Joy and sadness at Riverdale’s hostage march

Sunday’s Run 4 Their Lives — a weekly walk through Riverdale calling for the release of Hamas’ captives —  reflected a mix of joy and sadness.

“We never imagined we would be here a year after we started this walk,” said Netta Pack, a Riverdalian who is a junior at The Leffell School in Hartsdale. She began the walks on Jan. 19, 2024, with family friend Ari Vogel, a junior at The Heschel School near Lincoln Center.

In exchange for 33 hostages Hamas commited to release in the first phase of the current ceasefire deal (including Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher who were freed on Sunday), Israel pledged to release hundreds of prisoners, including Abdullah Sharbati, Majdi Zaatari and Samer al-Atrash, masterminds behind a 2003 bus bombing that killed 24 people including seven children.

While thrilled that three hostages were released on Sunday, Pack explained her personal frustration with the deal.

“In 2012, my great-grandfather Yitzchock was on a bus in Jerusalem on a quiet morning.  A suicide bomber walked onto the bus and detonated his bomb, blowing up the bus and injuring 20 people, including my great-grandfather,” she said. “He lost his hearing and was in pain from the injuries he sustained in this attack. The quality of his life was dramatically impacted and he died shortly after.

“In this deal, that suicide bomber, who actually wanted to die that day but somehow managed to survive, will be released from jail.”

“This shows us what has been happening not just for the last 471 days but for years. We all must remain together to sustain who we are and overcome this pain together,” Pack said.

“Three beautiful souls are coming home today but there are still 96 left.”

Every Sunday at 10 am, Riverdale residents set out from Seton Park, parading through the community and congregating at the Memorial Bell Tower while chanting “Bring them all home!”

“Nothing is more important than our brothers and sisters coming home today,”  City Councilman Eric Dinowitz said after the crowd assembled at the Bell Tower. “I can only hope and pray that all of the hostages will return.”

“I feel like I can say ‘good morning’,” he said. “So many times we’ve been speaking to each other and saying ‘good’ just didn’t feel right. For the first time in a long time I feel good.”

“It’s an upbeat moment but a heavy moment,” remarked Avi Weiss, founding rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale (the Bayit). “Zion is ecstatic for its children, that the hostages are coming home.”

He said that sometimes two emotions come together as one and we may have joy in moments of sadness and sadness at times of joy, referencing the breaking of a glass at the culmination of Jewish wedding.

“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.

Organizers said the walk will continue every Sunday morning until all of the hostages return.