By Emily Rose
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Thousands of mourners lined the streets of Jerusalem on Monday to bid farewell to slain American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the best-known faces of those seized by Hamas-led gunmen on Oct. 7.
Goldberg-Polin’s body, along with the bodies of fellow hostages Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino, were recovered by Israeli troops on Sunday, triggering an outpouring of grief and rage among Israelis traumatized by one of the most devastating attacks in their country’s history.
“I feel he was like a symbol of the hostages,” Amnon Sadovsky, a 70-year-old teacher told Reuters. “We need to have humanity for all people – for Jews and for Arabs.”
Goldberg-Polin, 23, who immigrated to Israel from California at the age of seven, was at the Nova music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7, celebrating his birthday when Hamas-led militants launched their onslaught, killing 1200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Footage shot during the rampage showed several Hamas militants surrounding the roadside bomb shelter where he was hiding, and throwing grenades through the doorway. Most of those hiding inside were killed, while Hersh lost the lower part of his left arm.
Video showed him being loaded with other hostages onto a pickup van, his injury clearly visible.
He was last seen alive in a Hamas video released in April, addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then his family, giving the first public sign that he had survived his injuries.
On Sunday, following the return of the bodies, an autopsy revealed he and the other five hostages had been shot at close range within 48 hours before Israeli forces arrived and recovered the bodies in a tunnel under Gaza.
In a picturesque Jerusalem neighbourhood close to where his family lived, red and white banners bearing his image – a smiling young man with an open shirt and a small beard – dot the streets and hang from balconies, with the message “Free Hersh”.
The death of the six, after nearly 11 months in captivity, sparked a wave of protests, with around 500,000 people taking to the streets in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Sunday night. The protests continued into Monday with a general strike to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring the hostages home.
Talks to bring the hostages back and end the fighting in Gaza, where Israel’s campaign to crush Hamas has destroyed much of the Gaza Strip and killed more than 40,000 people according to Palestinian figures, have stalled.
Hersh’s parents, Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin, have worked to raise awareness of the hostages’ plight since their son’s abduction, meeting officials, including U.S. President Joe Biden.
In a tearful speech at the National Democratic Convention in Chicago last month, Hersh’s mother directed Hersh to “stay strong, stay alive.”
Adressing thousands of mourners at the funeral, Rachel Goldberg-Polin said Hersh “promoted justice and peace” and described the agony she endured for more than 330 days, not knowing of her son’s condition or if she would ever see him again.
“Okay my sweet boy, go now on your journey,” she said. “Finally you’re free.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog expressed how sorry he was that Israel “didn’t protect Hersh on that dark day.”
“In his life and in his death, Hersh has touched all of humanity deeply,” Herzog told the crowd.
“Hersh, we failed you. We all failed you. You would not have failed you,” said Jon Goldberg-Polin.
On Saturday night, just before initial reports of his death began to spread, players from Hapoel Jerusalem, the soccer club he supported, took to the field for their first match of the season wearing black shirts with Hersh’s image against a red hourglass.
“I’ve been hoping and imagining Hersh coming back,” said Nadia Levene, a friend of the family.
“The most amazing thing is Rachel and Jon and their strength and how they went all around the world to save their son,” Levene said. “They couldn’t have done more.”
(Additional reporting by Maayan LubellEditing by Christina Fincher and Deepa Babington)
