This night we are all hostages: Passover protests planned across the country

Demonstrators protest calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip and against the current Israeli government outside Hakirya Base in Tel Aviv, April 20, 2024.

Family members of hostages will spend Monday, the night of the Passover Seder, in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Caesarea home, calling for the release of the hostages, said a representative of the families involved in the initiative.

“There is no liberation while the hostages are being held by Hamas,” said the families, touching on the Passover holiday’s meaning as a holiday of liberation.

Family members will speak at the event outside Netanyahu’s home, which will also include a “holiday table” alongside other art installations.

“Netanyahu has enslaved us to Hamas,” said the families in a statement about the event. “The one who funded the terror organization for years fueled the October 7 attack and is responsible for the kidnapping and death of our loved ones.”

“While Netanyahu and his family gather around the table for a holiday meal, the hostages will continue to rot in Hamas tunnels, steps away from freedom,” said the families, who called for Netanyahu to be removed from office.

Additional protests and acts of remembering the hostages through discussion and prayer were planned for Monday night at locations across the country.

Passover solidarity

Rally in Hostage Square for a hostage deal ahead of Passover, April 18, 2024. (credit: DANOR AHARON)

Rally in Hostage Square for a hostage deal ahead of Passover, April 18, 2024. (credit: DANOR AHARON)

In one such initiative, the public was invited to complete some or all of their Passover Seder in the street. “If they are not at home, we are not at home,” read a flyer for the event. “This night, we are all hostages.”

“This Passover it will be hard for us all to celebrate while the hostages are still in Gaza and their families are in terror,” said the initiative. “It will be hard to sit at home when tens of thousands are evacuated from their homes after experiencing terrible trauma.”

“In solidarity with and to embrace them, we will all leave our homes. We will have the Seder (or part of it) in the street.”

A protest installation in Tel Aviv entitled “They are dying there” was planned for Tuesday, the first day of Passover. Some 200 people will participate to mark 200 days of captivity, said organizers. Families of hostages will participate in the installation, which was initiated by Ofer Kalderon’s cousin Ifat Kalderon, according to organizers.

Ultra-Orthodox leadership from the Council of Torah called on the haredi public to incorporate a special prayer for the hostages in their Seder. The public was asked to incorporate the prayer, under the title, “from enslavement to redemption,” after the “pour out your wrath” section in the Seder.

Thousands gathered to call for the release of the hostages Saturday night at rallies and protests held around the country.

Opposition head Yair Lapid spoke at a rally in Haifa, saying that “this government is not the country; this government is a disaster that happened to the country. For the sake of the hostages, for the sake of the soldiers, for the sake of the evacuees, to save The State of Israel, we need elections now,” he added.

Former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz also spoke in Haifa, saying that Israel’s government poses an existential threat to the country. “Netanyahu is an immediate and clear danger to Israel,” he added.

Among the protest organizations involved on Saturday was The Change Generation. “This week, we will celebrate the holiday of Passover, which reminds us about the danger of a leader whose heart has been hardened,” said Josh Drill, a leader of the organization.

“His heart has been hardened to our suffering and the suffering of the Israeli hostages who are dying in Hamas’s terror tunnels. Instead of prioritizing national healing and security, Netanyahu is solely focused on his own political survival,” he said.