IU Hillel mourns, memorializes Israeli hostages killed in Gaza

Editor’s Note: This story includes mention of potentially triggering situations, such as kidnapping, violence and death. 

IU Hillel hosted a memorial Tuesday evening to mourn and remember six Israeli hostages who were confirmed dead Sunday morning.  

The memorial saw a turnout of roughly 60 people, who spent around an hour writing letters and lighting candles in honor of the slain hostages. 

Israeli officials reported Sunday they had recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza: Israelis Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov and Carmel Gat, as well as Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The Israeli Health Ministry said the hostages were shot at close range and died Thursday or Friday. The Israeli military said they recovered their bodies Sunday in a tunnel in Gaza. 

Hamas took 250 people captive from Israel during its attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killing another roughly 1,200 people in Israel. At least 60 living hostages remain in Gaza, as well as about 35 hostages believed to be dead by Israeli authorities, according to the New York Times. 

Israel’s military campaign in response to the attack has killed over 40,000 in Gaza to date and displaced around 90% of Palestinians in Gaza from their homes.  

Following the reports of the hostages’ deaths, demonstrators took to the streets across Israel calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to broker a hostage deal with Hamas. Netanyahu has rejected talks of a ceasefire, promising “total victory” over Hamas as well as the safe return of all hostages. 

Leaders worldwide have joined many in Israel in condemning Netanyahu’s response. U.S. President Joe Biden stated in an interview Tuesday morning that he did not believe Netanyahu was doing enough to free the hostages. Biden added that he believed the U.S. was “close” to successfully negotiating with Hamas.  

At 7 p.m., memorial attendees sang “Oseh Shalom,” a Jewish prayer for peace, all in unison.  

Almog Avraham, a college graduate in Bloomington as a part of IU Hillel’s Israeli fellowship, gave a short speech following the prayer, emphasizing the importance of unity and solidarity in the Jewish community.  

“We are all Jewish,” she said. 

IU Hillel president and junior Leah Sterbcow followed with a speech of her own, reminding the audience that there are ways to make an impact even while being so far from Israel. 

Hillel guests honored the six deceased hostages by lighting candles in their name at a memorial bearing their images. They also wrote letters to the family of one of the hostages, Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. Sterbcow said she was connected to the family through close mutual friends she met at Jewish summer camp. 

IU Hillel also set up a station with green leaflets of paper and a list of hostages captured by Hamas, including those released and confirmed dead. Attendees were encouraged to pick a name on the list and write their name on a leaflet. 

Sterbcow said she intends to use the leaflets to create a Tree of Life on a wall in the Hillel building. The Tree of Life is a religious symbol in Judaism, often used as a metaphor for the Torah.  

“We took this bid on a Tree of Life to be something that we can look at to give us hope, to uplift us,” she said. “Kind of just a reminder of the strength and the resiliency of the Jewish people.” 

Each leaflet will represent a hostage, and each hostage will make up a part of the tree. 

Susannah Sagan, campus support director for Hillel International at 18 campuses, including IU-Bloomington, said that Jewish students and communities across the country have been holding their own memorials for the hostages. Elon University’s Chabad hosted an outdoor vigil, and Harvard University’s Chabad and Hillel organizations drew a crowd of around 200 to their joint vigil. 

“I think that if you don’t do these things, people are isolated and on their own,” she said. “People don’t do well on their own.” 

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