Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin, American-Israeli parents whose son Hersh was kidnapped from a music festival by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack, spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday.
Watch remarks from Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin in the player above.
Rachel told the silent crowd at the United Center that Hersh’s left forearm was blown off by a grenade in the attack before Hamas loaded him into a pickup truck. “It was taken from him – and Jon and me – in Gaza.”
“We have been living on a different planet ever since,” she said. “Anyone who has parents or has had parents can imagine the torment and misery that Jon and I and all the other hostage families have to endure.”
Both parents each carried a piece of tape marked “320,” marking the number of days he had been in captivity. Jon said that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are “both working tirelessly for a hostage settlement and ceasefire.” The parents called for the release of the remaining hostages and an end to the suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza.
“There is great suffering on all sides of the tragic conflict in the Middle East,” Jon said of the many deaths among Israelis and Palestinians. “In the contest of pain, there are no winners.”
