Hostage Survivor Slams Festivalgoers Singing 'Shir LaShalom' Near Gaza
Translated & summarized from Kikar HaShabbat by baba
Hostage survivor Emily Damari condemned hundreds of Indingev Festival attendees for singing "Shir LaShalom" near Gaza, questioning belief in peace with "monsters." The festival, held October 15-17 near massacre sites, featured political symbols alongside the song. Damari's criticism joined public outrage, including from Meirav Hajaj, mother of a fallen soldier, who remembered victims of terror and war.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Hostage survivor Emily Damari criticized festivalgoers singing "Shir LaShalom" near Gaza.
- Damari questioned belief in peace with "monsters" after seeing the video.
- The Indingev Festival took place October 15-17, 20 kilometers from the October 7 Nova party massacre site.
- Videos showed hundreds dancing with political symbols like keffiyehs.
- Meirav Hajaj, mother of a fallen soldier, also expressed pain over the event.
Hostage survivor Emily Damari has sharply criticized attendees of the Indingev Festival after footage emerged of hundreds dancing and singing "Shir LaShalom" (Song for Peace), sparking outrage on social media. Damari expressed her pain at the sight, given the festival's location in the Gaza envelope, approximately 20 kilometers from the Re'im parking lot where the Nova party massacre occurred on October 7.
"The video of Shir LaShalom hit me in the chest with a force I didn't know existed. How do people still believe in peace with these monsters? How?" Damari wrote on her Instagram account on October 19.
The Indingev Festival, held from October 15 to 17 at Mitham Gvulot, marked its 20th anniversary with performances by Israeli artists. Videos from the event showed hundreds of young people dancing and singing the song, with political symbols like keffiyehs, shirts associated with the Democratic Party, and Hapoel Tel Aviv flags also visible.
The song, long a symbol of Israel's peace movement, drew sharp criticism this time due to the event's proximity to the October 7 massacre sites and the painful memories associated with the area. Meirav Hajaj, mother of the late Lieutenant Shir Hajaj, who was murdered in a Jerusalem attack, also reacted with pain to the dancing, recalling victims of the Oslo Accords, the October 7 massacre, and fallen soldiers in the current war.
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