From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 18, 2024
Mothers of Gaza hostages stage protest outside Knesset to pressure gov’t for deal
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
A group of hostage mothers dressed in white stand in the middle of a larger circle of women inside the Knesset on Monday afternoon, part of Shift 101, a new protest movement that gathers silently outside government institutions in Jerusalem, aiming to pressure the government to return the hostages home.
“It was not easy because you’re in a vulnerable place and you’re singing your pain, and almost nobody stopped,” says Idit Ohel, whose son, Alon Ohel, was taken captive from the Nova desert rave on October 7, 2023. “You’re thinking, ‘Okay, what do I need to do for them to say something, to say ‘We’re with you,’ or to stop and see it and feel it.”
“I don’t care how you do it,” says Ohel. “Just bring Alon-y home.”
It is the third week of Shift 101, and the first time these quiet activists have entered the Knesset. After standing and quietly singing in a main hallway of the government building, the mothers and activists with them rejoin others sitting in silent protest on Kaplan Street outside the Knesset, all in white on the chilly, November afternoon, some holding white umbrellas, as it begins to drizzle softly.
Ohel and several hostage mothers are present, including Niva Wenkert, mother of hostage Omer Wenkert, Shira Albag, mother of hostage Liri Albag, Ayelet Levy, mother of hostage Naama Levy, Orly Gilboa, mother of hostage Daniella Gilboa, and Devorah Idan, mother of hostage Tsahi Idan.
Shift 101 is not political, says Ohel, but rather all kinds of mothers and women and men who want the 101 remaining hostages to come home.
“We’re saying things in a different way,” adds Ohel. “I think it’s very powerful to be quiet because sometimes when you’re loud, nobody can hear.”
The Times of Israel Community.