Mother of one of the hostages on the Israel-Hamas War six months later
(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Sunday marks six months since October 7, the day Hamas attacked Israel, igniting the deadliest war ever between Israelis and Palestinians.
Families of hostages still being held by Hamas are demanding their release, and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the hostages, spoke with Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan about the war six months later.
"This is such a painful, staggeringly indescribable odyssey that we are on...And we are feeling extreme desperation, despair. And we've had wonderful access and sympathy, and open doors and lots of hugs from everyone in the U.S. government. But this is a very binary situation. We want our people back, period. And that's what we're going to be talking [on Monday] about is what is actually going to be happening, what leverage, what levers need to be pulled in order to make this happen, because six months is actually a complete failure on everybody's part. And I actually include myself in that as a parent, that I have not been able to save my son...Anyone who is a parent can appreciate our job is to keep our children safe. And when they get in a situation when they're not safe, our job is to save them. And I feel that I have failed. And I feel that our governments have failed. And I feel that all the parties at the table have failed to get these 133 souls back home."
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Mother of Hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin
When asked what she's asking people in America to do to help her, Goldberg-Polin said:
"There are so many different things that can be done. You know, there's advocacy really that needs to be done so that people around the world understand who is this cohort of hostages that are being held? I think there's so much noise and anger and hatred in the world that people are forgetting that there's a representation of all different types of people being held. You know, we still have eight Muslim Arabs being held in this hostage cohort. We have seven Thai Buddhists being held. We have two black African Christians being held. We have people from Nepal and people from Mexico and people from Germany and people from France, people from all over the world. This is not just one homogenous group of people that is being held. And I think that that kind of gets lost in all the noise. I think talking to your leaders, wherever you are in the world, certainly your local elected leaders in America, writing to the White House. Again, the Biden administration has been wonderful and very supportive, but we have one goal: We need these people home."
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Mother of Hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin
To watch more of Brennan's interview with Goldberg-Polin, click here.
