'Bring him home': Stepmother of Israeli hostage rallies community, urges his return
The back patio furniture at Sagui Dekel-Chen’s home on the kibbutz Nir Oz — a communal living space in south Israel — was brand new, a wooden porch swing the crowning jewel of renovations. Dekel-Chen’s stepmother, Gillian Kaye, remembers exactly how it looked early in October.
The patio overlooked lush flower beds across the kibbutz, where Dekel-Chen lived with his wife, his two daughters, his sister, his brother-in-law, and around 400 others. Kaye and her husband, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, had split their time between Nir Oz and the U.S. for the last 15 years.
It was almost paradise, said Kaye, a Sarasota resident.
“It was like a Garden of Eden,” she said.
Days later, the kibbutz would be destroyed: houses set ablaze, possessions stolen, the wooden porch swing splintered. An Oct. 7, 2023 attack from Hamas would leave Nir Oz in total ruin, with 80 kidnapped and 46 killed.
Dekel-Chen, 35, was among the 250 hostages across taken by Hamas that day. In the more than 100 days since the attack, Kaye and Jonathan Dekel-Chen, Sagui Dekel-Chen’s father, have lobbied national leaders, media outlets, and aid organizations for the recovery of all hostages.
Locally, Kaye is determined to spread the word about her stepson.
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Kaye, Project Amichai and The Temple Emanu-El Israel Committee hosted an event calling for Dekel-Chen’s return Saturday at Temple Emanu-El. Around 50 people attended Kaye’s presentation at the temple, where she spoke of life on her kibbutz, what’s ensued since the attacks, and how supporters can aid in the effort to free the 136 hostages held by Hamas.
Dekel-Chen’s family believes Hamas captured him in the early hours of Oct. 7 while he ran across the kibbutz grounds to check on his wife and children, who were secured in a saferoom. The attack left the kibbutz with 46 dead and around 80 taken hostage.
Hamas returned 12 of the hostages from the kibbutz last November, who told Kaye they saw Dekel-Chen alive before they were freed. His family hasn’t received a sign of life since.
Surviving members of Nir Oz have only recently begun to recover, moving from a hotel to more long-term housing far from the Gaza Strip. They’re still mourning the losses of family and friends, Kaye said, and though Nir Oz will be rebuilt, she said many will never return.
“We are in such profound grief,” Kaye said. “We’re in between worlds that feel numb and sad and strange.”
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Along with other families of hostages, Kaye and Dekel-Chen founded “Bring Them Home Now,” an advocacy group that’s encouraging people to donate and contact their representatives to aid rescue efforts. “All the hostages, whatever it takes” is the motto that fuels them.
The group has met with President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the FBI, the CIA, and any other officials willing to listen for the hostages’ returns. Locally, U.S. House Rep. Vern Buchanan has been a vocal advocate for Dekel-Chen’s release, and a number of media outlets have featured Kaye in her efforts to raise awareness.
The outpouring of support has been overwhelming, Kaye said, and she and her family are grateful for the community around them. But while she’s confident national and local officials are working for the hostages’ safe return, she said she isn’t sure any of the efforts have moved the needle.
“We have done more lobbying and talking and meeting and begging and cajoling than I ever could’ve imagined,” Kaye said. “Not sure if it makes any difference at all.”
Still, the local Jewish community is continuing to offer aid in the ways they can. Members of Temple Emanu-El’s Israel Committee and Project Amichai — Hebrew for “my people lives” — have launched fundraising and awareness efforts, selling friendship bracelets to raise money for the Jewish National Fund and reciting prayers for Israel during services.
Many at Saturday’s presentation, like Michele Wieckowski, don’t know Dekel-Chen personally, but they attended in a display of solidarity. Wieckowski, a member of Temple Emanu-El for more than 10 years, said it was the least she could do to show her support.
“We have to care,” she said. “You can’t forget them, the people that are still trapped.”
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This continuing awareness across the Jewish community and beyond will be crucial to recovering the hostages, Kaye said. Supporters of hostage families must maintain pressure on officials for their safe return, she said, and they can’t let Dekel-Chen’s story fade.
Though political tensions are at an all-time high, with widespread calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas amid continuing military pressure from the Israeli government, Kaye said the hostages transcend politics. She’s focused only on her stepson — who loves to tinker and build, who protected his family, who has yet to meet his third daughter — and bringing the other hostages home.
Kaye and the other hostage families can’t do this alone, she said.
“We need to work our networks as hard as we can,” Kaye said. “You’ve got to get the hostages back at any cost. That’s what we’re asking.”
Contact Herald-Tribune Growth and Development Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @hmb_1013.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Stepmother of Israeli hostage continues call for his return
