Project to twin UK MPs and Lords with a hostage
UK Hostages and Missing Families Forum launch innovative scheme for MPs and peers
A project launched on 7 October seeks to twin parliamentarians with hostages in Gaza.
Nivi Feldman, who devised the scheme, said: “We will send details of the hostage’s story, a poster of them, arrange a Zoom conversation with family members” — so the politicians become familiar with “their” hostage, and by highlighting their case, help to put pressure on the government to push for their release.
Inviting people to take part in the project, the UK Hostages and Missing Families Forum, said: “This campaign is not about politics; it is a humanitarian plea. We are calling on MPs like yourself to adopt one of these hostages, helping to raise awareness of their plight and to ensure they are not forgotten. By participating, you can provide a voice to those who can no longer speak for themselves”.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has warmly endorsed the project, and though he says he is unable to twin with just one hostage, is nevertheless understood to be ready to host a support event for politicians and their captured pair.
The scheme is cross-party and at least three LibDem MPs have immediately said they want to join. Each politician will sign up with the UK Hostages and Missing Families Forum and will then be allotted a hostage, whose profile, it is hoped, will be raised frequently.
Those interested in taking part should go to this link: https://forms.gle/e2zPoZvtbxcEQ6Nk7.
This is the first time such a twinning project has been set up anywhere in the world but Ms Feldman says she is more than happy for other countries to copy. Worldwide political support, she believes, could make a real difference in helping to bring home the hostages safely.
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