Hapoel Tel Aviv and the Ultras Hapoel fan organization held a ceremony Wednesday evening to honor and commemorate the dear fans of the team who fell and were murdered during the Iron Sword War. The event, held in the honor booth at Bloomfield Stadium, was attended by 32 red families who lost their dearest ones. The singer and composer, a fan of the team, Hanan Yuval performed a number of songs, among them the fan song "Here they come".
A video produced especially for the ceremony held tonight at Bloomfield Stadium in cooperation with the Ultras organization operating and the club.
"I chose you, the worker, not a normal life, like everyone else... pic.twitter.com/cXFq4paxEV
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— Hapoel Tel Aviv FC (@HapoelTelAvivFC) November 22, 2023
Towards the end of the event, each family was honored to take the stage, with a few words in memory of their loved ones in the background - and to receive gifts and tributes from the club and the fans' organization. The club gave families tribute shields with illustrations of their loved ones. The worker ultras gave a canvas image with the graffiti paintings that beat their loved ones and a special scarf. The defenders on behalf of the club were awarded by CEO Itai Boneh and Head of Fan Relations Shavit Elimelech, together with Dan Einbinder and Omri Altman.
Club CEO Itay Boneh: "The special DNA of Hapoel Tel Aviv has all kinds of names and definitions, but one thing is certain - the special DNA of Hapoel Tel Aviv is what made all your dear ones sympathize with the team, love it wholeheartedly and identify with it, and it is also what makes us identify deeply with your pain, feel as if we knew them even if we didn't really get to know them. And love you with all my heart from now until eternity. This special DNA has brought thousands of fans to accompany your loved one on their final journey, with a red shirt and tears choking their throats, and it is he who is now leading the fans' organization and the club to commemorate them in many different ways."
Families of the fans who fell and were murdered, today in Bloomfield, photo: Hapoel Tel Aviv
A representative of the fans, Uri Meiselman, said at the ceremony: "The stand is a strange and bustling place, with the smells of the stand and the habits of the stand. A place where a 10-year-old boy can be hoisted by a fifty-year-old who doesn't know him just because they were standing close in the goal. A place of joy and sadness and lots of emotions. In the next game with a crowd, when we return to the stand, it will look different, there will be many holes of empty chairs and there will be great, unimaginable sorrow that we have all been in since the events of that Saturday and the war that broke out that black morning."
Fan representatives give gifts to families, tonight, photo: Hapoel Tel Aviv
A representative of the families, Yizhar Shai, said: "We are all connected to this magnificent club, each and every one of us in his own circumstances, my children are the third generation of Hapoel fans. The families were connected even before around our team, the club, everything that Hapoel symbolizes. Now we are also connected around the fate of our loved ones, who are no longer with us. On behalf of the families, I would like to thank all the fans for the amazing attendance at the funerals and memorials, I find it difficult to describe the feeling of the immense excitement at the sight of hundreds of red shirts and scarves, of those fans who came to accompany our loved ones on their final journey. It was a big hug and I want to emphasize that nothing is taken for granted, by everyone involved, that gives us the feeling that Hapoel Tel Aviv is one big family.
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Families of the fans who fell and were murdered, today in Bloomfield, photo: Hapoel Tel Aviv
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