January 14 was the one hundredth day since Palestinian terrorists and their supporters smashed their way across the border from Gaza into southern Israel – brutally murdering, torturing and raping civilians and dragging hundreds of Israeli and foreign hostages back into the Hamas-run enclave.
To mark 100 days of captivity for the 136 of their compatriots still held hostage in Gaza, Israeli organizations, individuals and institutions held a series of events around the country and even abroad.
Replicating The Tunnels
Perhaps the most hard-hitting feature of the protest can be found in the plaza outside Tel Aviv Museum of Art, now widely known as Hostages Square and where the loved ones of the abductees have been staging a permanent protest almost since the October 7 attack.
There, next to the long table laid for each of the 240 people abducted on October 7, families of the hostages have constructed a concrete replica of the tunnels in which many if not all of the captives are now believed to be held.
Those who were released from captivity in Gaza have described dank, dark tunnels, where there is no fresh air or natural light.
The narrow, claustrophobia-inducing walls of the facsimile tunnel are illuminated with the same makeshift lighting as the original Gaza burrows, while sounds of loud explosions and gunfire are played – intending to exactly invoke the horrendous conditions in which the captives are kept.
Ron Levavi, the designer who created the installation, told AFP that he tried to make “the most faithful reconstruction” of the Gaza tunnels to “give an idea of what the hostages have been feeling for so many days.”
Hundreds of Israelis queued to experience the desperate conditions for themselves when the tunnel installation was opened on January 13, scrawling messages on the walls as they did so.
Even former hostages who were freed during the series of November releases of Israeli captives by Hamas visited the site, reliving the trauma of those days in a show of solidarity with those left behind.
24-Hour Homage
The plaza was also where the events to mark the dreadful date began in the evening of Saturday, January 13, with more than 120,000 attending a rally despite the stormy weather.
The rally was the start of the 24-hour nonstop event in the square, during which guest speakers, singers and survivors of captivity in Gaza were appearing and members of the public were invited to attend as an act of solidarity throughout the period.
The speakers on Saturday night included US Ambassador Jack Lew, who reiterated President Joe Biden’s declared determination to bring home every hostage, not just the eight Americans believed to be still in Hamas hands.
“We won’t rest until everyone is returned home,” Lew said. “We are united in the demand to bring them back now.”
French President Emmanuel Macron also recorded a message that was played at the event. At least two French nationals are among those being held captive in Gaza.
“France does not abandon its children,” Macron said in his message.
100-Minute Shutdown
In their own act of solidarity devised by the Histadrut, Israel’s Labor Federation, thousands of Israeli businesses, universities and other organizations, institutions and people went on strike for 100 minutes at 11am (Israel Time) on January 14.
Key institutions used those 100 minutes to hold their own smaller activities to mark the day. At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 100 yellow balloons were released into the air across its four campuses, in what it said was “a visual symbol of hope and a collective prayer for the swift and safe return of the abductees.”
At Tel Aviv University, a series of short lectures on life post-October 7 was held in collaboration with ANU – Museum of the Jewish People, which sits on its campus. Later in the day, the university was holding a rally alongside relatives of the Israelis still held captive, followed by a march from the campus to Hostages Square – a distance of some 5km.
Hundreds of shops and eateries also closed their doors in the 24 branches of BIG, one of Israel’s major shopping centers chain at 11am, while members of the senior management attended a ceremony at the mall in Yehud, near Tel Aviv.
“We feel that this is the time for us too to show social responsibility and do everything we can to put pressure on the government to bring back the hostages,” BIG CEO Hay Galis told The Times of Israel.
One Million-Bell Protest
On the international stage, countries around the world were to ring out a total of one million bells at 4pm Israel time, to remember the hostages on their 100th day of captivity.
“Ring to Remember, to Return, to Reclaim,” said the promotion for the initiative, which included bells being sounded in Argentina, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the Foreign Ministry, the World Zionist Organization and major hotel chains were also participating in the initiative, the JNS website said.
The bells commemoration was actually the initiative of Dr. Inon Schenker, a lecturer at Ben Gurion University of the Negev and senior director for public health at Israel pharma giant Teva.
“Bells have been a powerful tool for centuries. One bell can warn of danger and save a village,” he said.
“One million bells may shake the world, herald hope and mark a line between humanity and evil. October 7, 2023 must be remembered globally as a defining moment against terror.”
Related posts
Editors’ & Readers’ Choice: 10 Favorite NoCamels Articles
Forward Facing: What Does The Future Hold For Israeli High-Tech?
Impact Innovation: Israeli Startups That Could Shape Our Future
Facebook comments