Activists with the Yellow Ribbon Campaign have unfurled a 50-metre-long yellow ribbon on the Brighton seafront on to draw attention to the 120 hostages still held in Gaza, including two British citizens.
The Brighton-based campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the hostages’ plight through the now unmistakable symbol of the yellow ribbon, made its biggest statement yet with the unveiling of the supersized ribbon this weekend. Organiser Hilary Peer said the campaigners “wanted to show the size of our love and support - that it’s bigger even than this huge ribbon”.
The giant ribbon unfurled in Brighton to remind passers-by of the hostages still held in Gaza (Photo: Yellow Ribbon Campaign)
The campaign called it a “crucial moment” to stage the ribbon unfurling, especially as negotiators continue to work towards securing a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which would include the release of dozens of hostages in the first phase and the release of the rest to be negotiated later.
Adam Ma’anit, a Brighton resident whose cousin Tsachi Idan, 50, is among the hostages still captive in Gaza, joined the unfurling of the ribbon on Sunday. Tsachi’s daughter Maayan, 18, was murdered in front of her family on Kibbutz Nahal Oz before her father was abducted.
The hostage poster for Tsachi Idan, cousin of Brighton resident Adam Ma'anit. Tsachi was abducted into Gaza after his 18-year-old daughter Maayan was murdered in front of her family on October 7 (Photo: LinkedIn)
“We came together to say that what happens to the hostages should be as prominent as this giant ribbon,” he said. “We cannot let them be forgotten. We have been nine months without our loved ones. The world must do everything it can to bring them home now.”
Ma’anit is one of five people in the UK with a relative held hostage in Gaza. Two Israelis who were killed by Hamas terrorists have relatives in the Brighton area. Shay Levinson, 19, was killed and his body was kidnapped to Gaza, and Ilan Weiss, 56, who worked in security at Kibbutz Be’eri, was murdered fighting terrorists and his body was also taken.
