'Kidnapped from Israel'

The two Israeli artists were visiting New York when the frantic texts and calls began: Hamas had attacked Israel, leaving a trail of grisly killings and taking hostages. 

Too far away to help, the couple decided to use their street-art backgrounds – designing stark red-and-black fliers bearing the word “kidnapped” above photos and names of the abducted, from young children to the elderly.  

Nitzan Mintz, 32, and the artist who goes by the name Dede Bandaid, 36, pasted stacks of them in Manhattan on Oct. 9. Few people expressed interest. The artists went home, dejected.

By the next morning, their social media post of the fliers had spread everywhere.

The “Kidnapped from Israel” fliers have since become viral symbols of more than 200 Hamas hostages – plastered on walls, subways and telephone poles in cities across the U.S and beyond, translated into 30 languages and promoted by some celebrities.

But while they have highlighted the plight of the hostages, the posters — and their removal — have highlighted public divides over the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its complicated history.

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