The grassroots initiative, Run 4 Their Lives was created in January 2024 to raise awareness of the Israeli hostages held by a Palestinian militant amidst the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict which was reignited on Oct. 7, 2023.
And as they commemorated their one-year anniversary on Jan. 19, their mission came to fruition as they also celebrated the release of three Israeli female hostages, Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher. After months of walking every Sunday morning in a show of solidarity for the hostages’ release, it was a joyous moment for all.
“We never imagined we would be here a year after we started this walk. Last week, we could only hope and imagine that the hostages were coming back. [Now] it’s turning into a reality,” Netta Pack said, a junior at Leffell High School who started the movement in 2023 with family friend, Ari Vogel, a junior at Abraham Joshua Heschel High School. “We have happiness for Roni, Doron, Emily and their families and emotions of fear and anxiety for their future and what the next weeks will look like.”
While more than thrilled for the release of the hostages, Pack explained her personal frustration with the deal. In exchange for the hostages, Israel is expected to release hundreds of prisoners, including Abdullah Sharbati, Majdi Zaatari and Samer al-Atrash. The three individuals were the masterminds behind a 2003 bus bombing that killed 24 people including seven children.
“This shows us that what has been happening has been happening for years. We all must sustain this pain together,” Pack said. “Three beautiful souls are coming home today but there are still 96 left.”
The program has drawn participation from Riverdale residents where every Sunday morning, they walk from Seton Park through the Riverdale community and end at the memorial bell tower while chanting “Bring them all home!”
Last Sunday morning, participants carried yellow balloons to represent freedom for the hostages and orange balloons to commemorate the birthday of the youngest hostage, Kfir Bibas’ who turned two years old while captive. The orange balloons were symbolic of the color of Bibas’ hair.
Once the group assembled at the monument, they were addressed by several emotional speakers.
“I can finally say ‘good morning; and for the first time in a long time feel good about it,” Councilman Eric Dinowitz exclaimed. “We’ve all been looking forward to this moment and nothing is more important than our brothers and sisters coming home today.”
“ On a day we are experiencing so much joy and celebration, I’m noticing the fear and anxiety and sadness. I look around and see the poster of Hersh [Goldberg-Polin],” Rabba Sara Hurwitz of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale said. “I can only hope and pray that all of the hostages will return.”
At the somber celebration, the group sang, ‘V’shavu Banim L’Gvulam,’ a phrase from the Hebrew Bible which translates to, “And your children shall return to their borders.”
“It’s an upbeat moment but a heavy moment,” remarked Rabbi Avi Weiss, founding member of Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. “Zion is ecstatic for its children, that the hostages are coming home.”
He expressed, sometimes in life we must understand that two emotions can come together as one. One can be joyous in sadness and one can have sadness in joy.
The walk will take place every Sunday morning until all of the hostages return home, continuing the unwavering commitment to the cause.
“We have hoped and hoped and hoped, and cried and cried and cried,” said Ari Vogel, “but we will always choose life, the life of a baby, the life of a mother or a father, because that’s who we are.”