The memory of those who died in the terrorist attack on July 18, 2012 was honored with a memorial ceremony, wreaths and a religious ritual in front of the monument at the Burgas airport. The bloody attack claimed 6 innocent human lives. Relatives of those who died came to honor the memory of the victims at Burgas Airport. The commemorative ceremony, organized by the Embassy of Israel in Bulgaria and the Municipality of Burgas, was attended by the President Rumen Radev, the Ambassador of Israel to Bulgaria H.E. Yoram Elron, the mayor of Burgas Dimitar Nikolov, the regional governor Maria Neikova, the former chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev, deputies, members of the public, representatives of the police and military.
Center “Alef” also presented a wreath in memory of the victims
Every year on this day, the Center”Alef” , which sympathizes with the grief of the relatives of the dead онес and with the cause of non-violence, lays a wreath in front of the memorial built at the site of the attack. The association was also part of the initiative committee for the construction of the monument.
“It has been 11 years since the attack in Sarafovo. But the severe trauma continues and will continue to bring us back to this ominous event. The attack on Israeli tourists at the airport, in which a Bulgarian citizen also died, shook Bulgaria and caused a wave of deep sympathy in our society. We often say that time heals all pain, but I know very well that there is no cure for the pain of losing those closest to you. Therefore, as the Bulgarian president, I want to turn to you – the families and relatives of those who died, to assure you that they will not be forgotten, because the unjustly taken human lives will always cause grief and anger in our country. But they will also be a warning that evil exists and that we must face it all, together, with common efforts,” said Rumen Radev.
“Bulgaria and Israel are connected by deep historical and friendly ties”, the president said, recalling the events of 80 years ago, when the entire Bulgarian society showed courage and saved the Bulgarian Jews from deportation.
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On July 18, 2012, a tourist bus was targeted by terrorists. Israeli tourists Amir Menashe, Elior Price, Yitzhak Kolangi, Kohava Shriki, Maor Harush and the bus driver, Bulgarian citizen Mustafa Kyosov, who had just arrived in Bulgaria, died. For them, time stopped here and then, Coby Price, father of the deceased Elior, shared with sadness.
“Who needed this barbarism, what was achieved with it?” asked the mayor of Burgas, Dimitar Nikolov, from the tribune. He assured that Burgas will continue to protect the memorial in memory of the victims, to take care of it, to keep their names in its memory.
“Burgas friendly and hospitably continues to welcome the ever-increasing number of Israeli tourists and our city becomes more and more popular in Israel. This is the meaning – evil, hatred and terror will always be defeated with love, friendship, a smile,” said Dimitar Nikolov.
11 years ago, the bomber Mohammed El Husseini also died at the airport. The accused for the terrorist act are also Meliad Farah and Hassan el Haj Hassan. They were sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment without parole. The verdicts came into effect, but for 11 years the two have been missing and seek out with a “red notice” by Interpol.
Relatives of the victims are demanding that the Bulgarian government put pressure on the government in Lebanon to hand over the terrorists to be punished for the murders.
“Six young people’s lives were taken that day – six broken life stories, six unfulfilled dreams. The free world must unite against terror. All of us must send a clear message – terrorism will not win,” said Israel’s ambassador to Bulgaria H.E. Yoram Elron.
The ambassador called on the Bulgarian government to declare the entire Hezbollah organization as terrorist, not just the military wing, and to include it in the court cases against the perpetrators of the attack.
This appeal was joined by Tsvetan Tsvetanov, who was the Minister of Internal Affairs at the time of the terrorist attack. Tsvetanov appealed to the president and called on him to convene a national security advisory council to decide whether to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization to cut off its funding, as Germany, Latvia and other countries have donea already.
