^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

The rescued school banners of Kibbutz Be'eri (Israel)

images located by William Garrison
(To read the caption click on the picture)

See also:

A team of surviving residents of Kibbutz Be'eri, textile experts and a Bedouin embroidery maven have rescued several hand-made school banners from under the rubble of kibbutz Be'eri. Each banner bears the name and image of a fruit, plant, or bird, and has been lovingly embroidered, painted, or decorated with applique for the kibbutz's traditional start-of-school-year ceremony; a tradition that has existed since 1952. The kibbutz was one of the places worst hit by Hamas-led Palestinians on 7 October 2023. The storeroom of the flags was destroyed, but luckily not burned. The team is supported by Dr. Nirit Shalev-Khalifa from Visual History Department at Yad Ben-Zvi, the Jerusalem-based state research, culture, and education institution. She is collecting items whose materials, form, or function have been altered by events such as fire, smoke, and bullets. She only learned about the Be'eri flags in December 2023, thanks to a Be'eri resident, who runs the kibbutz archive. Together they retrieve and repair the 71 banners in the best way possible (see pictures on this page and in the Times of Israel article). Shalev-Khalifa said that after seeing so many burned-out houses and murder sites, the flags were "the first thing we came across that could be repaired and raised, that would return to life". Indeed these banners seem to say: Life is stronger than death. The enemy may do us harm, unspeakable harm, but he will not overcome us. We live and will live.
Source: Flag rescue project lets evacuated Kibbutz Be'eri open school year in customary style (by Times of Israel, 25.8.2024 [PDF])
located by William Garrison, 25 August 2024

(To read the captions click on the pictures)