Tottenham Hotspur fans released yellow balloons in support of Emily Damari, a fan of the team and the last remaining British-Israeli hostage held by Hamas, during Thursday night’s Carabao Cup quarter-final.
Mandy Damari, Emily’s mother, posted a video on X/Twitter thanking fans for waving balloons and chanting her daughter’s name.
“She's one of our own, bring her home,” Damari wrote.
Earlier this month, Damari gave her first public interview, telling the BBC she feared her daughter may be dead.
“She's suffering from gunshot wounds to her hand and her leg," Damari said. "I worry every day. I worry every second because, in the next second, she could be murdered just because she's there.”
440 days Thank you @SpursOfficial fans for releasing hundreds of yellow balloons tonight for Emily, and for singing her song.She's one of our own, bring her home pic.twitter.com/kH5ZcnDFQy
— Mandy Damari (@DamariMandy) December 19, 2024
Damari then called on the British government to do more to ensure humanitarian supplies go to her daughter and the remaining hostages while negotiations continue for their release.
Damari described her daughter as “a Spurs football fan who loves coming to the UK to visit family, go shopping and visit pubs.”
She’s one of our own
Spurs fans have held several rallies in Emily’s honor. The most recent one, organized by Stop the Hate UK, occurred on November 3 before a game against Aston Villa.
Fans distributed leaflets with Damari's photo wearing a Tottenham scarf and chanted, “She’s one of our own.”
“When we say ‘She’s one of our own,’ we’re referring to the fact that she’s not only a Spurs fan, she’s a fellow Briton,” organizer Itai Galmudy said during the rally.
“She likes dry humor, she likes a cup of tea with milk, she likes downing pints in the pub, and she happens to like Spurs as well.”
Emily Damari, 28, was taken hostage from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza during Hamas's cross-border attacks on October 7 of last year. According to friend and neighbor Bar Kislev, she was abducted in her car along with twins Gali and Ziv Berman.
Damari was last seen by released hostage Dafna Elyakim in November of 2023 and is believed to still be alive.