The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they happen.
‘The time is now’: Parents of Hersh Goldberg Polin take stage at DNC, call for hostage-ceasefire deal to standing ovation
CHICAGO — The parents of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin are greeted to a standing ovation and chants of “Bring them home” as they want onto the stage on the third night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Teary-eyed, Rachel Goldberg-Polin begins sharing the story of her son with the roughly 50,000 people in the packed United Center.
She notes that he is one of the eight American hostages, along with 101 others from ages one to 86 and are of all different faiths. “Like Vice President Kamala Harris, Hersh was born in Oakland, California,” says an emotional but fully composed Rachel who speaks as photos of her son are shown on the jumbotron above her.
The hostage mother notes that 45 Americans were killed on October 7, as she tailors a speech she has given countless times to the particular audience at the United Center.
Rachel recalls how Hersh was attending the Nova music festival “advertised as celebrating peace” on October 7 when Hamas’s October 7 onslaught began.”
Hersh’s left forearm was blown off by a grenade tossed into a roadside bomb shelter where he and 27 others were hiding after the attack began.
“He was loaded onto a pickup truck and stolen from his life, and me and Jon into Gaza,” Rachel says.
“And that was 320 days ago. Since then, we live on another planet. Anyone who is a parent or has had a parent can try to imagine the anguish and misery that Jon and I and all the hostage families are enduring,” she continues.
After standing beside her, Jon Polin moves in front of the microphone.
“Rachel and I are comforted to be back in our Sweet Home, Chicago. We were both born and raised here, and our families still live here,” he says.
“This is a political convention, but needing our only son and all of the cherished hostages home is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue,” Jon says to overwhelming cheers from the crowd.
The hostage father goes on to thank members of Congress from both parties and particularly the Biden administration for their efforts to secure a hostage deal.
“We are all deeply grateful to them. We’re also profoundly thankful to you — the millions of people in the United States and all over the world who have been sending love, support and strength to the hostage families. You’ve kept us breathing in a world without air,” says Jon, who has the number 320 written in black marker on a piece of masking tape stuck to his shirt along with his wife that they have updated each day their 23-year-old son remains in captivity.
“There is a surplus of agony on all sides of the tragic conflict in the Middle East. In a competition of pain, there are no winners,” he continues.
“In our Jewish tradition, we say… Every person is an entire universe. We must save all these universes.”
“In an inflamed Middle East, we know the one thing that can most immediately release pressure and bring calm to the entire region is a deal that brings this diverse group of 109 hostages home and ends the suffering of the innocent civilians in Gaza,” Jon says — garnering a particularly large applause after recognizing the plight of those in the Strip.
“The time is now,” he says to more applause.
Rachel then addresses her son directly: “Hersh! Hersh!”
She then offers the message she has given repeatedly over the past ten and a half months, but does so with even more emotion.
“If you can hear us, we love you. Stay strong. Survive,” Rachel concludes.
The couple brings the entire stadium to its feet in applause as they walk off the stage.
Minnesota AG says Harris, Walz genuine in desire to return hostages, end Gaza war
CHICAGO — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz are genuine in their desire for a ceasefire and hostage deal to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
“They fight for the people, and they also listen. When we say, ‘We need a ceasefire and an end to the loss of innocent lives in Gaza and to bring hostages home, they’re listening. They agree with us,” says Ellison in the first Israel reference of the Democratic National Convention’s third night.
“There are people watching tonight, and maybe even here tonight, who aren’t sure yet about Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, if you want to know where they stand on some of the most urgent issues facing our country and the world, let me assure you, Kamala, and Tim hear you. They listen. They care, and everyone is included in their circle of compassion,” he adds.
Two earlier speakers — Reps. Tom Suozzi and Debbie Wasserman Schultz — wore yellow hostage ribbon pins.
Set to speak shortly are the parents of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
Addressing DNC sidelines event, hostage’s father urges holding Hamas, Israeli government equally accountable
CHICAGO — The father of American-Israeli hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen urges attendees at a J Street event on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention to ensure their progressive communities hold Hamas accountable, even as they call for the Israeli government to agree to a ceasefire.
“All of us have had a reckoning over the past 10 months about what does peace mean today, given that our neighbors did what they did in the most horrible way to our home and to our people,” says Jonathan Dekel-Chen, a resident of the Gaza border community of Kibbutz Nir Oz.
“This in no way contradicts our concern for the future of the civilians of Gaza,” Dekel-Chen continues. “It’s important to know that two things can be true at once — something that is difficult to believe sometimes these days, both in the States and in Israel.”
“I’m speaking to you as a father of a 36-year-old now with three little girls — One boy who he has never met, and I don’t know if my son is alive,” Dekel-Chen tells the over 100 people present at an urban winery in Chicago.
“We should push the Israeli government as far as we possibly can to do the right thing, to lay aside the cheap politics… but at the same time, in the communities that you inhabit, there has to be accountability on the other side as well,” says the hostage father.
“One cannot legitimately condemn Israel for its war actions while ignoring what happened on October 7, that Hamas could have ended this and the suffering of millions of Palestinians in Gaza could have been avoided had they returned the hostages on October 8 or anytime thereafter,” Dekel-Chen adds.
USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, destroyers have arrived in Middle East, US military says
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and accompanying destroyers have arrived in the Middle East, the US military says, after the country’s defense secretary ordered the strike group to accelerate its speed.
The carrier’s arrival brings the number in the region to two — at least temporarily, as the Lincoln is to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt — at a time of heightened fears of regional conflict following high-profile assassinations claimed by, or blamed on, Israel.
“USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), equipped with F-35C and F/A-18 Block III fighters, entered the US Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility,” the military command responsible for the Middle East says on social media.
“The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 3, is accompanied by Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 21 and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9,” it adds.
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), equipped with F-35C and F/A-18 Block III fighters, entered the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility.
The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 3, is accompanied by Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 21 and… pic.twitter.com/RKoJQshigR
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) August 21, 2024
The Pentagon said on August 11 that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered the Lincoln to “accelerate its transit” to the Middle East, after directing its deployment to the region at the beginning of the month.
Fears of a major escalation have mounted since Hezbollah and Iran vowed to respond to twin killings blamed on Israel late last month.
An Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs killed a top Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr, shortly before an attack in Tehran blamed on Israel killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied having any part in the assassination.