Pro-Israeli protesters ask UN Sec-Gen Guterres: 'What if Hamas kidnapped your loved ones?'

More than 130 protesters gathered outside the United Nations headquarters in New York on Tuesday holding signs and images of Israel's hostages being held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and had custom versions of the posters with a message directed to UN Sec.-Gen. António Guterres.

“Secretary Guterres, what if Hamas kidnapped your loved ones?” the posters read, and included images of the UN leader's wife, son and daughter with their eyes covered with a bold black line across the photo.

The protest, organized by the local chapter of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, was calling out the UN secretary general because of recent remarks he has made to seemingly justify the Hamas terror invasion and attack on Israel on Oct. 7. The UN leader also referred to the Gaza Strip as a "graveyard for children" and demanded an urgent ceasefire, ignoring the decision of the U.S. and Israel to continue its fight against the Hamas terror group that killed 1,400 innocent civilians in a surprise attack, while holding at least 240 hostages from at least 28 different nationalities in Gaza.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum was created by Israeli citizens to advocate for the return of the hostages that were kidnapped and remain in captivity in Gaza more than one month since the brutal attack.

The protesters on Tuesday, including children, sat on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs and wearing black blindfolds, while singing Israel’s national anthem, Hatikvah (the Hope).

“I think that we feel that the support from the international community and especially from the UN is not as strong as we would expect when we face the biggest hostage crisis ever," said Omer Lubaton-Granot, who leads the organization. He established the "Bring them home now" campaign to garner more international support for the demanding the release of the hostages.

"And that babies and elderly and women and unassociated civilians are held hostage by a terror organization whose intent and cruelty is well-known,” he told The Times of Israel, adding that the UN has the means to put pressure on Hamas but was not using it.

“The UN has a lot of tools to negotiate or mediate or to put pressure or gain leverage on Hamas. And I don’t care [which] way they choose. Time is running out. Each day is critical,” Lubaton-Granot said.

“I want to believe the people sitting in this building are taking it seriously, as if it was their own families,” he added. 

Many participants at the demonstration also feel that the international community seems to largely have forgotten how the war was instigated: Starting with the Hamas invasion, slaughter and abduction of innocent civilians, while launching missiles toward Israeli towns early on Shabbat morning, Oct. 7, which also happened to be a Jewish holiday, Simchat Torah.

Jewish progressive Charlene Frank expressed her disappointment that no one from the progressive causes she has supported as an American Jew are willing to march with her for the release of the hostages in Gaza.

“I fought for immigrants, I worked in the camps in Matamoros, Mexico. I’ve been in every 'Black Lives Matter' march. And nobody’s marching with me [to release the hostages]. And it makes me really sad, because I marched with everybody,” said Frank.

Na’ama Keha, an Israeli filmmaker in New York who helped organize the demonstration in front of the UN, is the co-creator of a new digital platform called “One Min a Day."

By visiting the site, Americans can plug in their location by zip code, access the contact details for their elected officials and call them to demand the release of the hostages.

The site provides the script for the phone call or voicemail message and allows users to track their calls.

“There are almost two sides right now. And they fall into political agendas: "Ceasefire and ‘free Palestine’" versus "Release the hostages and pro-Israel,” Keha said. “I think once it’s been politicized we all lose. Because we cannot sense the basic compassion for innocent people,” she added, noting how the situation has become so politicized.