NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A group of Middle Tennesseans has pledged to walk through downtown Nashville once a week until those taken hostage during the Israel-Hamas war are released or accounted for.
On Sunday, Feb. 25, the walk began at Bridgestone Arena and included representatives from the Nashville chapters of Run for Their Lives, Bring Them Home Now, and Tennessee Stands with Israel.
“We get people that honk, we get people that cheer, we get people that join us,” said Tonya Bennett, co-lead of the Nashville chapter of Bring Them Home Now. “We had 20 people that were here from New York that are familiar with Bring Them Home Now that joined us; we had never met these people, they didn’t know us.”
The group walked down Broadway, informing patrons of the ongoing crisis. Near the Cumberland River, the group read the names of 134 hostages who still remain in captivity.
“They have not been allowed to go home, we don’t know if they’re alive, we don’t know what has come of them,” said Lee R. with Tennessee Stands with Israel. “We want to bring awareness to that because I’ve come across too many people that don’t even know that that’s the case.”
Lee said she has a personal connection to one of those hostages, 21-year-old Almog Meir Jan. Jan is the nephew of one of her close family friends.
“You can’t carry on. They’re still stuck on October 7th. Life has stopped, they are frozen until they find out that their loved ones can come home, and they need to bring these hostages home, and that’s all we need to do. Once that’s done, this war can end,” Lee explained.
Thursday, March 7 will mark five months since the Israel-Hamas War war began. Until all hostages are accounted for, the group plans to continue raising awareness every Sunday.
“Maybe coming down here on Sunday at 1 o’clock isn’t the easiest thing, but it’s what we do because it’s the right thing to do,” Bennett said. “We pray that they are alive, but we will do it until everyone is accounted for.”
The Nashville chapter of Run for Their Lives will meet every Sunday at 1 p.m. at Bridgestone Arena. The group said that walk is open to the public, so anyone is welcome to join.
