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Photo Essay: Israeli-American Hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s Planned World Trip Sparks Airport Rally
Friends and family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, Dec. 27, 2023. Photo: Shanie Roth
In a gesture of solidarity, dozens of friends and relatives of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a hostage held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, gathered on Wednesday at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport to mark the date that the 23-year-old Israeli-American would have embarked on a two-year worldwide trek.
Friends and family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, Dec. 27, 2023. Photo: Shanie Roth
“Today, Dec. 27, Hersh has a one-way ticket to go traveling around the world. It’s a trip that he’s been planning for a long time. He’s been dreaming about it for a long time,” his father, Jonathan Polin, shared. “He’s unfortunately not going to be taking off on a trip today, but we are hoping and praying that he’s going to take off on this trip soon.”
Jonathan Polin, center, and Rachel Goldberg, left, at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, Dec. 27, 2023. Photo: Shanie Roth
The young adventurer’s life took a devastating turn when he was abducted, along with several dozen others, from the Supernova music festival on Oct. 7 in southern Israel. More than 350 revelers at the party were also murdered by Hamas. A video shows Goldberg-Polin being shoved onto a pickup truck at gunpoint after his left arm — his dominant arm — had been blown off by a grenade that terrorists launched into a roadside bomb shelter in which he and some friends had been hiding.
Attendees at Wednesday’s airport gathering held posters adorned with Goldberg-Polin’s image and the slogan “Bring Hersh Home.”
Friends and family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, Dec. 27, 2023. Photo: Shanie Roth
Jonathan Polin brought a backpack that he had intended to gift his son prior to the planned excursion. “The bag was not supposed to be here today on my back. It’s supposed to be on Hersh’s back,” he lamented. “We hope it’s going to be soon.”
Jonathan Polin at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, Dec. 27, 2023. Photo: Shanie Roth
Hersh’s mother, Rachel Goldberg, said that her son had always had a fascination with world maps and travel. “He’d been planning and dreaming of [his trip] since he was in first grade, with detailed maps and detailed plans, by himself.”
She expressed her hope that by this time next year, Hersh would be on his trip: “You know what? You don’t need two arms to travel the world.”
Rachel Goldberg at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, Dec. 27, 2023. Photo: Shanie Roth
Rachel Goldberg has been relentlessly campaigning for her son’s return since Oct. 7. She has addressed the United Nations on two occasions and also met with several prominent figures, including US President Joe Biden, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Elon Musk, and Pope Francis. She has also been profiled in several publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Atlantic, and was on the cover of Time magazine together with her husband.
Pinned to Goldberg’s chest is the number of days since her son’s abduction. The number is also in a large black and white sign on the roof of her house. Changing them is the first thing she does every morning after awakening. Her husband calls the Red Cross every single day to urge them to visit her son and the other 129 hostages still in Gaza. The two established a website called One Min A Day to encourage US citizens to call or text local elected officials on a daily basis and urge for her son’s release.
Jonathan Polin and Rachel Goldberg at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, Dec. 27, 2023. Photo: Shanie Roth
Pictures from Wednesday’s rally show the outpouring of support for the Goldberg-Polin family, as well as the efforts by Hersh’s parents to fight for his release — and to endure until then.
The post Photo Essay: Israeli-American Hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s Planned World Trip Sparks Airport Rally first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.