From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Grandchildren call to release elderly hostages ahead of Passover
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Three grandchildren of elderly hostages Chaim Peri, Alex Danzig and Shlomo Mansour speak to the press about their grandfathers and the impossibility of celebrating Passover without them.
There can’t be a Seder without her grandfather, Alex Danzig, said Talya Danzig, 18, whose 75-year-old grandfather suffers from heart disease. He was taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
“He leads the show and tells the stories and the jokes,” says Danzig. “It’s called the Seder, but it won’t have any order,” added Danzig, referring to the Hebrew meaning of seder.
Noam Safir, granddaughter of 86-year-old Mansour, the eldest hostage, who was taken hostage from Kibbutz Kissufim, tells about her Iraqi-born grandfather’s early years, when his family was caught in the Farhud massacre, in which Jews were killed, raped, tortured, kidnapped and assaulted, their homes and stores looted and burned.
“He hid on a roof and cried,” says Safir. “He went through a second Holocaust on October 7.”
Safir said his Passover “won’t be the same as previous years, it’s less of a celebration and more of marking the holiday.”
The Times of Israel Community.