As of May 13, over 35,034 Palestinians have been killed inIsrael'srelentless bombing of Gaza.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son has been held captive by Hamas for seven months, recently shared a heartbreaking Mother's Day video. In the emotional clip, she read out a letter she wrote to her son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, on the eve of his third birthday in 2003, thanking him for making her a mother.
Mr Goldberg-Polin, now 23, is an Israeli-American and has been held captive by Hamas for 219 days. He was abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, as indicated by the number “219” taped to his mother's shirt in the video. Throughout her son's captivity, Mrs Goldberg-Polin, who was also named on Time's 100 Most Influential People list, has travelled the world advocating for the release of all hostages.
In the video clip uploaded to X, formerly Twitter, Mrs Goldberg-Polin said it was Mother's Day and she “decided to read you this letter that I wrote to Hersh the night before he turned 3 years old.”
"Hersh, these last three years have been the most challenging and best years of my life," the heartbroken mother read aloud from the letter, adding that "nothing can begin to describe my love for you."
She recounted an emotional moment when she had peeked into her son's bedroom at night to watch him sleep in his blue onesie while clutching his teddy bear. She said she touched his “long, soft, curly hair,” and returned to her room and “cried and cried.” She then shared a line from a famous Yiddish lullaby, which translated to, “Your mother will cry a thousand tears before you grow to be a man.”
She read further, “One day when you have children, and I can't even fathom that now, you will know this kind of so much more than love.” She called him her “baby”, claiming that her ultimate goal as a parent was to help him “become a confident, self-sufficient, and independent person. But that means you won't need me,” she continued, highlighting the bitter irony that she has become one of the most vocal advocates fighting for the release of her only son and the other hostages.
“And I think that is what's causing my heart to ache so much right now. I want to raise you to become a healthy person of the world,” she said, adding, “I don't want to let you go.”
See the video here:
Earlier, Hamas released a video showing a nearly unrecognisable Hersh Goldberg-Polin, looking gaunt and with part of his left arm missing. It was the first glimpse of him since he was abducted. Rachel Goldberg-Polin described the experience as both "painful" and "amazing" to see her son alive.
As of May 13, over 35,034 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's relentless bombing of Gaza in retaliation to the October 7 attacks. At least, 1,410 Israelis were killed when Hamas targeted a music festival and other areas in southern Israel. There are concerns that at least 20 more hostages may have died, with their bodies held captive in Gaza. At least 132 hostages are still in captivity in the Gaza Strip; 128 of them were abducted on October 7, 2023.