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These New York City buildings will be lit up in yellow in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day
(New York Jewish Week) — New York City municipal buildings will be illuminated in yellow on Saturday in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Six buildings in all five boroughs will be lit up to mark the day: City Hall in Manhattan, Bronx Borough Hall, Brooklyn Borough Hall, the David N. Dinkins Manhattan Municipal Building, Queens Borough Hall and Staten Island Borough Hall.
“As mayor of the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel, today I am haunted by the thought of how much larger our incredible Jewish family would be if it weren’t for the atrocities of the Holocaust,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a press release.
The mayor’s office is lighting City Hall and other government buildings in partnership with World Jewish Congress’ “#WeRemember” social media campaign, which is “dedicated to keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive” and “to remind the world of what can happen when hatred is allowed to thrive unchecked.”
“This meaningful gesture is a beacon of hope and a powerful reminder of the lessons we must carry forward,” Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, said in a press release about Adams’ effort. “We are grateful to the leaders of the City of New York for their continued dedication to remembering the past and educating future generations, reinforcing our collective resolve to combat antisemitism and all forms of hatred.”
International Holocaust Remembrance Day marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on Jan. 27, 1945. The day was designated by a United Nations General Assembly resolution in 2005. In the last two decades, its mission to spread Holocaust awareness and stop anti-semitism has grown significantly in scope.
While the day is marked by the global community and draws attention from many non-Jewish audiences, Jewish communities mark the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah, which typically falls in late April.
In addition to the municipal buildings, the Empire State Building will also be lit yellow to mark the day in partnership with Voices for Truth and Humanity, a nonprofit organization that promotes Holocaust education in public schools throughout the country.
In previous years, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office has illuminated various landmarks across the state yellow in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, including local One World Trade Center, Moynihan Train Hall and the Kosciuszko Bridge. Messages left for her office about their plans for this year were not answered as of press time.
Mayor Adams acknowledged the gravity of the moment for the Jewish community since the attacks on Oct. 7, which saw the most Jews murdered in one day since the Holocaust.
“October 7, 2023, was a reminder that hate is not a part of a distant past we remember but an ugly reality we must confront,” Adams said in a press release. “Our Jewish brothers and sisters should take comfort in knowing New York City will ‘Never Forget’ and will always be a haven for the Jewish people. May this light be a small symbol of our solidarity and send beams of hope for the future throughout our city.”
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The post These New York City buildings will be lit up in yellow in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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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.