Amid outcry from southern residents, local official says most Darom Adom events cancelled

Amid growing opposition from residents of the Gaza border towns and the family members of those killed or kidnapped on October 7, most of the events for the Darom Adom festival are canceled.

“Yesterday we decided to cancel most of the events that were announced,” Shaar Hanegev Regional Council Acting Chairman Yossi Keren tells Army Radio.

Keren replaced Ofir Libstein, the head of the Sha’ar Hanegev local council who was killed defending Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7 and was one of the founders of Darom Adom.

Keren says the walk in memory of Libstein will still take place “even if I have to march alone.”

Yesterday Sharon Kalderon, a resident of Kibbutz Sufa whose brother Ofer was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz with his two children (who were freed on November 27 as part of a temporary ceasefire deal) while he remains a hostage in Gaza, told the outlet why she believed the festival was inappropriate.

“This year’s anemones are redder than ever — not from the rain, but from the blood of our murdered. The residents of the south have no life. There is no reason for everyone else to be able to sit and have a picnic by the anemones,” she said.

The festival, which usually sees tens of thousands of Israelis flocking to the region over the weekends of February, was already organized to be held in a more limited fashion.

When it was announced, a spokesperson said the festival was taking place to help dozens of small, local businesses earn money.