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Meta Israel Launches Fifth Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day Instagram Project With Israeli Celebrities
Eden Golan meeting with a Holocaust survivor as part of the initiative “Sharing Memories.” Photo: Provided
Meta Israel launched on Wednesday its fifth annual Holocaust remembrance project in which prominent Israeli public figures share testimonies of Holocaust survivors on their Instagram accounts, in an effort to connect their stories with younger generations in honor of Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“Sharing Memories,” an initiative that started in 2020, will include this year testimonies of Holocaust survivors who were impacted by the Hamas massacre on Oct. 7, 2023. Some of the survivors are residents of communities near the Israel-Gaza border and were directly affected by the Oct. 7 attack. Twenty of their stories were posted on social media as an Instagram Reels by 20 Israeli celebrities, including actors, singers, models, reality stars, and social media influencers. These well-known individuals met with the Holocaust survivor they with paired with, listened to their story during an intimate conversation, and documented the survivor’s testimony in a video they then uploaded on their Instagram page.
This year’s participants include model Eden Fines; Eden Golan, Israel’s representative in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest; influencer and entrepreneur Einav Booblil; Olympic bronze medalist and judoka Peter Paltchik; “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” stars Hila Saada and Yuval Scharf; reality television star Yiftach Ramon and singer Valerie Hamaty. The leading Israeli figures have more than 7 million Instagram followers combined. As part of “Sharing Memories,” a special meeting was also organized in Munich between Munich-born Holocaust survivor Charlotte Knobloch and Daniel Peretz, the goalkeeper for Israel’s national soccer team and FC Bayern Munich who currently lives in Germany.
The videos created for “Sharing Memories” were uploaded on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which began Wednesday night. This year, the content will also be broadcast throughout Ben Gurion International Airport. QR codes at boarding gates and check-in counters will allow travelers to scan and view the full videos. The clips will additionally be shown on EL AL in-flight entertainment systems, both inbound and outbound flights to and from Israel, during the week of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
As part of a collaboration with Yes, the Israeli broadcast satellite television provider, all project videos will also be available for viewing in Israel on STING+ and yesVOD.
“For five years now, we’ve had the privilege of meeting with Holocaust survivors who open their hearts and share the most painful moments of their lives, so we can remember, learn, and carry their stories forward,” said Adi Soffer Teeni, vice president and general manager of Meta Platforms in Israel. “But this year, perhaps more than ever, we understood that their story is not only one of survival; it’s one of resilience and rebuilding. The Holocaust survivors did not just endure the horrors, they built lives: they came to Israel, raised families, created communities, and built a future. Now, their stories of rebuilding take on renewed meaning. More than ever, we can draw strength from their testimonies: how to rise after horror, hold on to hope, and choose optimism and life. This is not just remembrance. It’s a legacy for the next generation.”
One Holocaust and Oct. 7 survivor highlighted in “Sharing Memories” is Bella Haim. Born in Poland in 1938, she survived the Holocaust by hiding in an orphanage until the end of World War II. Haim lives in Kibbutz Gvulot and is the grandmother of Yotam Haim, a resident of Kibbutz Kfar Aza who was kidnapped by Hamas and taken to the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023. She met with Israeli rap duo Ness & Stilla, who created the song “Harbu Darbu,” to share her story of survival. She also played for the musicians the last voice message she received from her grandson mere moments before he was taken hostage. He later escaped captivity but was accidentally killed, along with two other hostages, by IDF troops in December 2023.
Mirjam Beit Talmi Szpiro, 90, endured her father being murdered by the Nazis in Germany in 1935. She survived the Holocaust in hiding and now lives in Kibbutz Zikim. She survived the Oct. 7 attack, by sheltering in her safe room. She met with Israeli actor Yehuda Levi to talk about her experiences for the “Sharing Memories” initiative.
The project also highlights the survival story of Arale Dvir. He was born in Poland and escaped to Siberia on a freight train before fleeing to Uzbekistan, where his mother and sister died. Upon his arrival in Israel, he was adopted by a family in Kibbutz Sa’ad, where he survived the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. He still lives in Kibbutz Sa’ad and met with Israeli content creator Einav Bublil to share his story for the project.
Knobloch, who met with Peretz in Munich, shared memories of Kristallnacht, the infamous Nazi assault on the German Jewish community on Nov. 9-10, 1938. After surviving the Holocaust, Knobloch returned to Munich and, alongside her father, she reestablished the Jewish community there, which is now the largest in Germany. The city’s Jewish Center was inaugurated in 2006, and it includes kindergartens, schools, a Jewish museum, and a grand synagogue.
Other well-known Israeli participants of this year’s “Sharing Memories” initiative include Adi Himelbloy, Adva Dadon, Daniel Shalibo, Eitam Dror, Alin Golan and Liam Golan, Ifat Hilleli Avraham, Moran Tarasov, Neta Barzani, Roi Harel, Yarden Harel. The Holocaust survivors who took part in this year’s project are Adela Moreno, Arie Pinsker, Gideon Lotan, David Sivor, Dina Shmueli, Tommy Shaham, Yona Amit, Yoske Hershkovitz, Yechiel Frenkel, Lea Balint, Miriam Harel, Nina Aviov, Naftali Rosendorn, Aliza Landau, Tzipora Grant, and Sara Perry.
“Sharing Memories” is a collaboration between Meta Israel and Shem VeNer (Our 6 Million), a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust for future generations. The project has already featured more than 100 creators, artists, and influencers. Content shared on social media as part of the “Sharing Memories” campaign has garnered over 40 million views in Israel and around the world.
“We are proud to take part in this year’s project to honor Holocaust survivors, listen to their stories, and preserve their living testimony for generations to come,” said Ruha Vaknin Sha’ar, CEO of Our 6 Million. “As their numbers dwindle, our responsibility grows.”
The post Meta Israel Launches Fifth Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day Instagram Project With Israeli Celebrities 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.