TAMPA, Fla. — A solidarity gathering was hosted on Sunday in Tampa by Project Dynamo to honor the American hostages in Gaza.
It marked 100 days since those hostages have been kept in the Middle East.
“We ask for humanity from people to realize that this is people who were taken from their loved ones, and we are suffering not knowing anything about them,” Michael Waldman, who was in attendance at the gathering, said. “We are local Tampa residents with dual citizenship and we had a family member who was taken from his bed.”
Waldman said he was taken hostage 100 days ago in Gaza.
“We don’t know if he’s cold, if he’s hungry, if he’s sleeping, if he’s getting medical care.“
According to Project Dynamo, eight American hostages in Gaza remain in limbo. CEO Bryan Stern said it’s worse than it’s been in decades.
“There are more American hostages in captivity today than there have been in the last 40 years, and nobody is really talking about that,“ he said.
The nonprofit runs missions all over the globe rescuing hostages from hostile and war-torn areas.
“I rescued more Americans out of bad places than 10 SEAL teams combined, personally,” Stern said.
Stern said he’s calling on everyone, regardless of politics, race, religion or creed to tie a yellow ribbon to make sure these names and their loved ones are not forgotten.
“It's important that we remind everyone that the hostages are still hostages,” said Jeffrey Berger, president of the Jewish Federation of Tampa.
“We appreciate any sort of empathy and sympathy. Nobody should ever be in a position when they are unsafe in their own home,” Waldman said.
About 40 people braved the cold temperatures to attend the rally in Tampa.