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‘We will rise from the dust’: Ahead of Tu BiShvat, Israelis and Jews worldwide plant trees in memory of Oct. 7 victims
(JTA) — On Sunday, standing on the grounds of the music festival that became a killing field, Meirav and Doron Madar planted a seedling in memory of their son.
The fledgling eucalyptus was one of 200 planted at the site of the Nova festival, where Hamas terrorists gunned down some 360 people on Oct. 7, including their 26-year-old son, Shahak Yosef Madar. Held days ahead of Tu BiShvat, the Jewish new year for the trees, the planting ceremony was one of several worldwide to pay tribute to the victims of Oct. 7 by seeding new life.
“Today, we came to plant a tree in his memory, hoping to see the tree, strong and flourishing, take root in the ground,” the Madars said at the ceremony, according to a press release.
Planting trees is an annual tradition on Tu BiShvat, which falls this year on Wednesday night and Thursday. In Jewish texts, trees usually symbolize life and strength, and in recent decades Jews have sponsored the planting of trees in Israel via the Jewish National Fund, which sponsored Sunday’s ceremony. The eucalyptus in particular has become a symbol of Israeli persistence that was immortalized in a 1962 song by Naomi Shemer.
But, as in Sunday’s ceremony, trees have been planted to commemorate Jewish death as well as life. Gardens in a number of Jewish communities memorialize the Holocaust, and a garden at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust museum, pays tribute to non-Jews who rescued Jews from the Nazis, commonly referred to as “righteous gentiles.”
Sunday’s ceremony, held at Kibbutz Reim, where the massacre occurred, included approximately 1,000 relatives of the Nova victims, including Ricarda Louk, the mother of German-Israeli tattoo artist and influencer Shani Louk.
“The pain of the grieving families is the pain of the entire Israeli people, and we stand with them throughout the way,” KKL-JNF Chairwoman Ifat Ovadia-Luski said in a statement. “The history of the people of Israel is not just a history of disturbances but a history of resilience. On Tu BiShvat, we convey a message of renewal and hope: we will rise from the dust and grow new lives in Reim and all-around Israel.”
Zo Artzeinu — an organization that began as a right-wing activist movement and has since shifted its focus to planting trees in Israel — created a campaign to plant 12,000 fruit trees in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, a Gaza border community that was ravaged on Oct. 7. The figure amounts to roughly 10 trees for every victim of the Hamas attack.
“Thousands of New mitzvot will come from these Fruit Trees and their Fruits,” said a statement on the Zo Artzeinu website, which added that the planting of the trees would elevate the souls of the victims. “Together, we’ll create NEW Life!”
Some Jewish schools and synagogues in the United States have also taken Tu Bishvat as an opportunity to commemorate the Oct. 7 victims.
Congregation B’nai Harim, a Reform congregation near Sacramento, is also fundraising for JNF, with the goal of raising $500 to plant 100 trees in Israel in memory of those killed. And middle school students at the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in Livingston, New Jersey spent Jan. 16, the 101st day since Oct. 7, reciting psalms and the name of each hostage, then writing “wish letters” describing their hopes for the hostages and Israel’s soldiers.
The letters will be displayed in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, named in honor of the Israelis held captive by Hamas, as part of a government-sponsored “Tree of Wishes” sent in by children around the world.
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The post ‘We will rise from the dust’: Ahead of Tu BiShvat, Israelis and Jews worldwide plant trees in memory of Oct. 7 victims appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
The post Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rubio Holds First Meeting with Hostage Families, Urges End to Gaza War
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard
i24 News – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held on Friday his first meeting with the families of the hostages still held in Gaza since taking office in January, telling the loved ones that a “real victory” can only occur in Gaza when the remaining hostages are returned.
Those in attendance included Omri Miran’s brother-in-law; Evyatar David’s brother; Hadar Goldin’s brother; and Iair Horn, who himself is a freed hostage, with his brother Eitan still held by Hamas in Gaza.
According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, they urged the current US administration for a “bold decision.” “We’ve waited long enough,” the family members said. “It’s time to make brave decisions and bring all our loved ones back—all at once.”
Rubio, in turn, expressed the Trump administration’s “unwavering commitment” in rescuing the 49 remaining hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
This meeting comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this week that he believes a ceasefire will be reached between Israel and Hamas “within the next week.”
The post Rubio Holds First Meeting with Hostage Families, Urges End to Gaza War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Says He Would Consider Bombing Iran Again, Drops Sanctions Relief Plan
US President Donald Trump speaks at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (not pictured), at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump sharply criticized Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamanei, on Friday, dropped plans to lift sanctions on Iran and said he would consider bombing Iran again if Tehran is enriching uranium to worrisome levels.
Trump reacted sternly to Khamanei’s first remarks after a 12-day conflict with Israel that ended when the United States launched bombing raids last weekend against Iranian nuclear sites.
Khamanei said Iran “slapped America in the face” by launching an attack against a major US base in Qatar following the US bombing raids. Khamanei also said Iran would never surrender.
Trump said he had spared Khamanei’s life. US officials told Reuters on June 15 that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill the supreme leader.
“His Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life,” Trump said in a social media post.
“I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH,” he said.
Iran said a potential nuclear deal was conditional on the US ending its “disrespectful tone” toward the Supreme Leader.
“If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt followers,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X in the early hours of Saturday.
Trump also said that in recent days he had been working on the possible removal of sanctions on Iran to give it a chance for a speedy recovery. He said he had now abandoned that effort.
“I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more,” he said.
Trump said at a White House news conference that he did not rule out attacking Iran again, when asked about the possibility of new bombing of Iranian nuclear sites if deemed necessary at some point.
“Sure, without question, absolutely,” he said.
Trump said he would like inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency – the U.N. nuclear watchdog – or another respected source to be able to inspect Iran’s nuclear sites after they were bombed last weekend.
Trump has rejected any suggestion that damage to the sites was not as profound as he has said.
The IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, said on Wednesday that ensuring the resumption of IAEA inspections was his top priority as none had taken place since Israel began bombing on June 13.
However, Iran’s parliament approved moves on Wednesday to suspend such inspections. Araqchi indicated on Friday that Tehran may reject any request by the head of the agency for visits to Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump said Iran still wants to meet about the way forward. The White House had said on Thursday that no meeting between the U.S. and an Iranian delegation has been scheduled thus far.
The post Trump Says He Would Consider Bombing Iran Again, Drops Sanctions Relief Plan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.