More than 1,000 demonstrators holding Israeli and American flags and posters of the remaining hostages lined the street outside of Columbia University on Friday morning as a public reminder that 133 people from over two dozen countries remain captive in Gaza.
Less than 50 meters away, behind the university's gates which have remained closed to the public for almost a week, the Gaza Solidarity Encampment remains standing on a portion of the campus lawn.
The protests on Columbia have disrupted campus life while inspiring a mass protest movement at colleges and universities across the country.
The New York Hostage and Missing Families Forum organized Friday's rally and speakers which included Or Gat, brother of hostage Carmel Gat; Leat Unger, a Columbia alumna and cousin of hostage Omer Shem-Tov; Dana Cwaigrach, a leader of the Hostages Families Forum and a graduate student at Columbia and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.
Omer Lubaton-Granot, who has led the Forum since October 7, is also a Columbia graduate student.
"There are still 133 hostages that are held by a terror organization for more than 200 days," Lubaton-Granot said. "And we are here to remind everyone inside, everyone outside, the media that is here and for all of us, that we need to bring them home."
Remarks made by family members of hostages
Or began his remarks by apologizing to his 39-year-old sister Carmel for the "living hell" she's enduring in Gaza.
"I am sorry that you were abducted to Gaza. I am sorry that you saw the body of her mother after they shot a bullet in her head," Or said. "You probably feel that everyone gave up on you."
Now there is a slight opportunity to fix it all as we know the conditions for a deal and what needs to be done, Or said.
Or said there now an agreement between 18 countries that have hostages in Gaza in calling for Hamas to release them.
"It's possible, and it's possible to do it now before another one gets killed. We're sorry that we haven't succeeded. We're doing everything," Or said. "We're waiting for everyone to see the value in life right now. That's why we're here right now."
Or's sister-in-law Yarden Roman-Gat was also taken hostage and released during the first ceasefire.
"She came back after 54 days to her daughter, Geffen, three and a half years old. She waited for her mother, she's now waiting for her aunt and a grandmother who is not coming back," Or said. "We need to bring them back, now. It's possible as Yarden came back. Please help us do it now."
Mark Levine addressed the crowd in Hebrew before saying in English that despite the culture war which has broken out at Columbia - and across the city and the world - there's been little mention of the remaining hostages.
"Where is the global outrage? There are hostages from 25 countries. There are at least five hostages who are fellow Americans still in captivity. Where is the American outrage?" Levine said.
"Even if you have no basic sympathy for these human beings, you must concede that the single most impactful act that would help bring about an end to this horrific conflict is the immediate release of all the hostages," Levine added.
Unger took the microphone and said she still can't grasp that it's been 203 days.
"I am also an alumnae of this institution of Columbia University, the university that I dreamed of attending because of its values," Unger said. "What I see happening on campus is a direct violation of Columbia University's mission statement."
While Unger said there is noise and hostility on college campuses, she still has hope.
Unger said she was taught that hope in the darkest of days in November when a ceasefire deal was achieved and hostilities temporarily paused.
Omer was kidnapped from the Nova music festival with his friend Itay Regev and Itay's sister Maya. Itay and Maya, who were released during the November ceasefire, said that Omer maintained his steadfast hope and faith while in the darkness of the Hamas Tunnels. They said Omer rationed his food and saved his grape juice make Kiddish.
"As dark as it feels for me today, as hard as it is for me to stand here before you, I am here to bring the hope that I feel," Unger said. "Omer maintains his hope."
Unger said the end of suffering for innocent people on both sides can only begin and end with the release of Omer Shem-Tov and 132 of her "brothers and sisters" in captivity.
Dana Cwaigrach, who is Israeli, told the crowd it was her dream to study at Columbia.
There's a place for constructive discourse, but there's no place to question the fact 133 hostages remain in captivity, Cwaigrach said.
Cwaigrach shared how she and some friends put up posters of the hostages on campus after October 7, and found them ripped down less than 10 hours later.
Cwaigrach said she's here to remind administrators - and her fellow classmates who she's been in school with for the past two years who are now protesting on campus - that Jews and Israelis want a ceasefire.
"But in order for a ceasefire to be achieved, we need to let the hostages go," Cwaigrach said. "I'm reminding my fellow classmates something that they may have overlooked. In order for there to be a ceasefire, all 133 hostages need to be home."