Mom of hostage makes plea: We owe it to these human beings

(NewsNation) — Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh is one of the hostages held since the Oct. 7 attacks, pleaded for all the hostages to be released: “We owe [it] to these human beings … to bring a close to this chapter.”

Goldberg-Polin’s 23-year-old son, an American-Israeli dual citizen, was attending a music festival when militants launched attacks that killed more than 1,300 others. His left arm was blown off and he was taken captive.

“He’s obviously in a very fragile, compromised medical situation,” Goldberg-Polin told NewsNation of her son in video footage showing his amputation. “We are hopeful that the men in the room will lean forward and do the right thing for all of the people in this region suffering.”

The video was the first sign of life of Hersh since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, and its release ignited new protests in Jerusalem calling on the government to do more to secure the captives’ release.

The latest round of Gaza cease-fire talks ended in Cairo after “in-depth and serious discussions,” the Hamas militant group said Sunday, reiterating key demands that Israel again rejected. After earlier signs of progress, the outlook appeared to dim as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to resist international pressure to halt the war.

Goldberg-Polin said she wears a new piece of masking tape daily with the number of days her son has been held captive — now at 212. “I think the human species has failed them,” she said of the hostages.

The hostages hail from different nations and various faiths, she noted, urging the public not to “erase their identities” or view them as “a monolithic homogenous group.”

“I hear very little mentioned about the Arab Muslim hostages. I hear very little mentioned about the Thai Buddhist hostages. I hear very little mentioned about the black African Christian hostages,” she said.

From coast to coast, U.S. campus protesters put up tents to protest Israel’s military action in Gaza and demand the schools divest from companies they claim “profit from Israeli apartheid.”

Goldberg-Polin said that the protests can legitimately be concerned about the suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza, while also being concerned about the innocent civilian hostages, including her son, who were “dragged there” and are suffering. “I completely think it is fair, you can hold two truths.”

Addressing government leaders, she pleaded: “Have the bravery and the wisdom to do the thing that is best for the innocent people and to love the people who you represent more than you hate the enemy.”