taken from their beds, or while out dancing, and if not slaughtered, were taken into captivity by the same people who gleefully put a baby in an oven? You need no reminders from me that Israel is in a bad neighborhood, making it even more treacherous to allow innocent civilians to be taken at will and held interminably. Not getting them back, I fear, means not only will Israel and the national psyche not recover, but it will happen again.
Make Hamas give them back. 134 human beings. 19 women, all of whom are believed to be pregnant, meaning all of them raped. The hostages have life-threatening illnesses, missing limbs; they are old, and extremely young. They are underfed or unfed; beaten and tortured. They are barely alive or already dead, their bodies being held by Hamas as bargaining chips. They are all traumatized. They are all we should focus on. They are our people. And they need to come home.
Step up and engage in the links at the end of this blog. Call your congressional representative. Do whatever you can. Rachel is out of tape and we should all be out of patience. Do something.
Am Yisrael Chai
Write PM Netanyahu and urge him to have wider mandates when negotiating for the hostages in Cairo this week. Urge him to put the hostages first and bring them home now. The Prime Minister’s email is below.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ Email President Biden and tell him his support for Israel must be unwavering and that the focus must be on bringing home the hostages, 8 Americans among them.
https://tr.ee/l-1X-jdXDd Text President Biden and tell him his support for Israel must be unwavering and that the focus must be on bringing home the hostages, 8 Americans among them.
