Hundreds rally in New York City to demand release of Hamas hostages
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[October 20, 2023]
By Jonathan Allen and Gabriella Borter
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Hundreds of demonstrators rallied in New York City's
Times Square on Thursday to demand the release of hostages taken by
Hamas, as President Joe Biden faces mounting pressure to leverage every
diplomatic tool to secure the freedom of American captives.
Billboards showed the faces of people believed to be held hostage,
including babies and elderly people, as the crowd chanted, "Bring them
home."
Speakers at the rally included Ronan and Orna Neutra, whose 22-year-old
son, Omer, is thought to be held captive. They described him as a
natural leader and avid athlete who captained the basketball, volleyball
and soccer teams at his school.
The grandson of Holocaust survivors, Omer Neutra postponed his college
plans to move to Israel, where he joined the Israel Defense Forces. The
night before the attacks, Neutra spoke with his parents by phone,
telling them he was looking forward to a quiet weekend after a month
spent patrolling the border, his father recounted.
"We are heartbroken. We are worried," his mother said. "But we are
focused and resolute in doing everything within our power to bring Omer
back."
U.S. officials have said Hamas is holding some 200 people hostage after
the Palestinian group's Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel, when militants
killed about 1,400 Israelis.
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While there is no official list of Americans in captivity, the top
Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jim Risch,
told reporters on Wednesday that 10 of the hostages were American.
"It is the highest priority here. We want those people out," Risch said.
Thursday's protest in Times Square was organized by the nonprofit
Israeli American Council, which represents Israeli Americans in the U.S.
Speakers, including U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, the first Jewish Senate
majority leader in history, vowed to stand with Israel and fight back
against Hamas.
"We no longer can be the Jews trembling in the shadows," actor and
activist Yuval David, a dual Israeli and American citizen, told the
crowd. "We know what happened to us then, and we know what is happening
to us now."
Americans across the U.S. are taking to the streets on a near-daily
basis to protest on behalf of Israel or the Palestinian people, with
bitter divisions re-emerging over the decades-long conflict in the
Middle East.
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![](../images/102023PIX/news_x26.jpg)
Pro-Israel demonstrators protest in Times Square on the second day
of the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant
group Hamas, in Manhattan in New York City, U.S., October 8, 2023.
REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo
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A pro-Palestinian rally was planned for Friday outside the main
branch of New York City's public library to call for a ceasefire. On
Wednesday, hundreds of protesters demanding a ceasefire were
arrested while occupying the rotunda of the Cannon House office
building at the U.S. Capitol.
"Ceasefire is the only way for the deaths to stop. Ceasefire is the
only way to bring hostages home," organizers of Friday's New York
rally said on their event page.
Biden visited Israel this week to reiterate his support and urge the
country's leaders to avert a humanitarian disaster as it prepares a
ground invasion into the Gaza Strip.
His administration must walk a fine line. The task of securing the
hostages' release may require negotiating assistance from countries
in the region, including Qatar, that have no diplomatic ties with
Israel.
Rachel Goldberg, the mother of 23-year-old hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin,
a dual Israeli and U.S. citizen, said the last messages she had
received from her son were sent on the morning of Oct. 7, when he
wrote, "I love you guys. I'm sorry." She said police confirmed the
last signal from her son's phone showed it in Gaza that morning.
"I don't know that he's alive, I don't know that he made it,"
Goldberg said in an interview in Jerusalem.
U.S. officials have not released names of the Americans believed to
be held hostage. But media reports have identified several missing
people with American citizenship, including Goldberg-Polin; a
66-year-old nurse, Adrienne Neta; 35-year-old Sagui Dekel-Chen, a
father of two with a baby on the way; and Itay Chen, who serves in
the Israel Defense Force.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York and Gabriella Borter in
Washington; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Writing by
Gabriella Borter and Joseph Ax; Editing by Frank McGurty, Jonathan
Oatis and Deepa Babington)
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