The Ribbon-Resistance in Romania

October 7th, 2023 has had a ripple effect around the world – in ways both good and bad.

All photos by author.

Landing in Bucharest a few days before the barbaric attacks in Israel was unsettling at best. I sought out community, showed solidarity with Israelis (including helping with the influx of families who had fled to Romania) and sought ways to support efforts to pressure Hamas to release the hostages.

To my surprise, sorrow and distress, the local Jewish community proved to be as fragmented as I’d come to see it, and as non-proactive as I’d feared – except for the first few months when I joined a handful of Israelis to affix hostage posters around town. But all of that was short-lived, people carried on with their lives and I felt alone and out at sea.

At the same time, the pro-Hamas faction was present and growing; gatherings, protests, parades with throngs of flag-bearing, keffiyeh-wearing Romanians – Muslims and others (including many “Gays for Palestine”)-  became a weekly reality.

Hostage posters were ripped down. And Free Gaza graffiti went up.

The presence and voice of Jews, Israelis and locals, was completely absent. I had to do something. I stuck yellow ribbon labels near the university, embassies elsewhere. I stuck them on walls, poles and right over pro-Hamas posters.

It was my little act of resistance; a small, solitary and inoffensive way of raising awareness about one of the worst humanitarian crises of the past year (plus). A wordless image shedding light on a global tragedy.

I waited. And watched. A month passed, two, and the labels I passed remained untouched. But after I came back from a visit overseas, the tide had turned.

The echos of physical violence and the savage attempts to destroy the lives of human beings, whatever their nationality religion or ethnic composition, are unmistakable.

But these ribbons will continue to be our symbols of resistance and unwavering determination to bring all the remaining hostages home. Every single one.

Am Israel Chai.