In this self-recorded story, Philip Maier tells us of his first encounter with a group of marchers taking a stand for the hostages of October 7th and how he joined them.
(Transcript below gallery)
Auto-generated transcript:
[00:00:00] Hi, my name is Philip Mayer. I’m here in New York City. I’m going to read something in conjunction, hopefully, with the pictures that you can see on the website.
[00:00:09] So, I was out with my camera on University in early January and saw a group walking up the street holding posters. As we got closer to each other, I saw that they were photographs of the hostages who were kidnapped on October 7th.
[00:00:26] Mostly young people with their names and ages stating that they are brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers. They were among the over 200 taken hostage on the day 3, 000 people in Israel were murdered, wounded, beaten, or raped in an unprovoked attack by the terrorist group Hamas. I took a few photos. I asked for a poster and asked if I could join them.
[00:00:51] It is the end of March now and I’ve walked with them four times.
[00:00:57] Photographs you see were taken during this period. The walks have been lasting about an hour. Through Washington Square Park, up University to Union Square, and then back to University. We’re gathering at the end in Union Square. It seems mostly people are from local temples and there are rabbis who may speak at the end or say a prayer.
[00:01:17] There have been many more protests in this area under the euphemistic banner of pro Palestinian, which have far more than the various 25 or so who have been walking every Saturday. The police are present as we walk down and then up to Union Square controlling traffic. There was only one time when I was there that the group was harassed.
[00:01:38] In Union Square, there are four kids, about 12 years old, who are chanting about how many babies in Gaza were killed, and one talking about dead Jews. The posters are handed out randomly, so it surprises me that four times I got the same poster. Avinatan Or is 30 and a son, brother, grandson, and hostage.
[00:02:00] Actually, I worked five times, but four times I got the poster. The poster, like the others, pleads that he be reunited with his family and to bring them home. His girlfriend, Noa, is 26 and was also taken. Karina Ariev is 19, Kfir is 9 months, Ron Benjamin, 23, Nadav Popplewell is 51, Almog Sarusi, 26, Arbel Yehud, 28.
[00:02:25] And over 100 others are still held. They all remain captive and victims of unprovoked violence. I am walking to support the hostages, their families, and their friends. They should not be forgotten.