A vigil was held Sunday night in Culver Metropolis simply hours after Israeli authorities shared the information that six hostages had been killed by Hamas after practically a yr in captivity.
One of many slain hostages was 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a California-born man whose mother and father spoke on the Democratic Nationwide Conference final month and who has change into extensively recognized within the wake of the terrorist assaults.
Sunday evening’s vigil was held on the website of a memorial exhibit devoted to the Oct. 7 bloodbath in Israel. The memorial, in a 50,000-square-foot industrial occasion house, opened Aug. 17.
Shortly earlier than the occasion, Scooter Braun, a music govt and the primary organizer of the memorial service, instructed The Instances that after the killings, the choice was made to carry the vigil amid the exhibit, which re-creates the assault on the Nova musical pageant in Israel.
By 6 p.m. Sunday, a number of hundred individuals had gathered. Many wore a chunk of tape on their chests with the quantity 331, to suggest the variety of days because the hostages have been taken. The service was held in part of the exhibit often called the “therapeutic room.”
Braun stated the exhibit was impressed by tales instructed by survivors of the music pageant.
“It has nothing to do with politics. You gained’t see any flags right here,” Braun stated. “It’s strictly concerning the music pageant and what happened there. To permit individuals to see this might’ve been Coachella, this might’ve been Stagecoach.”
Scooter Braun speaks at a vigil on the Nova Exhibition on September 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The vigil was held to honor the six hostages who have been taken October 7, 2023 and have been killed by Hamas.
(Eric Thayer / For The Instances)
A lot of the lately slain hostages had attended the Oct. 7 Nova music pageant.
Israeli officers confirmed Sunday morning that the our bodies of the six hostages, together with Goldberg-Polin, have been present in a tunnel beneath the southern Gaza metropolis of Rafah. Authorities discovered their our bodies Saturday evening, and an post-mortem revealed that 4 males and two ladies died someday Thursday or Friday from gunshot wounds.
Talking on the DNC in Chicago on Aug. 21, Rachel Goldberg stated her son, whom she described as a fan of music and journey, attended the pageant in Israel’s Negev Desert along with his greatest buddy to have fun Goldberg-Polin’s birthday.
Goldberg stood alongside her husband, Jon Polin, throughout a tearful speech. The mother and father, who’ve met with quite a few political leaders within the months since their son’s abduction, spoke on the Chicago conference 12 days earlier than information broke of his demise.
She went on to explain the horrific sequence of occasions that unfolded the morning of Oct. 7, and that Goldberg-Polin and his buddy, together with 27 different festival-goers, hid in a 5-by-8-foot bomb shelter as militants threw grenades into the shelter. Goldberg-Polin was taken into captivity. His buddy, Goldberg stated, heroically deflected eight grenades till he was killed by a ninth one.
Folks attend a vigil on the Nova Exhibition on September 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The vigil was held to honor the six hostages who have been taken October 7, 2023 and have been killed by Hamas. (Eric Thayer / For The Instances)
A view from the vigil on the Nova Exhibition held on September 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Instances)
“Hersh’s left forearm, his dominant arm, was blown off earlier than he was loaded onto a pickup truck and stolen from his life,” his mom stated.
“At this second, 109 treasured human beings are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza,” she stated. “Among the many hostages are eight Americans. A kind of People is our solely son.”
The opposite hostages who have been killed, along with Goldberg-Polin, who was the one U.S. citizen amongst them, have been recognized by the Israeli navy as Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; Alexander Lobanov, 33; and Carmel Gat, 40.
In a preliminary evaluation, the Israeli navy stated all six have been killed “shortly” earlier than troops arrived to retrieve them to security.
On Oct. 7, Hamas-led Palestinian militants executed a number of assaults all through Israel, together with on the music pageant, the place 364 attendees have been killed and about 250 people have been taken hostage. About half of these hostages have been freed in a hostage-prisoner swap final yr. In complete, 1,200 Israelis have been killed, together with a minimum of 42 People.
Since these assaults, Israel retaliated with an aerial bombardment of Gaza, a densely populated space of land, and with floor troops, waging a battle that has since killed greater than 40,000 Palestinians, in line with Gaza well being officers.
Folks attend a vigil on the Nova Exhibition on September 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The vigil was held to honor the six hostages who have been taken October 7, 2023 and have been killed by Hamas.
(Eric Thayer / For The Instances)
