Israeli college students urge hostage deal and end to war in nationwide protests
Protesters demand deal before semester ends; young hostage family members organize human chain outside Netanyahu’s office while students in Tel Aviv block university entrance
A hundred or so Israeli college students demonstrated in support of a hostage deal and end to the war during a “nationwide day of protest” on Tuesday morning in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa as universities approach the end of the semester.
The students demanded an immediate deal and ceasefire amid what hostage families are calling a critical moment for negotiations.
“We’ve come to the closest point we have ever been [to an agreement],” said Sasha Ariev, the sister of Hamas captive Karina Ariev, outside the gate to Hebrew University’s Givat Ram campus, urging the government to sign off on a deal.
An Israeli delegation is expected to fly out this week to continue talks with mediators with the goal of securing a hostage release deal with Hamas.
Although this week marks the final week of classes for Haifa University students, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem lets out in another week and a half, while Tel Aviv University has almost a full month of learning to go before summer break.
In Haifa, dozens of student activists scrawled messages in marker on whiteboards throughout the campus classrooms.
“Our semester won’t end while their semester hasn’t started,” read one whiteboard slogan, while another read: “There are no victors in war, return the hostages!”
That same morning in Jerusalem, Ariev and Shay Dickmann, a young relative of the Hamas-held hostage Carmel Gat, led students in forming a human chain outside the Hebrew University’s Givat Ram campus, then marched to the Prime Minister’s Office located nearby.
Dickmann addressed the crowd before it set out to Kaplan Street, where the office is located.
“Now, there is a chance that all the hostages will once again be with us. There is a deal on the table, a deal that our own government presented,” she said.
Both Dickmann and Ariev are students at Hebrew University and belong to a group of young hostage families called Hasamba, named for the popular Israeli children’s book series published during the fledgling years of the state.
“The semester ended. We are supposed to be out for summer vacation but for the hostages there is no freedom, they’re not out for summer vacation, they are still in Gaza,” said Ella Lotan, a Hebrew University student and one of the demonstration’s organizers.
“We know that this war won’t yield anything good, it is going on and on and claiming lives for no reason,” she continued.
At noon on Tuesday, students in Jerusalem continued their day of protest, gathering in one of the many hubs within the Mount Scopus campus to chant: “Bring them home!” as their peers and faculty rushed between class sessions.
A smaller group of students at Tel Aviv University demanding a hostage deal and ceasefire blocked the entrance to their campus on Tuesday morning, sitting down on the pavement wearing signs that read: “Agreements save lives” in both Hebrew and Arabic.
“It makes no sense that we continue to study every day and then leave for summer break while at the same time the hostages are still in Gaza. There is a deal, there is no reason not to accept it, there is a deal on the table!” exclaimed activist Avigail Shor while blocking the university’s gate.
