Hostages’ families ask for empty seats at Thanksgiving tables to raise awareness
Relatives of 9 Americans taken hostage launch Seats of Hope initiative to honor missing loved ones
Thanksgiving hosts are being asked to set an empty seat at the dinner table to honor the hostages held by Hamas. Courtesy of Seats of Hope
By Beth Harpaz November 21, 2023
Families of nine Americans taken hostage by Hamas are asking Thanksgiving hosts to leave an empty seat at the table Thursday to raise awareness of the captives’ plight.
“It’s been 45 days since our children, our parents, our siblings, our nieces and nephews, our cherished loved ones were abducted by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7,” the 27 family members said in a letter published online by the Seats of Hope initiative. “We don’t know where they are or how they are doing; we only want them home. As we gather to commemorate Thanksgiving, let us hold those with us close and keep those who can’t join us this year in our hearts.”
They went on to ask that Thanksgiving celebrations include an empty chair “in solidarity” with them and with those held captive, and in the hopes that all the hostages will soon be released.
Participants in the Seats of Hope initiative can download and print a sign for a place setting at the table, along with a photo of a hostage and their story. Those who take part can then upload a photo of the empty seat to generate a red dot on an interactive Seats of Hope map.
The statement was signed by the families of Edan Alexander, Liat Beinin, Itay Chen, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Omer Neutra, Keith Samuel Siegel, Adrienne Siegel and 3-year-old Abigail Mor Edan.
Abigail turns 4 on Friday
Abigail was abducted along with a neighbor, Hagar Brodutch, and Brodutch’s three children. Her parents, Roy and Smadar Edan, were murdered in Hamas’ attack on Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where the family lived. Abigail’s siblings, Michael, 10, and Amalia, 6, survived by hiding in a closet.
Abigail’s mother’s first cousin, Noa Naftali, and Noa’s mother, Liz Hirsh Naftali, who is Abigail’s great-aunt, were in Israel on Oct. 7 and spoke by phone Tuesday from New York about the Seats of Hope initiative. They noted that Abigail’s 4th birthday is Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. “A child should not celebrate her 4th birthday somewhere in Gaza, somewhere in the dark,” Liz Naftali said. “Her sister and brother are waiting to have her come home.”
She added that when Americans sit down Thursday with family and friends to contemplate all that they have to be thankful for, “it’s an opportunity to think about the hostages.” Noa said it’s also a way for Americans to support the hostages’ families: “We need help carrying this pain.”
Hamas kidnapped 240 people and killed 1,200 in the Oct. 7 rampages. The hostages include 30 children and dozens of nationals from countries other than the U.S. and Israel, including Thailand, Nepal, France, Argentina and Germany.
Deal under negotiation
A deal was being negotiated Tuesday to secure the release of 50 women and children held by Hamas. In exchange, Israel would pause its bombings and raids in Gaza and release three Palestinian prisoners for every hostage released. Officials in Gaza say Israel’s bombardments there have killed more than 11,000 people.
Asked if they were hopeful that Abigail might be in the first batch of hostages released if the deal comes through, Liz Naftali said: “Until we see these people come free, especially these little kids, we just have to hold ourselves and keep doing the work.”
Another signatory on the Seats of Hope letter, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, spoke by phone from Sarasota, Florida, about his 35-year-old son, Sagui. Sagui was among 75 people taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where another dozen people were “murdered in cold blood.” Dekel-Chen said he hopes the Thanksgiving initiative will help Americans remember that “this is a universal and humanitarian problem,” not just an Israeli one.
In term of the negotiations under way, he noted that the captives include a baby and an 88-year-old who could well be among the first released. That said, he added, “We want all of the hostages released, not piecemeal, not over the course of many months.”
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