The family of Shir Yaron, who was murdered at the Nova music festival on October 7, said Tuesday that her photo on memorial stickers— along with those of other female victims — was defaced at the Sa’ad Junction when other stickers were placed over them to “conceal” the images and make them more modest. The stickers contained religious messages.
Ya’ara, Shir’s mother, told Ynet: “I have religious family, even ultra-Orthodox — this is not Judaism. If this is Judaism, then it’s a shame we’re not Christians.”
She described those responsible as “small and foolish people.” According to her, “It’s both disrespectful and insolent. It’s the destruction of everything, including the soul. It hurts more than it angers. I don’t even know what to say because I’m so hurt and upset.”
Ya’ara shared that “Shir was my oldest daughter. I’m married for the second time. I raised her alone until I married my current partner. Her biological father became religious and disappeared.”
She said her daughter "grew up her whole life in Tzohar in the Eshkol region. She was 21 years and one month old when she was murdered along with five of her friends. She was a special and good girl, a moshavnik — sandals, jeans and a tank top. She never argued with anyone. This is the last thing she deserves, to be disrespected like this.”
Such vandalism keeps recurring. In June of last year, police arrested a 53-year-old Ashdod resident suspected of defacing images of women across the city, including a mural commemorating Shani Amin, 18, who was murdered alongside her partner Adam Ilayev at the Nova festival on Oct. 7. Her grandfather, Ami Kalfon, reacted angrily at the time, asking Ynet: “Don't the dead get to rest?”
Another incident occurred in March, when images of bereaved mothers were vandalized in Jerusalem only hours after being displayed on city buses for International Women’s Day. The campaign was initiated by the “Hitorerut” movement. Miriam Sela, a Jerusalem City Council member with Hitorerut, said then: “No one will be able to erase their contribution — in Jerusalem there is no room for erasure.”