All yellow

Israelis chant ‘Bring them home’ at Coldplay concert in Athens

Gesture comes after band’s rendition of ‘Yellow,’ the color used to symbolize plight of Hamas hostages; comedian Guy Hochman breaks rib trying to jump on stage with Israeli flag

By ToI Staff 10 June 2024, 1:56 am Edit
Illustrative: Chris Martin of Coldplay performs at the Rose Bowl, September 30, 2023, in Pasadena, California. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Illustrative: Chris Martin of Coldplay performs at the Rose Bowl, September 30, 2023, in Pasadena, California. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Groups of Israelis chanted “Bring them home” at a Coldplay concert in Athens on Sunday, in a gesture of support for the 116 hostages who remain in Hamas captivity.

The chant was started as the British band finished playing their hit song “Yellow,” which is the color used to symbolize support for the hostages.

An Israeli who was at the concert described the emotional moment.

“It was moving to see all the Israelis in front of people from all over the world not forgetting for a moment and reminding everyone that we are here, we are staying here, and we will not be whole until all the hostages come home,” Amir Rosen told the Walla news site.

Athens is among the most popular vacation destinations for Israelis, especially with many now avoiding Turkey amid the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack, due to Ankara’s backing for the terror group.

Also at Coldplay’s Athens show, Israeli comedian Guy Hochman attempted to jump on the stage wrapped in the national flag, but instead fell and broke a rib.

In a post on Instagram describing the attempt, Hochman wrote, “Here’s the final step, I’ll be there soon, smelling [Coldplay lead singer] Chris Martin’s sweat. Here it comes, here I am making history. BOOM! I have fallen. Right rib gone.”

Martin immediately stopped singing when Hochman fell and wouldn’t continue without checking on the comedian.

Then, addressing the audience, he said, “Let me just tell you what happened. We were about to finish the show and the young gentlemen climbed on stage but then fell off stage, and it’s a big drop.”

Apparently downplaying the protest move, he added, “Of course, that was an interesting thing to do. He was excited, and I understand, he wanted to be close to [guitarist] Jonny [Buckland], because Jonny’s so sexy. I get it.”

The show ended with Martin performing a spontaneous rendition of “All my love,” which was not on the original printed set list.

The Israeli gestures at the Coldplay show came a day after videos posted on social media showed large crowds of Israelis in Athens celebrating the rescue of four hostages on Saturday.

Noa Argamani, Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir Jan, and Andrey Kozlov were brought back to Israel in an operation carried out on Saturday, sparking massive celebrations around Israel and abroad.

It is believed that 116 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 19 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.

The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 41 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza. One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.

Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.

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