Tagged with hope: Ben Gurion Airport’s poignant display for Gaza hostages
Worn by Elon Musk, Sergey Brin and the Pope, the metal military tags have become a global symbol of solidarity to those being held captive in Gaza and their families
Hundreds of ‘Bring Them Home Now’ metal dog tags are on display in Ben Gurion airport as a powerful pledge of solidarity to the women, men, children and babies still being held hostage by Hamas.
The exhibition, which started this week, is the brainchild of Tamir Raicher, who designed the dog tags shortly after the war broke out as a way for people to express both a collective commitment to, and solidarity with, those kidnapped and their families and call for their return. All proceeds from their sales go to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
X owner Elon Musk, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Google founder Sergey Brin and the Pope are among those that have been seen wearing the symbolic military tags, which are inscribed with the words: “Our heart is captive in Gaza” in Ivrit on the top half, and “Bring Them Home Now” underneath.
Raicher came up with the project while running a ‘Search and Rescue Operation Room’ during the first week of the war.
He told Jewish News: “’Our heart is captive in Gaza’ was the thought of how to sum up in only a few worlds the heartbreak that our nation is experiencing.
“I wondered how I could express in a few words (to fit a tag), the whole range of abductees: toddlers, babies and children, women and men, young and grandparents and, of course, soldiers.. What they all have in common is that until the abductees all return home- the heart of their loved ones who were left behind – the heart of the families and the relatives remains captive in Gaza – theirs and ours as a country.”
Raicher has manufactured 800,000 of the tags – around 800 are hanging on display in Ben Gurion. “This is the main gateway to Israel and the most prominent airport we have. I thought it would be a good idea for journalists, diplomats, tourists and Israelis themselves to see.
“The display is located at the main entrance and exit gate of the State of Israel, symbolically located next to the statue of David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the return of all our abducted people.
“We want this to be the last thing people see when they leave Israel, and the first thing they encounter when they come back.”
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