Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of the murdered Gaza hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, represented Middle Eastern victims of terrorism at the United Nations on Friday in honor of the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism.
“My name is Rachel,” she began, “and I will always be the mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin.”
Her remarks, delivered in the form of a recorded video, sought to call attention to Israeli terror victims, with Rachel sharing the story of her son Hersh, who lost his arm when he was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.
“Hersh will always be my only son,” she said. “Hersh will always be my eldest child, and Hersh will always be 23 years old.”
She was the first Israeli representative in the role, which has been given to Palestinians in recent years, with her testimony shown alongside those of other terror victims from around the world.
The UN event, held annually on August 21, was established by the UN General Assembly in a 2017 resolution “to honor and support the victims and survivors of terrorism and to promote and protect the full enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms,” according to the UN’s website.
Hersh’s experience at the hands of Hamas
Rachel described the experiences of her late son at the hands of the Hamas terror organization, as well as her experience as his mother amid his kidnapping, hostage status, and eventual murder.
“My son was executed at close range and returned to me after 330 days,” said Rachel. “That body that I had carried in my body for nine months, many moons ago. That body and soul, that I had adored and beheld.”
She then discussed the 1932 correspondence at the League of Nations between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud on the topic of why humans wage war with one another.
“Freud explains that we humans continue to engage in active conflict even though the vast majority of us suffer terribly from this way of existence,” she said. “Civilization has to decide whether to rise to the challenge to continually contain our natural tendencies toward war, or to give that slavery of selfish interest to give into it.”
“What Freud inheritely is inherently saying is that there are people on both sides of any conflict whose drive toward destruction of the other is exactly the same and therefore, ironically, those destructive entities on opposing sides in fact have more in common with each other than the very people they claim to represent,” she continued, noting that the same is true, acording to Freud, for the victims in war, whose motivations are “hope, and life, and love.”
A blessing and a warning to the world
She concluded her remarks with “a blessing and a warning,” praying that human civilization will use its “wisdom, strength and might to do what is right.”
“The choice is hard, but the choice is ours,” she said. “Shall we take the easy way out and follow blindly? Even as we march ourselves right over a cliff? Or shall we push ourselves to live up to the most elevated challenges and goals that are presented?”
Rachel’s role at the UN event marks a significant step for Israel in its efforts to ensure proper international recognition for Israeli terror victims, including those of the October 7 massacre.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, commented on the significance of Rachel’s remarks and her role at the UN event, saying that Israel’s UN mission “will continue working to ensure that Israeli victims of terrorism are given the recognition they deserve at the UN and that their stories are never forgotten.”
