Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images
Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin, parents of Hamas hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, walk offstage after speaking on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Aug. 21, 2024
(JNS) — The parents of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, along with those in attendance on Wednesday evening at Chicago’s United Center, provided the Democratic National Convention with one of its most memorable moments.
Entering to chants of “Bring Them Home,” Jonathan Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin brought tears to the eyes of many in attendance with the gut-wrenching story of their son and Chicago native, and their broader thoughts on the hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday night, Hersh’s parents said they didn’t know what to expect as they took the stage, with the Israel-Hamas war at times bitterly dividing the Democratic Party, and with a number of Palestinian supporters in seats throughout the arena.
The reception, with the thunderous chants in support of the hostages, brought the normally stoic mother of Hersh to tears, as she put her head in her hands before her speech got underway.
“It was completely overwhelming and unexpected. We had been preparing ourselves for a long time that we were going to get a very hard to negative response, and we were shocked,” said Goldberg-Polin. “I was really taken aback, and I wasn’t prepared for any of that. I wasn’t prepared for support and love and kindness. I was not prepared, and that’s why I became overwhelmed.”
Goldberg-Polin said she has received no news on her son since Hamas released a three-minute video of Hersh in April, which provided the first proof of life since his abduction.
“We’re always hopeful. No news is good news,” said Goldberg-Polin, using a frequent line recited by someone in the family’s circle. “You have to just hope that — because we don’t know — that it’s good news, but we don’t know.”
During Wednesday’s speech, Polin told those attending that “in a competition of pain, there are no winners.”
The message seemed crafted to the United Center audience, and to the uncertainty of a potentially divided reaction to the speech.
But Goldberg-Polin told JNS that she used a similar line in an address at the United Nations early in the war.
“I do think that people get confused and think that this is an adversarial paradigm that you have. It’s like a team sport, and you have to choose a side, and you don’t have to choose a side,” she said. “When we’re trying to compete in who has the bigger tragic story, no one wins. And we’re here. This is where we are, and we have to go forward. And I think that that was something we really wanted to emphasize.”
