Hundreds turn up to solidarity event at site of Tel Aviv shooting attack
Two weeks after Nashat Melhem shot dead Alon Bakal and Shimon Ruimi, hundreds gathered at the 'Simta' pub where the terror attack took place to 'show everyone that it's possible to continue.'
A solidarity event took place on Friday at the Simta pub in Tel Aviv, where Alon Bakal and Shimon Ruimi were murdered by gunman Nashat Melhem two weeks ago.
Hundreds arrived at the Dizengoff Street pub in a show of support, initiated by Israeli the public in order to strengthen the establishment.
"The response is crazy. It really warms the heart," said Ariel Illouz of Jerusalem, one of the initiators of the event.
Exactly two weeks prior, Nashat Melhem arrived at the Simta pub and fired several rounds into the bar, killing Ruimi, who had come to celebrate a friend's birthday, and Bakal, a manager of the pub.
Melhem later murdered Amin Shaaban, a taxi driver, while making his escape back to Arara in the north of Israel. Melhem was killed in a shoot-out with Israeli special forces a week ago.
Employees at Simta wore t-shirts with the names of Melhem's victims on them and some wore hats saying: "You can't stop living."
Saar Geva, one of the pub managers, said: "It's an amazing event to commemorate these people as well as to go on. It's to show everyone that it's possible to continue.
"An event like this connects people to what happened here and proves what the people of Israel are about. It's an incredible initiative," Geva added.
"I feel as if it happened yesterday and it's still strange. I hope that Shimi and Alon are looking at us from above and smiling," he said.
Bruria Mizrahi, the mother of one of the pub's owners, came to support her son. "I'm happy and sad," she said. "I came to encourage my son and all the youngsters in Israel to carry on enjoying life.
"I'm standing here and looking. It was important to me to see where it happened. The last two weeks have been hard, my son is heartbroken," Mizrahi continued.
"On the one hand the murders were incredibly sad, but on the other there is joy in seeing the response and celebration here now. I wish for everyone not to know such sorrow again," she added.
Shahar, who came from Jerusalem, said: "My friends and I came in order to express our support for people in Tel Aviv. Everyone wants peace, but there is no place for violence, no place for stabbings and no place for terror."
