RSS
Eden Golan Performs ‘October Rain’ in Front of Thousands at Oct. 7 Memorial Ceremonies in UN, Central Park
Eden Golan performing “October Rain” at the United Nations in New York City on Oct. 7, 2024, on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. Photo: Perry Bindelglass
Eden Golan, Israel’s representative to the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, performed her original song “October Rain” at the United Nations headquarters and in New York City’s Central Park on Monday in two separate events commemorating the one-year anniversary of the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel that took place on Oct. 7, 2023.
The song Golan performed at the UN memorial event and later at Central Park’s Summer Stage was initially written for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden. However, it was rejected by the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the contest, for being too political since it references the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre. Golan instead competed in the Eurovision with a reworded version of the song, titled “Hurricane,” and finished in fifth place in the international competition.
Golan also performed Israel’s national anthem “Hatikvah” at the UN memorial event, which was attended by hundreds of ambassadors, diplomats, pro-Israel activists, and family members of Hamas hostages as well as those murdered in the Hamas massacre on Oct. 7. The event was organized by the Israeli Mission to the UN in collaboration with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which live streamed the event on social media.
The ceremony’s speakers included US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Rabbi Doron Perez, whose son Daniel was murdered in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists who still hold his body captive in the Gaza Strip, and Sigal Mansouri, whose daughters, Roya and Norel, were murdered at the Nova music festival.
“Our heart breaks for the victims, for the brave soldiers who gave their lives to defend us, for the families who have been torn apart and for the 101 innocent souls still held in the terror tunnels of Gaza,” said Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon. “To the hostages and their families we say this: you are not forgotten. Every day, every moment, we carry you with us. We will never stop fighting for you until every last one of you is back home. Your names, your faces, your stories are forever etched into our hearts and we will make sure the world cannot look away.”
The UJA-Federation of New York, Jewish Community Relations Council, and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum organized the community-wide gathering in Central Park on Monday night. The memorial ceremony was attended by hundreds of por-Israel supporters and also elected officials from New York, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, state Attorney General Letitia James, and state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.
The event additionally featured a musical performance by Israeli singer-songwriter David Broza and student choirs, speeches by survivors of the Oct. 7 attacks, and a candle-lighting ceremony.
After her two performances on Monday, Golan wrote about commemorating the Hamas terrorist attack in an Instagram post, saying, “10.7 will be a day we will never forget.”
“Yesterday, I [sic] had the honor to perform at the UN and later on at central park to share the pain we’ve experienced and continue to feel,” she wrote. “Being a free nation has a stronger meaning today than ever, and I’m proud to stand in this room and in front of this crowd to sing my country’s national anthem.”
She concluded by saying, “We can’t stop speaking about the hostages — they all must come home.”
The post Eden Golan Performs ‘October Rain’ in Front of Thousands at Oct. 7 Memorial Ceremonies in UN, Central Park first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
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.”
RSS
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.
RSS
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.