At 1:00 pm, the main ceremony began at the memorial site - the Hill of Plucked Flowers at Naharayim. Earlier, at 11:00 am, a commemoration march departed from Kibbutz Ashdot Ya’akov Ihud toward the memorial site. The march was attended by the family members and schoolchildren from the nearby area.
Participating in the ceremony were the bereaved families of Natalie Alkalay, Shiri Badayev, Nirit Cohen, Keren Cohen, Ya’ala Meiri, Adi Malka and Sivan Patichi, may they rest in peace. The Knesset was represented by MK Matti Sarfatti Harcavi of Yesh Atid. Present were representatives from the Jordanian Embassy in Israel, and other dignitaries included Beit Shemesh Mayor Mr. Shmuel Weinberg, KKL-JNF Deputy CEO Shimon (Shimi) Baron, Deputy Mayor of Beit Shemesh Mr. Chaim Derringer, representatives of local authorities and hundreds of schoolchildren from the North.
The memorial site, which was the initiative of Orna Shimoni and assisted by KKL-JNF, now serves as a living memorial and educational center upholding the memory of the slain schoolgirls. Shimoni, resident of Ashdot Ya’akov Ihud and veteran social activist, was among the first to arrive at the scene of the shooting, and worked to have the site dedicated to commemoration and education for peace.
Speakers at the ceremony included representatives from the bereaved families, various dignitaries and representatives from the education system. The region’s schoolchildren recited texts, poems and sang songs written specially in memory of the girls.
The event was organized by KKL-JNF jointly with the Beit Shemesh Municipality and Jordan Valley Regional Council.
Shimi Baron, KKL-JNF Deputy CEO: “28 years have come and gone since this awful tragedy and we still share the pain of the bereaved families. We at KKL-JNF regard commemoration of the seven girls to be a top priority, and are determined to perpetuate their story for future generations. We shall continue working to uphold their memory, to develop the site and to turn it into a meaningful educational center that will tell their story and educate on values of peace and love for our fellow man. This is our moral obligation to the families and to Israeli society in general”.