Freed Hamas hostages to march in NY's Israel Day Parade this weekend: ‘We won't stop until everyone is home'
Keith and Aviva Siegel, Doron Steinbrecher, Ilana Gritzewsky and Eliya Cohen are expected to join as many as 40,000 other demonstrators for the parade, showing solidarity for Israel as well as advocating for the plight of the hostages.
'We will march together, standing with the families and released hostages, and making our message unmistakably clear: Nothing is more important than bringing them home — all of them. We won't stop until everyone is home,' the Jewish Community Relations Council said in a statement.
This year's theme is, fittingly, 'Hatikvah,' meaning 'the hope' in Hebrew. It is also the title of Israel's national anthem.
The parade logo for 2025 is a multi-colored tree with a yellow ribbon in its center, which has been used to signify support for the 251 people who were abducted by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack.
The Siegels and Gritzeweky were freed from captivity in November 2023 during the first cease-fire deal with Hamas, while Steinbracher and Cohen endured nearly 500 days of torture.
'It's just impossible to grasp, and there are no words to describe the lack of understanding in our country about what is taking place 50 meters underground,' Cohen said after his release.
It will be the second march since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war, and its mission has since pivoted from celebrating the Jewish culture to stamping out antisemitism and renewing demands to free the remaining hostages.
The procession will start at 11:30 a.m. at 62nd Street and continue north to 74th Street.
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