From Litochoro to the music festival and the massacre by Hamas

Eden Ben Rubi and Stav Nurieli were 13 years old when they first arrived at the Jewish camp in the small town of Litochoro, northern Greece. The two girls immediately became friends. “We were always together. We lived in the same city in Israel, our houses were very close. She was my best friend. Right now, as I speak to you, I am at her parents’ house with friends, sharing memories of Eden. She was a girl full of love. What has happened is not normal,” Stav tells Kathimerini.

Stav’s mother, Erica, remembers Eden as a particularly gifted and sociable child. “Her house was always full of friends, people. I can’t believe that her last hours were in fear,” she says. Erica has an additional reason to be shocked, as her eldest daughter, Anat, had arranged with her partner to attend the same festival. “We live in the city of Rishon LeTsiyon, 80 kilometers from where the Supernova festival took place. At the last minute, they called Anat to work and so they canceled their trip. The reality is that one of my own children could have been in Eden’s place.”

Stav has trouble referring to her best friend in the past tense. From the moment she learned that Eden was missing, four harrowing days passed until her death was confirmed. Reports say she was stabbed in the back by Hamas while running for her life.

“She loved music, painting, tattoos. She was funny and full of love for the world. The best memories I have with her were from the camp we went to together for 10 years. We were team leaders, we slept together… Love and peace, that’s what Eden would say today if she was here,” Stav says.

Erica conveys the atmosphere from Eden’s funeral, saying that there was complete silence from the attendants. “Her grandmother, her parents talked about her… They said she was the light in their house. I saw a person full of dreams, who wanted to live her life. A girl next door, literally, who is no longer with us.”

Stav is now afraid, she doesn’t want to stay in Israel, she wants to come to Athens. Her mother agrees, she wants to send her daughters to Greece but is having trouble finding a flight. “I still can’t come. Let my children be peaceful, and I will be too.”