What its like to fight for your (captive) family - with Maya Roman

Published: April 12, 2024, 4 a.m.

b'There has been growing tension within Israeli society over where to prioritize a hostage deal \\u2013 at what cost (in terms of how many and which Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons should be part of the deal and the length of any temporary ceasefire).\\n\\nAt the same time, the sense of urgency behind Israel\'s hostage cause in capitals around the world is\\u2026drifting. Not disappearing, but drifting. A turning point seemed to be when the UN Security Council passed a resolution \\u2013 14-0 (made possible by a US decision not to veto) \\u2013 that, for the first time, did not call for a ceasefire that was conditioned on the return of the hostages. \\n\\nIt\\u2019s a sense we get from families of hostages, who are in regular contact with media, NGOs and governments around the world.\\n\\nIt\\u2019s against that backdrop, that we sat down in person with Maya Roman, who was in New York and Washington, DC. \\n\\nMaya Roman is an Israeli journalist from Tel Aviv. On October 7th, Maya\\u2019s cousin, Yarden Roman-Gat, was visiting her husband\\u2019s parents in Kibbutz Beeri along with other family members. Yarden and her sister in law, Carmel, were taken hostage. Yarden\\u2019s mother-in-law (and Carmel\\u2019s mother), Kinneret, was murdered. Yarden was released as part of the hostage deal last November. Carmel is still being held.\\n\\nSince 10/07, Maya has not stopped organizing or advocating for the release of her family. When we hear of the hostage families movement, Maya is the kind of person who has been in the middle of it. In our conversation, Maya talks about what they have learned from Yarden since her return from captivity, and where the hostage movement may go from here, at this crucial and very raw phase.\\n\\n"Bring Carmel Back" on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bringcarmelback?igsh=MTBkaGlsd3JtbXI4eQ=='