The Hostages and Missing Families Forum organization hosted a gathering Friday afternoon in front of the Lincoln Memorial honoring the 225 people of the initial 229 still held in Gaza after Hamas kidnapped them during the October 7 attack on Israel.
In front of the speakers — which included friends and family members of those in Hamas’s captivity — between a stage and the steps on which the audience stood, was a long table set for Shabbat with empty seats marking the hostages’ absences from their tables at home.
One such speaker, American University professor Boaz Atzili, described the fate that had befallen his family at the hands of terrorists in a kibbutz near Gaza that suffered some of the worst massacres on that day.
“My family at Kibbutz Nir Oz was not fortunate. They went through hell on that horrible Saturday,” he said. “My cousin Aviv Atzili, and his wife, Liat Beinin Atzili, are missing. The house was burned to the ground, but the bodies were not found, and Aviv’s phone was geolocated to Gaza, so we assume that they are hostages over there.”
Aviv is a mechanic on the kibbutz and an artist, and Liat is a history teacher, as well as a tour guide and educator at Yad Vashem — Israel’s Holocaust museum. She teaches “that horrific story in the history of the Jewish people to the youth,” Atzili told the audience, “in an effort to ensure it never happens again. How ironic.”
Sheila Katz, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), described her personal connection to Hamas’s attack.
“Carmela Dan, who had just turned 80, and her granddaughter, Noya, who had autism, died together — were killed together by Hamas,” she said in her remarks. “Still in captivity is Erez Calderon, who turned 12 yesterday, Sahar Calderon, who’s 16, Ofer Calderon, who’s 53, these are some of my best friend’s family.”
Katz said the leader of one of the NCJW’s sister organizations had been abducted as well.
“Our main partner in Israel — Women Wage Peace — their founder, Vivian Silver, was also taken hostage.”
Liat Beinin Atzili’s father, Yehuda Beinin, was resolute in his desire to see Jews in southern Israel repair what Hamas destroyed.
“Our response to Hamas is now we’re going to rebuild the kibbutz,” he said to the audience. “I promise you that all of Israel stands united and dedicated to missions ahead of us in rebuilding and re-establishing the communities.”
The emcee of the event, Israel-born Maryland real-estate agent Avi Galanti, stressed the importance of ensuring that the speakers’ message be heard.
“We want [the world] to know that this is everybody’s problem,” he told National Review. “The attack on October 7 was not just an attack on Israel. It was not even just an attack on Jews. It was an attack on the member nations of Western civilization, and that’s what we want people to know.”
William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told NR that he wants to ensure that elected officials understand the necessity to get abducted civilians home.
“The plight of the hostages is the highest priority for us, and as [elected officials] engage with countries and others that have influence with Hamas,” he said, “they need to deliver the message that these hostages must be unconditionally released immediately.”
Daroff, alongside the relatives of those held in Gaza and others involved with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, has met with the Biden administration. He told NR he is as satisfied as he can be with the White House’s response.
“I think the Biden administration has been very focused on the hostages,” Daroff said, listing individuals within the federal government who have been involved in devising a way to get them out of Gaza. “It is top of mind with the Biden administration, and our desire is for it to be top of mind with the international community — with the United Nations, with the International Red Cross, with anyone who can have influence with Hamas.”