Walk over the Ringling Bridge aims to keep civilian hostages in mind.
By Emy McGuire
Original Air Date: Nov. 17, 2023
Host: As the war raging in Gaza is costing thousands of Palestinian lives, Israel’s supporters are mobilizing for a demonstration in Sarasota this Sunday. WSLR reporter Emy McGuire talked to one of the organizers.
Emy McGuire: Today marks one month and 10 days since Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel that resulted in over 1,000 dead and more than 220 people taken hostage. Since then, the death toll in Palestine has numbered at 11,000, and the world is left reeling, many feeling helpless as they watch the war over the news.
On Sunday, Nov. 19, the Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee, among other organizations, have planned an event titled “March Against Hate – Bring the Hostages Home”. The March will begin at 2:15pm in Eloise Werlin City Park and will proceed for three miles over the Ringling Bridge, serving to call for the hostages’ freedom, for awareness, and to combat rising antisemitism.
Liat Alon is the chief learning and engagement officer at the Jewish Federation, and had just returned from a rally in Washington when she spoke with me. Her voice was still hoarse from speaking to a crowd of 300,000. She explained her hope for what this upcoming march can do for the men, women, and children imprisoned by Hamas.
Liat Alon: One of the main things is to keep the hostages on people’s minds. There are more than 240 people – which include babies and a woman who just gave birth, while she is a hostage – who are somewhere, we don’t know where, Red Cross has been denied access to them, civilians that nobody’s heard of the minute they were taken. We know that they were brutally treated, so they were not taken peacefully or with no harm.
EM: Liat told me it was a community member, a temple congregant, who first reached out to the Jewish Federation to encourage action. The Jewish organizations in town then held a meeting to determine what the best course of action might look like.
The March Against Hate team has taken measures to ensure the safety of all the peaceful marchers. The Sarasota Police Department will be providing protection and a sense of security. Liat urges Sarasotans to attend the March Against Hate.
LA: We must call people to join us, to remind everybody that the basic thing that unites us all is that we’re all human beings and we cannot tolerate this. This is not isolated to the Jewish community, this is something as human beings we cannot tolerate.
EM: The March Against Hate is not the first event the Jewish Federation has helped organize to speak out about the Israel-Hamas war. According to Liat Alon, as long as the war continues, this March will likely not be the last.
Israel solidarity event at Municipal Auditorium
This has been Emy McGuire for WSLR News.
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