From the Liveblog of
Saturday, January 20, 2024
Matisyahu performs at weekly rally in Tel Aviv for return of hostages
Cnaan Lidor is The Times of Israel's Jewish World reporter
The Jewish-American rapper Matisyahu kicks off the main weekly rally for the return of the hostages in Tel Aviv.
“You’ll have my voice and all I’ll be thinking is the return of the hostages,” Matisyahu, whose real name is Matthew Paul Miller, tells the thousands of people gathered at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on Saturday night.
He performs a song about antisemitism featuring multiple allusions to the Holocaust followed by his well-known hit “One Day.”
This week’s rally, the 15th since October 7, is split between Tel Aviv and Caesarea, near the private residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where a number of relatives of hostages in Gaza camped out Friday night for the first time to pressure the government to do more to bring home the hostages who remain in Gaza.
The rallies, organized by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, feature speakers who demand an end to the fighting in Gaza and an exchange with Hamas for the hostages’ return. Hamas reportedly is demanding a ceasefire as a precondition for any deal.
The rally in Tel Aviv broadcasts the protest in Caesarea, where people shouting are heard shouting into megaphones “Deal, right now!”
