On Wednesday, January 29, Columbia University students stood in solidarity with the Bibas family as part of a global initiative to support the families of the hostages. Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were 4 years old and 9 months old at the time of their kidnapping, are the youngest hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Ariel and Kfir were taken along with their parents, Yarden (released on February 1, 2025) and Shiri. The global initiative was publicized in Israel as “Yom Katom,” or “Day of Orange,” in a nod to the unforgettable ginger hair of the Bibas children. This initiative was publicized by the @bring.bibas.back Instagram page, dedicated to raising awareness and fighting for the Bibas family’s safe and imminent release from captivity.
At 12:30 p.m. on that afternoon, in an effort by students Beth Kahn, Orri Zussman and Tal Zussman alongside Columbia Aryeh, Students Supporting Israel and Faculty and Staff Supporting Israel, students and faculty began to gather at the Sundial in the middle of Columbia’s campus with Israeli and American flags, orange balloons with “Bring Them Home” written on them, and yellow roses. Attendees were asked to wear orange, yellow or Bring Them Home merchandise. The program began with a rendition of Naomi Shemer’s “Lu Yehi” (May It Be). There was then a recitation by various students of the Mi Shebeirach for the hostages and for the IDF. Students spoke about why they were gathered together and why remembering the Bibas family is crucial, especially in light of the new hostage deal between Israel and Hamas that has slowly been releasing hostages back into Israeli hands after over 450 days. Student Tal Zussman then read the names of the remaining hostages, and gatherers shouted “Now!” after each name. The ceremony concluded with a powerful and emotional “Hatikvah.”
As with other assemblies and programs for Israel in the past, Columbia students stopped to stare, take photos and videos, and ask questions throughout the gathering. One student from Columbia’s journalism school asked questions about the program for her final project on Zionism on Columbia’s campus, which she joked has made her quite unpopular within the School of Journalism.
On Wednesday night, videos of the Columbia assembly made it to Israeli news channel N12, which shared the hope that Yarden Bibas would return as promised in the hostage deal and that his family would be home soon as well.
On the same day as this gathering, pro-Palestinian students of Columbia, under the guise of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), planned a disgusting and explosive destruction of school property under the ruse of holding a vigil for murdered Palestinian child Hind Rajab. CUAD members posted photos and videos to social media as they defaced Columbia’s School of Business by covering its entrances with red spray paint and poured cement into the toilets in the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Rajab has become somewhat of a symbol for CUAD, with their biggest program thus far being “Hind’s House,” a museum of terror dedicated in Rajab’s honor. Within Hind’s House, which opened at Columbia’s Alpha Delta Pi fraternity house on November 9 and closed on November 11, was a collection of “suggested zines,” including one aptly titled “Recipes for Disaster.” This “zine” contained detailed instructions on how to use a super-soaker water gun to paint a building, how to cement sewage lines, and how to get away with damaging school property without getting caught. Clearly, CUAD’s actions were premeditated. Shoshana Aufzien and Alon Levin, two Jewish Columbia students who attended Hind’s Hall in disguise back in November, reported to the Washington Free Beacon their findings and the connections between the Hind’s Hall sessions and the vandalism that took place.
Columbia University released a statement admonishing the students involved in these acts of vandalism but did not acknowledge its ignorance of the Hind’s Hall issue months prior, despite students filing a Title VI complaint about the exhibit.
In the days since these events, Yarden Bibas has been released, along with hostages Ofer Kalderon and Keith Siegel, but Bibas’ wife and children remain in Gaza captivity. Bibas shared with KAN News the psychological and physical torture he endured at the hands of Hamas, including constant mentions of his family and being kept in a cage alongside other hostages. Bibas said that Hamas told him that his wife and children had been killed in an IDF airstrike and forced him to make a video admonishing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which never aired on Israeli television. Despite Hamas’ claims that the rest of the Bibas family is dead, we hold out hope for their safe return to Israel and are praying for them constantly.
Eliana Birman is the assistant digital editor for The Jewish Link. She is a student at Barnard College and lives in Teaneck.
