A crowd of Newton residents spanned a neighborhood block Sunday afternoon, gathering to rehang posters of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza at a suburban home after the faces and names were spray painted over last month.
“Like all Newtonians, members of our Jewish community have the right to feel safe at home and comfortable putting a lawn side supporting Israel out front and also in this instance, the faces of the hostages on the fence in their yard,” said Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, speaking at the gathering in front of a Newton home on Homer Street.
The rally was organized by the homeowners, Jeff and Miriam Kosowsky, who hung the hostage signs in their front yard. It follows a publicized event on March 18, in which an unknown person ripped and spray painted over faces and names on posters depicting Israeli citizens who are being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas and spray painted the message “Fre(e) Gaza” in the Kosowskys’ yard.
The Kosowskys had several speakers, including the mayor and Rep. Jake Auchincloss, share messages against the vandalism and against antisemitism. A number of local kids also read the names of current hostages and rehung the posters outside the home.
The event filled the residential street with people wrapped in Israeli flags and holding signs calling for the hostages’ release for about a block. Several uniformed police patrolled the area, blocked off from vehicle traffic, and a drone from the department hovered constantly overhead for the two and a half hour gathering.
“At my campus at BU countless hostage posters have been ripped down and torn, and the idea of simply wanting to save innocent victims of terrorism has somehow become a politicized issue,” said Boston University student Ben Spira, speaking about a friend who is among the hostages. “The fact that vandalism like this could happen both at my college and now in my hometown is maddening.”
Around 100 of the about 250 hostages are assumed to be alive and remain in Hamas captivity six months after the Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli estimates. President Joe Biden joined calls for a ceasefire and civilian protections in a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after seven food aid workers joined the tens of thousands of civilian casualties of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza in the last week.
Members of the Jewish community spoke about their experience in Newton, with some criticizing the city’s officials, including the Mayor Fuller, and public schools for their messaging around the war, Jewish history and antisemitism. Donna Cohen, a Newton resident of 28 years, called the hostage posters vandalism “incredibly disturbing” and said over the years antisemitism is increasing “constantly.”
“I lived down the street and the fact that anybody would debase anything on anybody’s property is unacceptable to me,” said Cohen. “Frankly, if it was representing anybody who has gone through what they’ve had to endure, I wouldn’t like it either.
“We can’t forget the people that are still suffering, the families that are still suffering,” said resident Rachael Hamilton. “It’s just sadness.”
