NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Five hundred drones spectacularly lit up the sky near the Statue of Liberty Tuesday night during an 8-minute show to raise awareness of the 132 Hamas-held hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7 terror attack believed to still be in Gaza. (Roughly 240 people were initially kidnapped, and 1,200 killed by Hamas).
Prior to the "Lights for Liberty: An Appel for Hostage Release in the Sky" drone show, several public figures -- including actor Michael Rapaport, singer and actress Montana Tucker, and fashion designer and author Julia Haart -- spoke at a corresponding VIP event in Jersey City. New Jersey. The new Consul General of Israel in New York Ofir Akunis, and Tal Shuster, member of the New Jersey-Israel Commission and National Board co-chair of the Israeli American Council, also spoke. Actress Debra Messing, who has been vocal about releasing the hostages, also attended the event.
New York City native Rapaport, who attended high school in Brooklyn and Manhattan, told 1010 WINS/WCBS 880 at the event, "It's important for me to do events like this because Israel is under siege and the hostages are still in Gaza and the world is appearing to turn on Jewish people so it's important to stand up."
As a born-and-bred New Yorker, Rapaport said, "As a New Yorker, all the stuff that is going on is so not the New York way. New York is a city for everybody. It's called a melting pot for a reason. It's going to remain a melting pot for a reason. The Jews of New York are as iconic as anybody else as part of New York. New York is for everybody."
He added, "And all of the sh*t that is going on at the campuses in New York and the antisemitism and the anti-Jewishness is not the New York way. Period. And I bet the majority of the people doing that are not New Yorkers because that's not the New York way."
Other speakers included Moran Stella Yanai, who was released on Nov. 29, following 54 days in captivity after being kidnapped from the Nova music festival. Liat Unger, the cousin of hostage Omer Shem-Tov, 21, who was kidnapped from the music festival, will also attend, as will Daniel Lifshitz, the grandson of hostage Oded Lifshitz, 83, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, which the elder Lifshitz founded.
"We are holding a powerful drone display that will bring an unmistakable message to the skies of America," Ariel Margalith, creative director of event organizer Hostages and Missing Families Forum, told 1010 WINS/WCBS 880. "We are doing it above the Statue of the Liberty, for all the significance that holds, because we cannot let this opportunity for their freedom slip away."
The event was produced in partnership with the American Jewish Committee, the New Jersey-Israel Commission, UJA-Federation of NY, BC Lev Echad, and the Israeli American Council.