On Oct. 15, 2024, milk cartons were placed on MSU campus showing Jewish Americans who were taken hostage by Hamas.
MSU students set up an art installation of oversized milk cartons displaying U.S. citizens taken hostage by Hamas, in addition to other exhibits featured Tuesday afternoon near Kedzie Hall.
Those featured on the cartons were among the 251 people taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. As of September of this year, Israeli officials said at least 97 of those hostages are believed to still be in Gaza, with around a third presumed dead.
At least seven of those hostages are Americans, although Israeli officials have said they believe three were killed by an Israeli airstrike. Israel has also killed at least 42,227 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since the initial Hamas attack, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health, though some estimates are closer to 186,000.
Journalism senior Brooke Garonzik, a member of MSU Chabad, said the purpose of the event is to support and raise awareness for those U.S. citizens held hostage.
"There are American citizens who are stuck in this conflict, and we just want to show people that there are people here who support them," Garonzik said.
The installation is part of a nationwide tour run by the Israel American Council, which reached out to MSU Hillel and Chabad to help set up the event on campus, said Benzion Shemtov, a campus rabbi at Chabad.
"This was a student-run event," he said.
The primary exhibit was an array of milk cartons displaying images of the hostages as well as Americans who were killed in the conflict. Text reading "HAMAS KIDNAPPED/KILLED U.S. CITIZENS" was above the hostages' names and photos.
Using the imagery of milk cartons to display the hostages was a deliberate choice for the IAC.
Before online media existed, information regarding missing persons was often printed on the side of milk cartons alongside their photos. So the temporary campus installation reflected a desire to contextualize the current situation through an American tradition that draws attention, Garonzik said.
Another exhibit, a mural by artist Avi Tal titled "Silent Cries," symbolized the children being held captive, Garonzik said.
A third exhibit included a three-dimensional piece depicting a blackened tree with droplets of blood falling from the leaves, representing the Nova Music Festival where the Oct. 7, 2023 attack occurred. The artist, Neil Salti, lost over 20 friends at the festival with two still being held hostage, according to Salti's description of the display located nearby.
"I decided to create this piece so the world will see and feel what I felt there," he wrote.
Shemtov said this event is special because it brings what happened to life, allowing people to view this issue through art rather than a screen.
"People spent days putting this together," he said.
Shemtov wants this artwork to bring awareness to the reality that not just Americans, but human beings are suffering too, he said.
"We can do something as well, even though we're not there in the Middle East," he said.
Psychology senior Olivia Feldman said the exhibition was powerful.
"I'm an American Jew myself, so I actually have some connection to these people," she said. "It's a good way to raise awareness and recognize the American ties."
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Feldman said there is suffering on both sides of this conflict and that she hopes everyone can return home soon.
"The most important thing is that we all walk away with recommitting ourselves to take something positive, something good, that we could contribute within our immediate area," Shemtov said. "That's something we could all agree on this world so desperately needs."
