Consider This from NPR - 'Bring them home.' Hostages' families cry.

Episode Date: September 4, 2024

It was a night of mourning on Tuesday, when Doug Emhoff, second gentlemen and the first Jewish spouse to a US president or Vice president, spoke at the Adas Israel Congregation in Washington DC. Emhoff was one of more than a thousand people attending a prayer vigil dedicated to six hostages recently killed by Hamas. Their bodies were recovered over the weekend. The deaths of the six hostages comes as it's been more than 300 days since Hamas took more than 240 people hostage after it attacked Israel on October 7th. As the days in captivity drag on, many have been killed, and their families live in agony. One of those family members is LeElle Slifer, who's cousin Carmel Gat was one of the six hostages killed. She shares what her cousin meant to her and what her family wants from the Israeli government.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It is good to actually be together tonight, together as a community. It was a night of mourning on Tuesday when Doug Imhoff, second gentleman and the first Jewish spouse to a U.S. president or vice president, spoke at the Adas Israel congregation in Washington, D.C. This is hard. This is raw. I'm gutted. And I know you all are, too. More than a thousand people attended a prayer vigil dedicated to six hostages recently killed by Hamas. Their bodies were recovered over the weekend. Their names were Carmel Gott, Eden Urshalmi, Alexander Lubinov, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino, and Hirsch Goldberg-Pollen. I send each of the families my deepest sympathies for what we are all going through and for the sickening feeling that we all could not save them. The vigil played a video of the eulogy given by Hersh's mother, Rachel Goldberg-Pollen, in Jerusalem.

There she spoke of the hope, she felt, that a ceasefire deal could have saved her son. It tasted close, but it was not to be so. Liat Karin, whose 21-year-old cousin remains in captivity, also spoke at the vigil. I believe that a deal is the only viable path to turn the stories of horror into stories of hope and resilience for all of us. Demands for a ceasefire intensified on Monday when nationwide protests in Israel brought much of that country to a standstill. The streets in downtown Tel Aviv were packed with people stretching for blocks and blocks. They were shutting down intersections. People were climbing on top of bus stops.

And Pierre's Kat Lonsdorff reporting from Tel Aviv. Every single person I talked to last night blamed the death of these hostages on Netanyahu, saying that they believed he was the one obstructing the ceasefire deal. Consider this. It's been more than 300 days since Hamas took more than 240 people hostage after attacking Israel. As the days in captivity drag on, many of them have been killed, and their families live in agony. After the break, we hear from Liel Slipher, the cousin of one of the six hostages recently killed. From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly.

It's Consider This from NPR. This next conversation speaks to the love between cousins. As with siblings, there is usually shared history, but often without all the bickering, all the rivalries. For Liel Slipher, that shared history included summers spent with her cousin Carmel Gat in Israel at her grandmother's kibbutz. We used to help Tova make labanet in her little kitchen in the kibbutz, and we would eat artikim, popsicles, bask in the golden sun without a fear in the world, the way you can only do in your youth. That's Slipher speaking at a vigil Tuesday night here in Washington. The service was dedicated to her cousin and the five other Israeli hostages whose bodies were recovered over the weekend. Liel Slipher joins me now from her home in Dallas, Texas, to remember her cousin.

I want to say welcome and also how very sorry I am for your loss. Leal Slifer joins me now from her home in Dallas, Texas, to remember her cousin. I want to say welcome and also how very sorry I am for your loss. Thank you. I appreciate it. And thank you for having me to talk about Carmel. We just heard your memory of some of the summers with her. What else would you like people to know about Carmel? Carmel was the most peaceful, spiritual person. She was amazing. She devoted her life to others. She was an occupational therapist. She traveled to India. She loved helping children. And you could really see that from the stories that we heard of some of the hostages that she was kept with. They were released in November, teenagers. And they said that

while they were being held captive, Carmel would do yoga with them and teach them how to do guided meditations to help keep them sane. They called her their guardian angel. And I believe to the very end she was doing that, putting others ahead of herself. I want to ask about some of the other hostages, including the dozens of hostages still in captivity. And I want to play you, this is the phrase we've heard over and over at that vigil last night. Bring them home now. Bring them home now. Bring them home now. Bring them home now. Bring them home now.

Liel Slipher, what steps would you like to see the Israeli government take to achieve that? It's very difficult because I'm in the U.S. And I don't know the Israeli government as well as I know the U.S. government and all the steps they're taking. But I do know that the U.S. has consistently said over the last year that Israel has accepted proposals, U.S.-backed proposals. They have, I believe, Secretary Blinken called them serious. President Biden said the same thing. And so Israel, I believe, is making a good faith effort to bring these hostages home. And it is time for the U.S. and the international community to start pressuring Hamas to do the same. Yeah. I mean, you're talking about efforts

to reach some kind of ceasefire, a ceasefire that would include Hamas releasing hostages. This is a tough question to ask, but I am curious, are you at all sympathetic to the reasons that Israel's leaders have given for not doing that, at least not so far? That if Hamas is not defeated, if Israel pulls out too soon, Hamas will rebuild, it will attack again, more hostages could be taken. I am sympathetic to that. I mean, think about what, you know, the only thing that's different now is they've killed our hostages and we put pressure on Israel because they killed our hostages.

That's simply going to embolden terrorists in the future. And I do sympathize with that. I know not everyone agrees, and I know it's a really difficult position to be in, but we have to start putting pressure on Hamas. It has to come from not just the U.S., but the rest of the world. Before I let you go, what would you say to the leaders of Israel and the U.S. about what families like yours, families of the hostages, are going through? You cannot keep waiting. This has to get done. It has to get done right away. We cannot expect to get everyone out by force. It has to be done with a global deal. And I beg the United States administration to stand with Israel and to stand with the rest of the world in making sure that happens.

Liel Slipher, her cousin Carmel Gott was one of the six hostages recently killed by Hamas. Thank you. Thank you. This episode was produced by Mark Rivers and Erica Ryan with audio engineering by Neil Tivold. It was edited by Courtney Dorney. Our executive producer is Sammy Yinnigan. And one more thing before we go, you can now enjoy the Consider This newsletter. We still help you break down a major story of the day. And you will also get to know our producers and hosts and some moments of joy from the All Things Considered team. You can sign up at npr.org slash consider this newsletter. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Mary Louise Kelly.