Plush bears in Rome to ask for the release of Israeli hostages

(ANSA) – ROME, 06 OCTOBER – Numerous blindfolded teddy bears, wearing a T-shirt with the photo and name of a hostage, appeared this morning in the center of Rome. The soft toys were symbolically tied with chains in Piazza del Popolo, the Pincio, the Colosseum, the Arch of Titus and other symbolic areas of the city. The initiative was launched by Jewish students on the eve of the first anniversary of the October 7 massacre carried out by Hamas. “The bears – they explain – represent the humanity and fragility of those who are still waiting to be freed and make it clear that the anniversary of October 7 should not be just a date, but a collective call to action”. “We young students – the appeal – invite us to reflect and unite so that no one is forgotten and to rise up against the exploitation of places of education for political purposes, assuming our responsibilities in the face of silence on the victims and kidnapped, rejecting any form of violent activism in schools and the intellectual connivance of certain ‘bad teachers’. More generally, we ask for an uprising against violent protests, obscurantism, the defense of illiberal regimes that undermine human rights and dignity, religious fundamentalism and the infiltration of terrorist matrix. The world is watching us, and the families of the hostages, for whom every day is a battle against time and indifference, deserve our support and our attention”. (HANDLE).