Saying goodbye to Bili and Shugi, the dog she and Mats adopted from a soldier who was called up.

I didn’t expect to write again so soon. I only posted my report of yesterday’s journey to the Gaza Envelope to see the memorials for the Nova Festival-goers a few hours ago.

I am now at the airport waiting for my flight back to the U.S.

But just as the photos of the hostages greeted me in the airport when I first arrived two weeks ago, they were there to remind me on my way out. I am posting photos of those whom I feel connected to because of news reports, or in the case of Keith Siegel, because we had met with his brother Lee at the beginning of the trip.

The posters of those still in captivity line the ramp down to the airport gates. There are big gaps in some places because of those who were released or are known to be dead (though I noticed that American-Israeli Judy Weinstein’s poster was still there, though she was confirmed dead in December.)

Keith’s wife Avivah, who was released from captivity, was on t.v. last night with a few other women hostages who had been released, appealing to Netanyahu to get the rest of the hostages out of Gaza, to make the deal with Hamas that he has refused. Why does he refuse? Because to do so would mean the fall of his government; the far-right in his coalition do not want to make the deal and would withdraw from his coalition. Some may disagree, but I believe his reasons are craven and merely self-serving. 

We met with Keith’s brother Lee in Tel Aviv at the beginning of our trip. Keith’s wife Avivah was released from Gaza and appeared on t.v. last night with other female hostages who had been released.

Noa’s parents appeared on American t.v. often in the early days after October 7

I say Romi’s picture yesterday at the Nova memorial. Last night her father was on Israeli t.v. talking about her and her bravery.

Amiram Cooper, poet and composer. His wife was released from captivity.

When I got to the photo of Hersh Polin-Goldberg, close to the end of the ramp, seeing all the hand-written notes on it, just broke me. American-born to two American parents, his mother Rachel has often been in the media advocating for all of the hostages. Hersh, like so many of those dead or taken hostages were from the peace camp. He was working with an initiative to bring Palestinian and Jewish Israelis together around soccer. I started crying uncontrollably as I made my way to the VAT counter to get my refund for a purchase I’d made. The woman at the counter asked me if I was okay, if I needed a cup of water. I told her why I was crying, that seeing those photos just broke me, even though I’d been reminded of them everywhere for the past two weeks. She said, “We are the strongest people in the world.” Then she, like most everyone else I’ve met here, thanked me for coming. 

When I got to Hersh’s poster, which was close to the end of the “gallery” of photos, I utterly broke, sobbing. Seeing all the notes on his made it so personal, so piercing, and the emotions I’d been holding these past two weeks flooded me.