Kidnapped from Israel

Public art campaign during 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Kidnapped from Israel posters

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* 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel
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2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel

* Re'im music festival
* Killing of Shani Louk
* Netiv HaAsara
* Alumim
* Be'eri
* Holit
* Kfar Aza
* Kissufim
* Nahal Oz
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Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip

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* Al-Ahli Arab Hospital
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* Ambulance
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* Attacks on religious sites
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* Flour massacre
* Kuwait Roundabout
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* Friendly fire
* IDF killing of hostages in Shuja'iyya
* Tel al-Sultan
* Al-Mawasi (May)
* Al-Sardi school
* Nuseirat
* Al-Mawasi (June)
* Al-Shati and Tuffah
* 9 July 2024 attacks
* Al-Awda school
* Al-Mawasi (July)
* Al-Shati (July)
* Khan Yunis (July)
* Khadija school
* Hamama school
* Al-Tabaeen school
* Deir al-Balah
* Al-Mawasi (September)

Other theaters

* Red Sea crisis
* Operation Prosperity Guardian
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* Operation Poseidon Archer
* Marlin Luanda missile strike
* Operation Aspides
* Sinking of the MV Rubymar
* Attacks on the MV Tutor
* 2024 Tel Aviv drone attack
* 2024 Israeli strikes on Yemen
* Attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan
* Iranian airstrikes in Iraq and Syria
* Tower 22 drone attack
* Al-Asad Airbase missile attack
* Assassination of Saleh al-Arouri
* Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh

See also

* Background
* Diplomatic impact
* Economic impact
* Effects
* Gaza humanitarian crisis
* Healthcare collapse
* Children
* Premature babies
* Famine
* Hostage crisis
* Prisoner exchange
* Human shields in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
* Israeli blockade of Gaza
* Israeli public diplomacy
* War crimes
* Hamas
* Israeli
* South Africa v. Israel
* War crimes and crimes against humanity report
* Torture
* Executions and assassinations
* Killing of journalists in the Israel-Hamas war
* List of journalists killed in the Israel–Hamas war
* Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel
* Wider regional conflict
* 2023 ceasefire
* Calls for a ceasefire
* Three-phase proposal
* Antisemitism
* Anti-Palestinianism
* Mass detentions
* Misinformation
* Protests
* university campuses
* Killing of Aysenur Eygi
* Qatar and the Israel–Hamas war
* AI-assisted targeting
* Gaza Strip mass graves
* All Eyes on Rafah

Kidnapped from Israel is a guerilla public street art campaign by Israeli artists Nitzan Mintz [he], Dede Bandaid and Tal Huber to raise awareness of the Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis that started on 7 October 2023 and is ongoing (as of 2024). Controversy has arisen over the removal of some posters under various circumstances.

## Background

[edit]

For broader coverage of this topic, see Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis.

Kidnapped from Israel was created by Israeli artists Nitzan Mintz, Dede Bandaid and Tal Huber, Creative designer and owner of the branding company Giraff.[1] Dede and Nitzan were on a three-month residency program in New York City from Israel when the Israel–Hamas war broke out in 2023 and Palestinian militant group Hamas kidnapped and took hostage more than 200 Israelis during its attack on Israel, ranging from 9 month to 85 years old.[2] Several days after the initial attack, Mintz, Bandaid, and Israel-based graphic designers Tal Huber[2] created the posters as downloadable digital files. The campaign spread as a grassroots effort and was amplified by actors Gal Gadot, Amy Schumer, and Jack Black.[3]

## Stylization and spread

[edit]

Kidnapped posters in Los Angeles

According to Bandaid, the artists were inspired by the images of missing persons on milk cartons from the 1980s and chose the colors and fonts for the fliers to resemble them.[2] The campaign consists of paper fliers bearing a banner with the word "KIDNAPPED" and including photographs of a kidnapped Israeli. The fliers were posted on street lamps, trees, street signs, and in subway stations locations in cities around the world. In New York City, the artists put up thousands of fliers, and activists posted them in Berlin, Lisbon, and Buenos Aires. The artists relied on family members and friends of kidnapped individuals for names and photos to use on the fliers.[3] The first run consisted of 2,000 copies posted around Manhattan.[4]

Within weeks, the fliers had been posted in 30 languages and in locations from Sydney to Santiago, and including the UN building.[4] According to Tim Zick of William & Mary Law School, regulations about the posting of the fliers were generally made by local governments and individual college campuses.[5] The campaign inspired a similar movement in Los Angeles to use billboards to highlight young Israelis among the kidnapped.[4] Senator John Fetterman covered his office in the posters, saying that "they will stay up until every single person is safely returned home."[6]

The New York Times described the posters as "emerging symbols of Israelis' national pain" after the Hamas attack on Israel and compared them to the fliers posted by family members after the September 11 terrorist attacks. However, according to Mintz, the fliers are not meant to be memorials out of a hope that the subjects were still alive.[3] Instead, she intended the campaign to be a way for Jews to deal with their fear during a tough time.[5] After the success of the campaign, Mintz and Bandaid withdrew from the residency in New York City to focus on the project and the media attention.[4]

## Controversy over poster removals

[edit]

Damaged Kidnapped posters located in Paris, France - March 2024

In some cities and on college campuses, the fliers were taken down, some as soon as they were put up.[3] According to the New York Times, individuals who object to the posters deride them as "wartime propaganda" and lacking context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Critics characterize the tear downs as antisemitic and "lacking basic humanity." To Mintz, the artist, the act is clear antisemitism, but brought awareness to the level of hatred the Jewish community faces.[5][7]

Police in the United Kingdom, including in London and in Prestwich, an area of Manchester with a large Jewish population, received criticism in late October 2023 for taking down the posters after receiving complaints. The Metropolitan Police removed the posters to "avoid any further increase in community tension."[8][9][10]

### Response to poster removals

[edit]

Incidents of removals, and subsequent confrontations, frequently spread on social media. In some cases, removal led to criminal charges. While most incidents of removal in New York City took place on public property, the New York Police Department arrested two people in November 2023 for allegedly tearing down posters on private property. After videos of individuals removing the posters spread widely on social media, some were fired from their jobs.[11]

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that, "Tearing down pictures of their loved ones — who are being held hostage by Hamas — is wrong and hurtful." Jewish advocacy group American Jewish Committee called removing the posters "antisemitism."[11] Jewish publication The Forward called the removals a sign that "many people cannot hold space for the suffering of two peoples."[12]

## See also

[edit]

* Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum
* International reactions to the Israel–Hamas war

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Thousands of kidnapped flyers posted around New York City honoring missing civilians from war in Israel (13 October 2023). "Thousands of kidnapped flyers posted around New York City honoring missing civilians from war in Israel - CBS New York". CBS New York. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
2. ^ a b c Rahmanan, Anna (2023-10-23). "The Artists Behind the 'Kidnapped' Posters Plastered Around the World". New York Observer. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
3. ^ a b c d Rosman, Katherine (2023-10-16). "'Kidnapped' Posters Express Anguish Over Israeli Hostages". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2023-10-31. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
4. ^ a b c d Petri, Alexandra (2023-10-27). "'Kidnapped from Israel,' artists' posters say. Some are being torn down". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
5. ^ a b c Rosman, Katherine (2023-10-31). "How Posters of Kidnapped Israelis Ignited a Firestorm on American Sidewalks". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2023-10-31. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
6. ^ "Democratic senator covers office wall with posters of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
7. ^ Sloan, Karen (18 October 2023). "NYU law school investigating student who said Israel 'bears full responsibility' for Hamas attacks". reuters.
8. ^ "Inquiry after officer seen removing posters of kidnapped Israelis". BBC. 2023-10-31. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
9. ^ Kelly, James (2023-10-31). "Israeli hostage relative criticises Met Police over poster removal". BBC. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
10. ^ "Families of people kidnapped by Hamas say they don't understand why hostage posters are being ripped down". NBC news. 14 November 2023.
11. ^ a b Hampton, Deon (2023-11-09). "As people across the U.S. hang posters of Hamas hostages, others tear them down". NBC News. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
12. ^ Berman, Nora (2023-11-09). "Tearing down posters of Israeli hostages isn't resistance — it just shows you can't handle complex grief". The Forward. Retrieved 6 December 2023.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kidnapped from Israel posters.

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Israel–Hamas war

* Timeline
* Outline

Engage-
ments|

| Hamas-led
attack on
Israel|

| Attacks on civilians|

* Netiv HaAsara
* Alumim
* Be'eri
* Elhanan Team
* Holit
* Kfar Aza
* Kissufim
* Nir Oz
* Nir Yitzhak
* Nahal Oz
* Nirim
* Nova music festival
* Psyduck music festival

|

Battles|

* Re'im
* Sderot
* Sufa
* Zikim
* Israeli female tank crew fight

General topics|

* Allegations of genocide
* Allegations of involvement of UNRWA employees
* Death Shelters
* Denial
* Sexual and gender-based violence
* Screams Before Silence

Israeli
invasion
of Gaza|

* Beit Hanoun
* Gaza City
* Khan Yunis
* Rafah
* Background

| Attacks on
refugee camps|

* Jabalia
* 31 October
* Al-Shati
* Al-Shati and Tuffah dual airstrikes
* Al-Maghazi
* Tel al-Sultan attack
* Al-Mawasi (May)
* Nuseirat refugee camp massacre
* Al-Mawasi (June)
* Al-Shati (July)
* Deir el-Balah (August)
* Al-Mawasi (September)

|

Attacks on schools|

* Al-Fakhoora
* Shadia Abu Ghazala
* Al-Sardi
* Al-Awda
* Khadija
* Hamama
* Al-Tabaeen

Attacks on
health facilities|

* Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion
* Al-Shifa Hospital siege
* alleged military use
* ambulance airstrike
* Gaza Strip mass graves
* Kamal Adwan Hospital siege
* Killing of health workers
* Nasser Hospital siege
* Nasser Hospital mass graves

Other attacks|

* Airstrikes on municipal services in Gaza
* Attacks on religious sites
* Engineer's Building airstrike
* Rafah strikes
* Flour massacre
* Kuwait Roundabout mass killings
* Palestinians evacuating Gaza City
* World Central Kitchen aid convoy attack
* 9 July 2024 attacks
* 13 July 2024 al-Mawasi attack
* Khan Yunis

General topics|

* AI-assisted targeting
* Bombing of the Gaza Strip
* Destruction of cultural heritage during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
* Environmental impact of the Israel–Hamas war
* Gaza genocide
* Torture

Other
theaters|

* Lehi Street bombing
* Israel–Lebanon border clashes
* Attacks on journalists
* Israeli incursions in the West Bank
* 2024 Israeli military operation
* Killing of Benjamin Achimeir
* April 2024 Israeli settler rampages
* Givat Shaul shooting
* Majdal Shams attack
* Tower 22 drone attack
* Israeli incursions in Tulkarm

| Iran–Israel conflict|

* Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus
* Iranian strikes in Israel
* Israeli strikes on Iran
* Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh

|

Red Sea crisis|

* Operation Prosperity Guardian
* Attacks on the MV Maersk Hangzhou
* 2024 missile strikes in Yemen
* Marlin Luanda missile strike
* 2024 Israeli strikes on Yemen

Hostage
crisis|

* 2023 hostage–prisoner exchange
* Kidnapped from Israel
* Hostages and Missing Families Forum
* Hostages Square

| Hostages|

* Bibas family
* Oded Lifshitz
* Naama Levy

|

Rescued hostages|

* Operation Golden Hand
* Ori Megidish
* Nuseirat operation
* Noa Argamani
* Rescue of Qaid Farhan Al-Qadi

Released hostages|

* Rachel Edry
* Yarden Roman-Gat
* Mia Schem

Deceased hostages|

* Alex Dancyg
* Hersh Goldberg-Polin
* Alon Shamriz, Yotam Haim, and Samer Talalka

General
topics|

* Ceasefire
* COGAT
* Effect on children in Gaza
* Humanitarian aid
* International recognition of the State of Palestine
* Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip (2023–present)
* Israeli interrogations
* Queer advocacy in the Israel–Hamas war
* Women
* Wikipedia

| Historical context|

* Arab–Israeli conflict
* Background to the Israel–Hamas war
* Blockade of the Gaza Strip
* Palestinian freedom of movement
* Israeli apartheid
* Gaza–Israel conflict
* Casualties of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip
* Human shields
* Israeli settlement
* Israeli outpost
* Israeli settler violence
* Israeli disengagement from Gaza
* Palestinian rocket attacks
* Palestinian tunnel warfare
* anti-tunnel barrier
* Women

|

Effects|

* Calls for the destruction of Israel
* Israeli government response
* Israeli war cabinet
* Mass detentions
* Economic impact
* Environment impact in Gaza
* Evacuations
* Gaza Strip evacuations
* Humanitarian crisis
* Gaza floating pier
* Healthcare collapse
* Premature baby crisis
* Famine
* Societal breakdown
* Israeli public diplomacy
* Media coverage
* Violence against journalists
* Misinformation
* Pallywood
* Palestinian genocide accusation
* United States complicity in Israeli war crimes in the Israel–Hamas war
* Sexual violence against Palestinians
* War crimes
* Hamas
* Israeli
* Cemetery destruction and necroviolence
* Israeli torture in the occupied territories
* Proposed Israeli resettlement of Gaza

| Reactions|

* Calls for a ceasefire
* Three-phase proposal
* September 2024 Israel ceasefire protests
* Diplomatic impact
* University donors
* European Union
* Islamic Summit Conference
* Arab–Islamic extraordinary summit
* Hurmat-e-Masjid Aqsa Conference
* Cancellation of the 2023 MTV EMA
* Proposed Israeli resettlement of the Gaza Strip
* 2024 Beijing Declaration

| Military aid|

* US support for Israel
* UK support for Israel

|

Discrimination|

* Antisemitism
* Riots in the North Caucasus
* Anti-Palestinianism
* Islamophobia
* Violent incidents
* 2023 Nicosia Israeli embassy bombing
* Killing of Wadea al-Fayoume
* Death of Paul Kessler
* Vermont student shooting
* 2024 University of Texas at Austin stabbing

Protests|

* University campuses
* Columbia
* Sciences Po
* UCLA
* France
* March for the Republic and Against Antisemitism
* Indonesia
* 2023 Bitung clashes
* Israel
* Humanitarian aid blockade
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Artists4Ceasefire
* DNC protests
* March on Washington for Gaza
* March for Israel
* National March on Washington: Free Palestine
* Protest votes
* Self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell
* Pakistan
* D-Chowk Dharna
* 2024 Faizabad sit-in

UN resolutions|

* A/RES/ES-10/21
* S/RES/2712
* A/RES/ES-10/22
* S/RES/2720
* S/RES/2728
* S/RES/2735

UN inquiry|

* Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory
* War crimes and crimes against humanity report

Global courts|

* South Africa v. Israel (Genocide Convention)
* Nicaragua v. Germany
* Legal Consequences of Israeli Policies and Practices
* Arrest warrants

Courts|

* Defense for Children International – Palestine v. Biden

Casualties|

| Israel|

| Security forces|

* Alim Abdallah
* Yitzhak Ben-Bashat
* Jayar Davidov
* Eli Ginsberg
* Salman Habaka
* Asaf Hamami
* Yitzhar Hofman
* Roi Levy
* Izhar Peled
* Yonatan Steinberg

|

Civilians|

* Lior Asulin
* Yuval Castleman
* Hayim Katsman
* Ofir Libstein
* Shani Louk
* Aner Shapira
* Vivian Silver
* Yahav Winner

Palestine|

| Hamas|

* Ismail Haniyeh
* Saleh al-Arouri
* Abdul Fatah Dukhan
* Mohammed Dababish
* Wissam Farhat
* Ahmed Ghandour
* Mohammed Deif
* Marwan Issa
* Fursan Khalifa
* Osama Mazini
* Ayman Nofal
* Jamila al-Shanti
* Ali Al Qadi
* Alaa Shreiteh
* Faiq Al-Mabhouh

|

Other
militants|

* Fouad Abu Butihan
* Jihad Shehadeh

Civilians|

* Tawfic Abdel Jabbar
* Majed Abu Maraheel
* Hiba Abu Nada
* Refaat Alareer
* Hammam Alloh
* Nahida and Samar Anton
* Ibrahim al-Astal
* Ahmad Bahar
* Mohammed Barakat
* Mohammad Bhar
* David Ben Avraham
* Adnan al-Bursh
* Rashid Dabour
* Mohamed al-Dalou
* Awni El-Dous
* Omar Ferwana
* Fathi Ghaben
* Ihab al-Ghussein
* Medo Halimy
* Sidra Hassouna
* Yazan al-Kafarneh
* Hani Al-Masdar
* Ibrahim Qusaya
* Hind Rajab
* Mohammed Shabir
* Rashad Abu Sakhila
* Omar Abu Shawish
* Sufian Tayeh
* Wael Al Zard
* Talal Abu Zarifa

Spillover|

* Saleh al-Arouri
* Ali Hussein Barji
* Waibhav Anil Kale
* Razi Mousavi
* Wissam al-Tawil
* Sadegh Omidzadeh
* Mushtaq Talib Al-Saeedi
* Mohammad Reza Zahedi
* Fuad Shukr

Journalists|

* Issam Abdallah
* Samer Abu Daqqa
* Ismail al-Ghoul
* Roee Edan
* Belal Jadallah

General topics|

* Children in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
* Friendly fire

Related
people|

| Israelis|

* Nimrod Aloni
* Rachel Goldberg-Polin
* Eitan Okun
* Yagel Oshri
* Inbal Rabin-Lieberman
* Amir Tibon

|

Palestinians|

* Wael Al-Dahdouh
* Plestia Alaqad
* Motaz Azaiza
* Bisan Owda
* Mustafa Moien Ayyash

Other
topics|

* Ahmed Abdel Khalek
* Al-Saqqa House
* Al Qarara Cultural Museum
* "All Eyes on Rafah"
* Attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq, Jordan, and Syria during the Israel–Hamas war
* Blockout 2024
* Central Archives of Gaza City
* Bearing Witness
* From the river to the sea
* Gaza Daily
* "Harbu Darbu"
* "Hind's Hall"
* "Hurricane"
* Israeli demolition of Palestinian property
* Palestinian sports during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
* "Options for a policy regarding Gaza's civilian population"
* Project Nimbus
* "Rajieen"

* Category

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