PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Two women, reading a poem from a mother to a baby, stood across an art installation honoring the hundreds of Israelis captured by Hamas Friday.
"Is the water pleasant? Is there a mobile above your head? And a small soft bear for you to hold?" ... Are you having rosy dreams? Do you smile there sometimes?" read the two women near the steps of the art museum where red, yellow, and white flower petals were scattered along the outskirts of a Shabbat table that sat 242 empty placemats.
Images of those being held hostage in Gaza were shown on the screen of a truck parked in front of the table. And, much like last week, kidnapped posters were placed on each seat.
“It's very moving,” said Josie from Philadelphia who took her time walking around the art installation to read the posters taped to each chair.
“Everyone's aware of what's going on, but this really makes you feel, you know, these are family members that are missing from their tables.”
Sharona Durry, co-organizer of the installation, said volunteers stood around the table, answering questions to passersby about the purpose of it, “explaining that we're waiting for all these people that are — were — supposed to be sitting on the chairs and they're not here.”
“They're kidnapped; they're gone,” Durry said.
Shabbat table art installations have been popping up around the world since Hamas attacked Israel nearly one month ago. The installations started in Tel Aviv and made its way to our area last Friday when a table with 200 empty chairs sat at Independence Mall.
Late last month, four hostages were released — an American woman and her teenage daughter and two older Israeli women. This week, Israeli ground forces pushed deeper into Gaza and freed a soldier.