Bereaved Families Face Off Against Artists: “The Blood Of Our Children Is Not Worthless”

Bereaved families from the Choosing Life Forum faced off on Sunday against a handful of artists who came to protest outside Israel’s national lottery, Mifal HaPayis, over the lottery’s decision to pull its funding for the winning film at the DocAviv film festival.

Mifal HaPayis’ decision to halt its funding of the prize came following public protests from bereaved families and members of Mifal HaPayis over the NIS 150,000 prize set to be awarded to this year’s winning film that lauded the work of terrorist-defending attorney Lea Tsemel.

Tsemel has gained notoriety for her persistent defense of terrorists with blood on their hands, including dozens of Hamas terrorists and Abdel Aziz Salha, who was pictured in the infamous photograph waving his blood-soaked hands after the lynching of two IDF soldiers in Ramallah in 2000.

The bereaved families dipped their hands in red paint and waved them in the air symbolizing the lynch, and held signs with a quote from Tsemel: “What lynch? As if you could really call it that.”

Mifal HaPayis, a national institution in Israel, enjoys a wide array of government benefits, including an exemption from paying income tax on its revenues.

Herzl and Merav Hajaj, parents of Shir Hajaj HY”D who was murdered in a terrorist attack in 2017, stated during the protest that the “hypocrisy of these artists knows no bounds.”

“These artists know full well that our battle is not against freedom of speech. They can make a movie praising terrorist-defending attorneys all they want, but this doesn’t mean that they are entitled to receive public funds to do so.”

“There are red lines that should not be crossed. The blood of our children is not worthless,” they added.

Joining the Hajaj family in the protest were Dvorah Gonen, mother of Danny Gonen HY”D who was murdered while hiking in 2015; Hadas Mizrahi, wife of Chief Superintendent Baruch Mizrahi HY”D who was murdered while driving to the Pesach seder in 2014; Shimon Golovensitz, father of David Golovenchich Z”L who was killed in Hebron in 2018; Boaz Kokia, father of Ron Kokia HY”D who was murdered in Arad in 2017; Dan Landau, father-in-law of Elad Salomon HY”D who was murdered in N’vei Tzuf in 2017; and Moti and Ilanit Mor-Yosef, parents of Yuval Mor-Yosef HY”D who was murdered in 2018.