TEL AVIV - Death is not the connection between new immigrants and Israeli society, but a massive terror attack fours years ago brought the needs, aspirations, and experiences of new immigrants to the forefront, Absorption Minister Tzipi Livni said at Wednesday’s ceremony in memory of the Dolphinarium disco terror attack victims.
“This commemoration is intended to remember those who are gone and to remind Israeli society that we live here together,” she said. “Together, we will win.”
A total of 21 youngsters were killed on June 1, 2001, when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Dolphinarium nightclub in Tel Aviv. Many of the casualties were new immigrants from former Soviet countries.
Many soldiers, who were 14- and 15-year-olds when they lost their friends, hugged and cried on each other’s shoulders during the ceremony.
“These despicable creatures have not disappeared from our lives; they are not far, and they carry on with their demonic acts,” said a woman whose daughter was killed in the attack. “The fear and concern continue to trouble us. The fate of our children and of all of us depends on the acts of the Israeli government.”
She concluded her speech by inviting the crowd to attend the inauguration of a park erected in Tel Aviv’s Yad Eliyahu neighborhood in memory of the victims.
Most of those killed attended Shevach Mofet School, and the school’s choir moved the audience with songs in their memory.
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai told the audience the Dolphinarium attack served as a painful entry ticket for former Soviet Union immigrants into Israeli society.
“We all belong to a community and society that is trying to conduct a normal life near the sound of the sea’s waves,” he said.
