Shira Banki’s parents invite public to gravestone unveiling
Parents of girl murdered at Jerusalem pride parade say show of support after her death was ‘a little source of light’
Adiv Sterman is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
The parents of Shira Banki, a 16-year-old high school student fatally stabbed at the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade late July, urged the public to attend an unveiling ceremony for their daughter’s tombstone set to take place on Tuesday at the cemetery at Kibbutz Nachshon, west of the capital.
“We’re still trying to ease the magnitude of the loss,” Uri and Mika Banki wrote in a Facebook post. “It is clear to us that the murder is another instance of intolerance on the Israeli street.”
Banki’s parents added that “the public outcry and participation of thousands of people in the mourning process was a little source of light” during such a difficult period, Israel Radio reported.
Banki was one of seven people stabbed by ultra-Orthodox assailant Yishai Schlissel on July 30. Evacuated to a local hospital in critical condition, she died of her wounds several days later.
In a funeral ceremony closed to the media, Banki’s parents, Uri and Mika, eulogized their daughter. “Shira, an intelligent, beautiful, intelligent, gentle, curious, musical girl… Even adolescence had passed over her with grace, and she blossomed like a beautiful flower.”
“All of her innocence, beauty, happiness and goodness fell on the altar of hatred, malice, cruelty and ignorance,” they said. “We are left with pain, longing and shock that every parent would rather die than feel.
“We have no issue with people wearing kippas or with beards,” they continued. “We know that many prayers were said in sincerity and emotion for the recovery of our daughter — both in public and behind closed doors. Our dispute is with hatred and the sanctifying of your objective at the expense of the pain of another person.
“Now we will go home and try to rebuild our family — to learn how to be five instead of six. We will try to hate less and love more; that’s what we can offer you.”
Schlissel had been released from prison three weeks before the attack after serving 10 years for perpetrating an almost-identical crime at the Gay Pride parade in 2005, when he stabbed three people. Prosecutors indicted Schlissel in August on one count of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder along with a slew of other related charges.
“You have no authority to judge me according to the laws of the Torah, so I’m not interested in representation,” Schlissel told the judge during a hearing.
He has also refused to cooperate with the investigation and refuses to speak to authorities about the attacks, even after being shown videos and photos.
Stuart Winer and Tamar Pileggi contributed to this report.
