Nicole Lampert writes
For nearly 500 days, there was an empty chair in Highgate synagogue with the image of British/ Israeli hostage Emily Damari’s photo on it. Today, incredibly, amid a standing ovation that seemed to go on for hours and plenty of tears all round,
@EmilyDamari1 sat in it. Later, thanking the community which had ‘adopted’ her, she spoke of how she and the other young woman she was held hostage with had prayed every day. And she described that, however awful things were, every day they also took joy simply in being alive for another day.
I’ve been privileged to have met some of Emily’s family and seen her indomitable mother @DamariMandy go from being a shy kindergarten teacher to someone speaking on the world stage and willing to tackle our government, all governments, on the enduring torture of the hostages. It was amazing to see her girl in her arms. Emily is just like her mother.
She is tiny but has that same grit. She has gone from being an anonymous kibbutznik to a world figure not only doing everything she can for the hostages being held in Gaza (in particular her friends Ziv and Gali Berman) but also to call out antisemites and those who would deny what happened on October 7, such as a recent Pulitzer Prize winner.
Of the 59 still being held hostage in Gaza, it is believed that 21-24 of them are still alive. Their families know they are being starved, tortured, shackled and kept underground.
Today, Spurs fan Emily will be welcomed at the club with a small demo outside.
The link is here for anyone who wants to go.
