From the Liveblog of
Sunday, May 19, 2024
Hundreds attend funeral of Shani Louk, 22, whose body was held in Gaza since October 7
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
Hundreds of people attend the funeral for 22-year-old Shani Louk, whose body was recovered Friday in Gaza by Israeli commandos, seven months after she was killed by terrorists on October 7.
Her father Nissim had called on the public to attend the funeral at Moshav Srigim-LiOn, south of Beit Shemesh, in central Israel.
Shani Louk became an icon of the Hamas massacre after a video, broadcast on October 7 and attributed to the terror group, showed her body on the back of a white pickup truck, her hair matted with blood. She was surrounded by gunmen and paraded through Gaza.
In a message, President Isaac Herzog apologizes for not being at the funeral and notes Louk’s talents in art and music and how the latter took her from one festival to another around the world, always drawing new friends.
Her father Nissim weeps that he was unable to protect and save her.
“Our leadership makes the same mistakes again and again, “ he says, quoting Albert Einstein who said only fools repeat their mistakes and expect different results each time.
“If they continue making the same mistakes of the last few decades, we are likely to lose our country, “ he says.
Louk’s mother Ricarda talks about her daughter’s independent spirit and love of travel, while friends and relatives repeat how she brought smiles and light wherever she went.
The eulogies end with a song Louk wrote with the words, “I don’t want any more war.”
The tattoo artist and free spirit, who held Israeli and German citizenship, was celebrating with friends at the Nova music festival before it was attacked by gunmen, who massacred some 360 party-goers, while committing rapes and other atrocities.
Louk’s body, as well as those of Itzhak Gelerenter and Amit Buskila, was recovered on Thursday night and announced Friday in an operation carried out by the military and Shin Bet.
The return of the body of a fourth victim, Ron Benjamin, was announced on Saturday.
The four were at the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7, when some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
The Times of Israel Community.