Publisher's Note: One of the most significant things you can do to promote Liberty is to support our mission. Please make your gift to the 2024 Year-End Campaign today. Thank you! —Mark Alexander, Publisher

November 14, 2024

Why Are We Ignoring the American Hostages in Gaza?

Do not forget them. Instead, join me in demanding their immediate release.

Do you remember a time when Americans cared that their fellow citizens had been kidnapped and held captive by terrorists?

I do. Think back to 1979, when Iranian terrorists stormed the American embassy in Tehran. They held more than 50 Americans hostage for 444 days.

And we cared. The Americans held captive were constantly on our minds. There were strong showings of solidarity. News of the hostage crisis was unrelenting. ABC News created a new nightly program, “America Held Hostage,” from which came “Nightline.”

Flash forward to today.

According to the Israeli government, 101 hostages — a considerable number of whom are believed to be dead — are in Hamas’ clutches after the terrorist group’s genocidal rampage of Oct. 7, 2023.

Of those, seven are American. Of those seven, three are confirmed dead.

Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Omer Neutra and Keith Siegel are believed to be alive. Itay Chen and couple Gadi Haggai and Judi Weinstein Haggai were killed on Oct. 7, 2023, but their bodies are being held by Hamas.

And no one outside of the Jewish American community seems to care. That is the difference between 1979-80 and 2023-24.

The names of the American hostages in Gaza are on no one’s lips, except for their families and for anguished Jewish Americans. Their names are not emblazoned on the front pages of our newspapers or recited on our broadcast news. President Joe Biden does not name them regularly.

The seeming amnesia is only part of the horrible picture. Recall posters of the hostages being torn down and defaced by haters of Israel and Jews. This was a deliberate dismissal of the hostages’ humanity.

Why is there such a profound difference in the reactions of Americans now versus then? Is it because this time the hostages are Jews who were kidnapped in Israel, and that somehow means they deserved what they got?

The silence is deafening and in demand of an explanation.

I am not Jewish, but I am a proud American outraged that no one is talking about this.

It is unthinkable that a terrorist group can seize Americans and hold them against their will, and all the while everyone seems to accept it, and the American government applies zero pressure to obtain their release.

The Biden administration should have issued an ultimatum to Hamas immediately after Oct. 7, 2023, to the effect of, “Release our hostages now, or you will face the full wrath of the United States and our ally Israel. Until we get our citizens back, we will be relentless in the pursuit of freeing them. Let our people go.”

That never happened. Instead, the call for releasing the hostages became inextricably intertwined with calls on Israel to cease fire.

The United States is the strongest country on earth, with the greatest hard and soft power to bring to bear. But we have not exerted it vis-a-vis Hamas at all. Instead, we have pleaded with Israel to stop defending itself.

It is an abdication of responsibility and a failure of moral clarity.

And it sets a dangerous precedent. Our deterrence has been considerably reduced. Instead of sending a clear statement that taking American hostages is a death wish, we have sent a clear statement that terrorists can kidnap and imprison Americans with impunity.

This American display of weakness makes the world a more dangerous place for Jews and for Americans, just as our shambolic withdrawal of Afghanistan invited aggression from our enemies.

My fervent hope is that, assuming no breakthrough between now and Inauguration Day, one of the first things the next secretary of state does is deliver an unmistakable message that Hamas has to let our people go, or else.

President-elect Donald Trump has been an incredible friend of Israel, and it is my hope and belief that he will address the issue straight away and demand the hostages’ immediate release.

The American captives in Iran riveted an entire nation. When Natalee Holloway vanished while vacationing in Aruba in 2005, Americans became transfixed by the case: Everyone knew her name and her face. The same with Gabby Petito, who disappeared in 2021 and was found to have been murdered by her fiance.

Evan Gershkovich, an American Jewish reporter, was imprisoned under false pretenses by Russia. The media and politicians made his name widely known; perhaps his fate would have been different if he had been kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, instead.

These other instances of missing or detained Americans make it all the more curious — and enraging — that the captivity of Americans in Gaza has elicited only a collective yawn from non-Jewish Americans.

Their names are Edan Alexander, Itay Chen, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Gadi Haggai, Judi Weinstein Haggai, Omer Neutra and Keith Siegel.

Do not forget them. Instead, join me in demanding their immediate release.

COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.