A Chicago truck driver is using a rig to help hostages still in the clutches of Hamas not be forgotten as Dems roll into town for their convention — along with tens of thousands of anti-Israel protesters.
Jeremiah Smith, 28, trucker and native of the main city of Chicago, behind the wheel of the movement to bring awareness to the dire plight of hostages more than 10 months after October 7, including childhood friend Hersh Goldberg-Polin, his family. has a deep Chicago color.
By driving a “hostage truck” in the Windy City for 12 hours a day, six days a week, Smith hopes to dispel misconceptions about the Jewish state and help fight antisemitism while raising awareness of what remains in the hands of terrorists.
“The DNC is a big opportunity — to show the audience and the politicians that we want these hostages at home,” Smith told The Post on the morning route. “This is my way of helping Hersh and all the hostages.”
As he set his course, Smith planned his plea to the audience who might feel pressure from the anti-Israel crowd: “Please do everything to bring them back alive. Don’t forget the hostages.”
Smith, who grew up in the North Side’s Cabrini-Green project, first connected with Hersh’s volunteer tutor grandmother Marcy Goldberg at school when she was 6 years old.
They are part of the family and “brothers” to the younger Hersh, who turned 23 after being kidnapped at the Nova music festival in Re’im, Israel, where about 350 people were killed by terrorists.
“Marcy definitely saved my life,” said Smith, who moved in with Hersh’s grandparents when she was 11 years old. a lot of drugs, people killing people, people getting hit in the head with baseball bats” is a youth in the project.
“I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t know these people. The Jewish community welcomed me with open arms.”
Smith, who considers himself Jewish today, had his first exposure to Judaism in his adopted home, attending Jewish summer camps and celebrating traditional holidays. He visited Hersh in Israel several times, and wore a Star of David that he bought on one of his trips.
But now thinking about the fate of his little brother, puts Smith on a razor’s edge.
After learning that Hersh had been attacked on Oct. 7, Smith announced, “We don’t know if he’s dead or alive — my heart just dropped to my stomach,” he said, recalling that he immediately rushed to Marcy’s side.
Smith admitted he wasn’t sure about his beloved friend’s condition.
The first sign of life came with a Hamas propaganda video of Hersh on April 24, revealing Hersh emaciated, weakened and one-armed with his hair shaved around 200 days into captivity.
“I was so happy to see him live,” Smith said of the video that brought him to tears. “Some days it’s hard to have hope.”
It galvanized him to keep trucking.
For the past five months, he has driven a “hostage truck” with pictures of Hersh and other hostages around the Windy City, sometimes behind hateful epithets, including getting his middle finger cut off in the street and peppered with the n-word.
“People said, ‘You support them killing children?'” Smith recalled, adding that he had a history of the country’s history and said he had the facts on his side. “I have learned a lot about Israel – especially since October 7. I tried to tell you, if you are at the festival, they will also try to kill you,” he said. “I said, ‘You’re not safe just because you’re Muslim.'”
But next week, he sees a “huge opportunity” to reach all the delegates in town for the DNC and “raise awareness for Hersh and all the hostages,” said Smith, the father of two, ages 2 and 6, who also attended. married in two weeks.
In addition to the normal route – he said he plans to swing a hostage truck around to all the delegates’ hotels and convention centers in order to attract maximum eyeballs to the plight of the captives. “I’m going to go to every hotel he’s staying at – I always want to talk,” he said.
“I want to make a difference – I want people to see the truck, talk to me, ask me why I support hostages,” he said. “I want peace, of course. I want the hostages to go home.”
Cheering on the anti-Israel crowd who vowed to spread chaos next week, Smith said, “I can deal with hate.”
He will also be running a new exhibit to coincide with the DNC, called “Hostage Square Chicago,” which will have evocative art installations recalling the horror of October 7, including a 10-foot milk carton featuring every American hostage still held by Hamas. captivity.
“I hope next week is peaceful, but I’m ready. I don’t stop,” she said, noting that she and her fiance, who is in the National Guard, pray every day for all the hostages.
“Hersh would be proud. I want to make him proud.”
