Rachel GoldbergPolin and Jon Polin, AmericanIsraeli parents whose son Hersh was abducted by Hamas from a music festival during the attack on Oct. 7, spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday.

Rachel told a hushed crowd inside United Center that Hersh’s left forearm was blown off by a grenade in the attack before Hamas loaded him onto a pickup truck, “stolen from his life – and me and Jon – in Gaza.”

“Since then, we’ve lived on another planet,” she said. “Anyone who is a parent or has had a parent can try to imagine the anguish and misery that Jon and I and all the hostage families are enduring.”

Both parents each wore a piece of tape with “320” written on it, marking the number of days he has been in captivity. Jon said that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are "both working tirelessly for a hostage and ceasefire deal." The parents called for the release of the remaining hostages and a stop to the suffering inflicted onto the innocent civilians in Gaza.

“There’s a surplus of agony on all sides of the tragic conflict in the Middle East,” Jon said of the loss of life among Israelis and Palestinians. “In the competition of pain, there are no winners.”

This video was produced by Casey Kuhn, Julia Griffin and Erica Hendry.

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