About 150 people gathered on Feb. 23 outside the Embassy of Qatar in Washington, D.C., calling on the emirate to facilitate a fair agreement for the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Washington organized the gathering, which was cosponsored by Americans for Ben-Gurion University (A4BGU), B’nai Israel Congregation, Ohr Kodesh Congregation and Temple Rodef Shalom.
The gathering came after A4BGU’s CEO Doug Seserman recently led a leadership solidarity trip to Israel.
“What a solidarity experience it was. It’s been 110 days now, and 136 hostages remain in Gaza,” Seserman said at the time. “The situation is horrific, and time is running out. Let’s pray for their safe return.”
Regarding the Feb. 23 gathering in Washington, A4BGU Chief Development Officer Keren Waranch said, “We are particularly grateful that the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington provided Americans for Ben-Gurion University with the opportunity to partner on the gathering. It is more important than ever that community organizations come together to amplify our collective voice, calling on Qatar to help broker a fair agreement that will bring the more than 130 remaining hostages home — including members of the Ben-Gurion University community such as one of our students, Noa Argamani.”
Speakers at the gathering included the JCRC’s Executive Director Ron Halber; Iran Forman, former Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism at the U.S. State Department; Palestinian human rights activist Bassem Eid; Jason Pressberg, Director of Development at A4BGU for the Baltimore and Greater Washington, D.C., communities; and Rabbis Jeffrey Saxe and Alexandra Stein from Temple Rodef Shalom.
The JCRC had organized a similar gathering on Jan. 24.
