Ynetnews

Three days after her release from Hamas captivity, Emily Damari, a 28-year-old dual Israeli-British citizen and avid Tottenham Hotspur fan, met with Max Radford, a Jewish Spurs supporter who campaigned extensively for her freedom. Radford had been instrumental in organizing support efforts by Tottenham fans during her time as a hostage in Gaza.

During their meeting, Radford presented Damari with a team scarf, to which she expressed heartfelt gratitude for the unwavering solidarity shown by the Spurs community.

"The 28-year-old Spurs fan, who can't wait to come back to London to see her favourite team play at White Hart Lane, was so touched to hear about all the amazing people who regularly released yellow balloons during matches and tied yellow ribbons around the stadium and is so proud," Radford said, adding that Damari was deeply moved by the gestures of support and the fans' recognition of her as "one of our own." She also voiced her hope for the safe return of the 94 remaining hostages still in Gaza.

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Tottenham fans had orchestrated several tributes to Damari. In November, before a home match against Aston Villa, supporters held a demonstration, chanting for her release. Collaborating with antisemitism watchdog Stop the Hate, fans plastered 2,000 stickers, hung posters and tied hundreds of yellow ribbons around the team's home stadium.

Last month, during a League Cup match against Manchester United, Spurs fans released yellow balloons in her honor, a gesture they repeated at an away game against Arsenal last week.

Tottenham Hotspur fans held a touching demonstration on Sunday in support of Emily Damari, an Israeli hostage with dual British citizenship and a known supporter of the team. Ahead of Tottenham’s home game against Aston Villa in the Premier League’s tenth round, fans gathered to demand her release.

Supporters of the 28-year-old held a counter-protest in response to an anti-Israel demonstration organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in central London. They gathered outside the Spurs shop for a three-hour vigil before kickoff, raising awareness among Tottenham fans and calling for Emily’s release.

Emily Damari was shot and forcibly taken from her home in Kfar Aza during the October 7 terror attacks. Freed hostages have since reported the severe sexual abuse suffered by female captives.

Mandy Damari, Emily’s mother, has voiced the anguish of not knowing what her daughter faces. “Every day is living hell not knowing what Emily is going through. I do know from the hostages who returned that they were starved, sexually abused, and tortured. Every moment lost is another moment of unimaginable suffering or even death,” she said.

She added: “How is it she is still imprisoned there after one year? Why isn’t the whole world, especially Britain, fighting every moment to secure her release. She’s one of their own.”

Stop the Hate UK organizer Itai Galmundy told the UK Jewish News: “The whole point of us coming here today as British football fans is to raise awareness with British people about the plight of a British young lady who has been held for over a year in the dungeons of Hamas. That’s why we are coming to talk to them.”

He added: “Like any other British person, she likes to go to the pub, to have a pint, she likes to have a cup of tea, she likes dry humor and she loves the Spurs. We believe the British public is just not aware of this problem and we regard it as a British problem. It’s got nothing to do with Israel. It’s got nothing to do with the fact that she’s a Jew. It only has to do with the fact that she’s a fellow Brit. And they need to know that we have to bring her home. That’s why we are going to Tottenham today.”

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