Daily Briefing – Hostage Video, Campus Protest and others issues

Jim Williams reports on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, as well as other Middle Eastern affairs, through various written and video posts. Make sure to check back regularly for the latest updates and reports.   Hersh Goldberg-Polin was last seen on October 7, 2023, during his capture by Hamas terrorists. The harrowing event was documented by his kidnappers, showing him in the back of a pick-up truck with part of his left arm missing due to a Hamas grenade as he was being taken from the Tribe of Nova music festival in southern Israel. On that fateful day in October, 253 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage by the gunmen. Tragically, this event resulted in the loss of approximately 1,200 lives, making it the deadliest single attack in Israel’s history since the Holocaust. The gravity of this tragedy is immeasurable, and its impact continues to resonate. However, in a propaganda video released by Hamas for the first time in 202 days, the world witnessed Goldberg-Polin speaking in Hebrew (not his native language), spending nearly three minutes criticizing Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “not doing enough and blaming him for not securing the release of the captives.” He closed his video with a message to his parents in his hometown of Chicago. “I love you so much and miss you so much,” Goldberg-Polin said. “I know you’re doing your best to get me home as soon as possible. I want you to stay strong for me, and not stop until we all return home in peace.”

• “Seeing the video of Hersh today is overwhelming. We are relieved to see him alive, but we are also concerned about his health and wellbeing as well as that of all the other hostages and all of those suffering in this region,” his parents Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin said in a video statement.

UPDATE ON THE HOSTAGES –THURSDAY 11 AM. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking last week from the G7 summit in Capri, Italy, emphasized that the sole obstacle preventing a ceasefire for the Gazan people is Hamas. He asserted that Hamas has been shifting its position, making it challenging to reach an agreement. According to Blinken, “The only thing standing between the Gazan people and a ceasefire is Hamas”. Despite generous proposals from Israel, Hamas has continued to resist a resolution. The situation remains complex, with lives at stake, and international efforts continue to seek a peaceful resolution in the region. Hamas rejected generous proposals from Israel and seems more interested in a regional conflict than a ceasefire that would immediately improve the lives of the Palestinian people, Blinken said.   CAMPUS PROTESTS– Noon As of this morning the University Texas in Austin, the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles and a number of other colleges around the country have had active pro-Palestinian pretests. In Chicago multiple media reports that the local police have moved into control protesters at Northwestern.