Parents of Gaza Hostage Make Somber Plea for Middle East Peace

It was a remarkably somber moment inside the arena as Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg spoke of their son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a hostage in Gaza for more than 10 months — 320 days, as the tape on their shirts said.

While the Israeli-Hamas war has been one of the only divisive undercurrents of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week, delegates stood in rapt attention as Ms. Goldberg and Mr. Polin took the stage.

The crowd chanted, “Bring them home,” and Ms. Goldberg doubled over in tears.

“This is a political convention,” Mr. Polin said, “but needing our only son and all of the cherished hostages home is not a political issue.”

Mr. Goldberg-Polin, 23, is one of eight U.S. citizens in captivity in Gaza. Part of his left arm was blown off by a Hamas grenade as he was abducted on Oct. 7.

Ms. Goldberg emphasized the diversity of the more than 100 hostages still in Gaza.

“They are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists,” she said. “They are from 23 different countries. The youngest hostage is a 1-year-old redheaded baby boy, and the oldest is an 86-year-old mustachioed grandfather.”

Mr. Polin ended with a plea for peace.

“There is a surplus of agony on all sides of the tragic conflict in the Middle East,” he said. “In a competition of pain, there are no winners.”

Citing Jewish texts, he added: “Every person is an entire universe. We must save all these universes.”