Israel is marking Remembrance Day, or Yom Hazikaron in Hebrew, a commemoration of the more than 23,000 soldiers, police, security personnel and civilians killed in battle or terrorist attacks since 1860, the period considered the beginning of the pre-state community built by pioneers. On Tuesday evening, all non-essential businesses and services shut down, and at 20:00 local time, citizens held a minute of silence (repeated Wednesday morning for two minutes) as sirens blared throughout the country. Notably, authorities have planned a service to pay homage to some 200 Jews killed worldwide in anti-Semitic attacks since the establishment of Israel in 1948. In the past six months, white supremacists killed 12 Jews in the United States – one in April at a synagogue in Poway, California, and 11 others in an October 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life house of worship in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Yom Hazikaron is one of the most somber occasions on the Hebrew calendar and falls a week after Holocaust Remembrance Day. Nevertheless, one of the unique aspects of the Jewish state is that the subdued mood lasts only until sundown, when dejection transforms into jubilation as citizens usher in Israel’s 71st Independence Day. On Thursday, Israelis will hold large celebrations with family and friends, visit national parks, hit the beach and swarm the streets waving flags, playing music and perhaps even enjoying a drink or two.
Give the gift of hope
We practice what we preach:
accurate, fearless journalism. But we can't do it alone.
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
Join us.
Support The Media Line. Save democracy.
