Olga Gluzman, the mother of Dana Petrenko, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Nova festival on October 7, 2023, says Haifa municipality has blocked her request for a memorial for two years. She wants a small heart-shaped bench facing the sea in the city where she lives, but says officials first tried to move the tribute to a side garden and later demanded 60,000 shekels for placing it at the beach.
Gluzman’s case has become a public dispute, with people involved in the matter raising concerns about possible cultural discrimination against a family of immigrants from the former Soviet Union and about whether city officials are avoiding a politically sensitive issue in Haifa. She has repeatedly asked to meet Mayor Yona Yahav, but says he has refused to see her.
The family has gathered support and says it is willing to pay the requested sum, but the process remains frozen at the municipality. The report notes that other cities, including Bat Yam, have said memorials for fallen civilians and soldiers are installed without charge.
Activists from the Russian-language movement Derech Eretz are now backing Gluzman and leading the campaign against what they call municipal indifference. Their leader, Rabbi Alexander Khayit, said, “Should a bereaved family that lost what was most precious to them in the terrible massacre run into an alien bureaucratic wall just because of their origin? We will not be silent until this injustice is corrected.” In a video message, Gluzman said she has been asking for a memorial in Haifa for “two and a half years” and only wants to honor her daughter, not special treatment.
