Emily Damari
This is Emily Tehila Damari ripped from her life story. A life that is full of friends and family. Emily is the center of her friends. The girl that starts the party. The girl everyone wants to sit next to. Where Emily is- the fun is.
It makes sense that someone so vibrant, happy and loved would be the center of the party. What I found remarkable is that Emily made her parents part of her social circle. Emily has tremendous respect for her parents- but she also showed her friends by her social media posts, by her arm slung around her mother’s shoulder, that being close with your mother is cool.
I agree, Emily. Because my mom is my best friend too.
Emily, your mother waits for you to return to her arms. Your friends wait for you to rejoin their circle and be the girl that centres them. Your father and brothers, your nieces and nephews- you are missed in every moment that they wait for you to return to them.
Your beloved dog Chucha murdered in front of you. One of your friends, Shiri, wrote that when she saw Mia Lienberg return with her dog Bella in the ceasefire in November 2023- she wished she could imagine Emily with her dog Chucha. That you would have that small comfort in the hell you were being kept in. The hell you are still held in.
Then in January 2024, released hostage Dafna Elyakim, 15, said in an Israeli television interview that she and her younger sister, Ella Elyakim, were taken into Hamas’s underground tunnels, where they met five other female hostages who haven’t yet returned — Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Romy Gonen, Agam Berger and Emily Damari. (*Taken from times of Israel article)
Emily, Liri, Naama, Romi, Agam we know you were seen alive and suffering in January. And we are waiting for your return.
May the merit of your beautiful life, the way you honor your parents, the way you love your friends- be the light that shines and brings you out of the tunnels of G@z@.
Emily.
Everyone is waiting for you and you are on everyone’s mind and in our hearts.
Let Emily and each of our beloved hostages go free.
