An American's fight to free loved ones held hostage

Alana Zeitchik's days have been a mix of news and social media appearances ever since Oct. 7, when her mother called her in a panic, worrying about the fate of six Jewish family members in Israel taken hostage by Hamas. 

Zeitchik, 38, is determined to spread the word and get her loved ones home safe. She's made trips to the United Nations. Attended meetings with lawmakers and TikTok employees. She sends long-distance texts and voice messages to her family back in Israel desperately trying to find their relatives. They are among the more than 200 other men, women and children who were kidnapped in the brutal attack on Israel that left 1,400 dead. They still haven't been rescued.

"I can't wrap my brain around it. My mind goes to like the worst torture film I've seen, so I just can't do it," Zeitchik says, trying not to focus on what they may be going through. 

This hostage crisis has engulfed the Jewish diaspora around the globe. There are Israeli citizens. But also being held are people with French, Russian and U.S. passports, to name a few. For that reason, Zeitchik, an American, believes the fate of all the hostages is intertwined.

And while Zeitchik has professional experience being in the media's eye, she says nothing could have prepared her for the antisemitic backlash that has grown amid the conflict in Gaza.

Keep scrolling for more stories from the Paste BN Network about the war between Israel and Hamas.

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