My Visit to Hostage Square

Hostages Square photo courtesy of the author.

Hostages Square photo courtesy of the author.

Hostages Square photo courtesy of the author.

Hostages Square photo courtesy of the author.

“Bring Them Home Now,” a plea for the world to remember each and every hostage kidnapped by Hamas on October 7^th, has become an integral part of the fabric of Israeli life.

The BringThemHomeNow.com website and campaign was created to keep the hostages front and center on a daily basis. Its website states that the Hostage and Missing Families Forum “was established within 24 hours of the horrific terror attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7th” (in which about 1,200 innocent civilians were murdered and over 240 taken hostage).

Laser-focused on the hostages, the volunteer-based Forum “offers families holistic support and professional assistance and advances the ongoing efforts through all channels, locally, regionally and globally, to bring the hostages and the missing back home to their loved ones.” On the website, you’ll find pictures and stories about each hostage, along with ways you can help.

As I witnessed during my recent trip to Israel, this campaign has succeeded in making a tremendous impact. When you enter or leave Ben Gurion Airport, you are greeted with pictures of the hostages. You see posters of the hostages and yellow ribbons everywhere in the country. They line the streets and are displayed on the outside of commercial buildings and people’s homes.

Yellow ribbons adorn the jackets of newscasters. Female performers on television sport yellow fingernails. The hostages and their family members have become familiar faces to everyone in Israel.

Family members have encamped and created Hostages Square, a public gathering place on Tel Aviv’s open plaza, located in front of the Tel Aviv Art Museum, between the Opera House, Cameri Theatre and the library. The space, always staffed with family members and volunteers, has become their meeting place, as well as the location to boost public awareness and protest.

Every Saturday evening after Shabbat ends, hundreds of thousands of Israelis gather on Hostages Square for a peaceful protest rally. Family members and released hostages speak, videos are shown, and musical performances take place. When we were there, Eden Golan sang a heart-wrenching rendition of “October Rain” (the original version of the song “Hurricane,” which she performed at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest).

Hostages Square is filled with symbols that families and artists have created to represent the agony of the hostages still being held by Hamas. It helps everyone who visits Hostages Square remember each and every one of the hostages personally, and collectively.

Walking in Hostages Square is a humbling, emotional experience. On the gates surrounding the plaza are pictures of each hostage, Israeli flags, yellow ribbons and a sign reading, “Don’t close your eyes.” As you enter the square, there are evergreen trees reaching upwards with the names of each hostage. On the other side of the square, 240 mirrors on sticks, called “Pieces of Light,” are inscribed:

“On 7^th of October 2023, more than 240 innocent Israeli civilians, including women, elderly people, children and infants, were kidnapped into Gaza by the Hamas Terror Organization. This installation is a reminder. A reminder that some of our missing loved ones are still here and can be saved. A reminder that this could easily have been us, instead of them. A reminder that hope, like light, will never stop [shining]. A reminder that we are all beings of light.” Art and Design–Karen Zach, Tom Love, OCD design, AEladin.

Symbolic representations of the hostage crisis fill the entire plaza: a long table, set beautifully for Shabbat, but with empty chairs; large yellow ribbons joined together; artistic panels with the words “Bring Them Home” on top, as well as memorials to the Nova Music Festival victims, decorated with the symbolic red ceramic flowers.

I was heartbroken upon encountering a large heart, wrapped in chains, inside a plexiglass case, standing prominently on the plaza. A sign in English and Hebrew read:

“This heart art piece was originally created to stand in the setting of a colorful and joyous festival. After the October 7^th terror attack, this piece got a whole new horrible meaning. Like our own hearts, it has been chained and would not be unchained until every single one of our hostages comes back home. Created by Kfir Cohen.”

Fear and anxiety enveloped me in the two experiential displays: a walk-through of a replica of a dingy Hamas tunnel and a darkened tent where videos showed real hostages’ experiences. With a broken heart and under enormous physical distress, I visited each display, while music was emanating from a piano encased in yellow, displacing the sign, “You are not alone.” These images have now become embedded in my brain, surfacing again and again like mournful sounds of a broken record.

Before leaving Hostages Square, I visited one of the tables selling paraphernalia to keep the memories of the hostages alive. I bought dog tags, bracelets and yellow ribbons for myself, as well as for family and friends.

I now don yellow nails on my hands and feet, joining with fellow Hadassah members in support of Hadassah’s social media campaign to remember the hostages and #EndTheSilence. I wear a hostage dog tag around my neck and a yellow ribbon on my clothes daily. I pray I will be able to end this ritual soon. Only then will I go back to wearing my favorite purple nail polish.

Am Israel Chai. The nation of Israel lives.
Bring Them Home Now.