Rachel Goldberg-Polin’s memoir recounts her journey after her son’s abduction by Hamas

This undated handout shows the cover of Rachel Goldberg-Polin’s book “When we see you again.” (AP)
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Updated 15 January 2026
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Rachel Goldberg-Polin’s memoir recounts her journey after her son’s abduction by Hamas

  • Random House announced Thursday that “When We See You Again” will be published April 26
  • “I sat down to write my pain, and out poured loss, suffering, love, mourning, devotion, grief, adoration and fracturedness,” Goldberg-Polin said

NEW YORK: Rachel Goldberg-Polin, who has become known worldwide for her advocacy on behalf of her son and others abducted by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023, has a memoir coming out this spring.
Random House, an imprint of Penguin Random House, announced Thursday that “When We See You Again” will be published April 26.
“I sat down to write my pain, and out poured loss, suffering, love, mourning, devotion, grief, adoration and fracturedness,” Goldberg-Polin, a Chicago-born educator who now lives in Jerusalem, said in a statement. “This book recounts the first steps of a million-mile odyssey that will take the rest of my life to walk on shattered feet.”
Goldberg-Polin also will narrate the audio edition of “When We See You Again.”
Her son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was attending a southern Israel music festival when militants loaded him and other hostages onto the back of a pickup truck. Rachel Goldberg-Polin and her husband, Jon, traveled the world calling for the release of Hersh and others, meeting with President Joe Biden and Pope Francis, speaking at the United Nations and appearing at protest rallies. Each morning, she would write down on a piece of masking tape the number of days her son had been in captivity and stick it on her chest.
She continued her efforts after Israeli officials announced in September 2024 that the bodies of her son and five others had been found in an underground tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip. Israeli forensics experts said they had been shot at close range. Tens of thousands crowded into a Jerusalem cemetery as Hersh was laid to rest.
According to Random House, Rachel Goldberg-Polin will tell her story in “raw, unflinching, deeply moving prose.”
“She describes grief from within the midst of suffering, giving voice to the broken as she pours her pain, love, and longing onto the page,” announcement reads in part. “It is a story of how we remember and how we persevere, of how we suffer and how we love.”


Syria evacuates flood-affected residents of displacement camps in Idlib

Updated 12 February 2026
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Syria evacuates flood-affected residents of displacement camps in Idlib

  • Emergency teams conduct drainage operations, clear culverts within camps, reopen more than 25 roads, 30 water channels
  • Teams coordinate with Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, Idlib governor’s office to oversee distribution of humanitarian aid

LONDON: Authorities from the Syrian Arab Republic have evacuated dozens of families from six displacement camps in western Idlib in the past two days after severe weather caused flooding and damage.

Raed Al-Saleh, the Syrian minister of emergency and disaster management, said 173 families had been moved from camps in Badama and Khirbet Al-Jouz to temporary shelter centers in Idlib Governorate.

Emergency teams have conducted drainage operations, cleared culverts within the camps, reopened more than 25 roads and 30 water channels, and removed five earthen berms as part of preparation for further weather systems, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

They are coordinating with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, and the Idlib governor’s office to oversee the distribution of humanitarian aid.

A rubble removal and road restoration project in Jabal Al-Akrad in the Latakia Governorate has also been initiated to help facilitate residents’ return, the SANA added.

Heavy rainfall in northern and western Syria has resulted in flash floods since Saturday that have swept through areas near seasonal waterways in western Idlib Governorate. The floods have submerged several tents and prompted authorities to evacuate families and open temporary shelters for those displaced.