Hagit (left) and Ruby Chen (right), parents of hostage Itay Chen, spoke at an event at Penn Hillel on Sept. 14.
Credit: Madeline Israel
Around 150 people gathered at Penn Hillel on Sunday to hear from the parents of Itay Chen, a 19-year-old, United States-Israeli citizen who was taken hostage during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack near the Gaza border.
The event — sponsored by Penn Hillel and several campus organizations, including Chabad House and the Penn Israel Public Affairs Committee — featured Chen’s parents, Hagit and Ruby, who spoke about their son’s capture and their advocacy for the release of hostages. Eitan Holtzman, Penn’s Jewish Agency Israel fellow, opened the program by recounting his personal connection to Chen, who was a friend of his younger brother.
Holtzman also emphasized the importance of supporting the Jewish community. He told attendees that Chen, who served in a tank unit of the Israel Defense Forces, was captured while fighting near Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
Hagit Chen shared stories from her son’s childhood, recalling his love of sports, scouting, and mentoring younger children. She described him as someone who consistently took on responsibility for others.
“It’s not like he woke up one day on October 7 and said today’s the day for me to be a hero,” Chen said. “He is a hero. And all his life, he was a hero.”
Ruby Chen similarly detailed the family’s ongoing advocacy, which has included meetings with the White House, members of Congress, and international organizations. He said the family helped establish a nonprofit to coordinate efforts among hostage families.
He also said that “a new battle” began after the hostages were taken.
“It’s difficult to use that adjective ‘battle,’” Chen said. “Because why in the name of God [did] 255 families need to battle and fight for the return of their loved ones?”
“But that is the fact of the matter,” he added.
Chen also described how U.S. officials worked to maintain bipartisan support for the families’ advocacy.
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“When we understood that President Trump was elected, he urged Jake Sullivan, who was the special envoy to the Middle East, to forget about politics and keep this a bipartisan issue, and to reach out as fast as they could to the counterparts of the new administration and finally get this deal that was on the table to the finish line,” Chen said. “And God bless them, they indeed forgot about politics.”
Attendees were invited to take purple bracelets bearing Chen’s name as a symbol of solidarity.
Senior Reporter George Chang contributed reporting.
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