Standing in solidarity with the hostages and missing persons families, Bar-Ilan University marked the 100th day of war and captivity with two events – one on its Ramat Gan campus and the other on its Azrieli Faculty of Medicine campus in Safed (Tsfat).
On its Ramat Gan campus, the university administration, faculty, staff, and students gathered together at the Garden of the Returning Hostages for an early morning assembly, which began with 100 seconds of silence.
University Rector, Prof. Amnon Albeck, led a prayer for the return and safety of the hostages. Israeli singer, Eliraz Sadeh, dedicated a song to them and poet, Anadad Eldan, a 99-year-old resident of Kibbutz Be’eri who survived the massacre, read a poem he had written nine years before in memory of his daughter who had passed away and was very relevant and meaningful in light of current events. Noam, a BIU Law student, captivated the audience as she spoke about her 86-year-old grandfather, Shlomo Mansour, who is still being held captive by Hamas.
Later, the Student Union led a march across campus with the participation of relatives of the hostages. The march took participants through the main street of the campus where pictures of the hostages were displayed. Next to each of the pictures, a bowl with pita bread and rice was placed, symbolizing the scarce food provided to the people in captivity.
At the Faculty of Medicine, students and staff planted yellow flowers to show solidarity with the returned hostages and those still in Gaza.
After the day’s commemoration activities, 136 yellow balloons, one for each captive, were released into the blue sky with the hope of a speedy return.
Both events were attended by hundreds of students, senior university administrators, and faculty members.
