Israeli midfielder Dor Peretz dedicated a goal he scored on Thursday to the released British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari, who was released days earlier as part of the first phase of the hostage deal with Hamas.
Peretz scored his goal against the Norwegian soccer club FK Bodø/Glimt, which won the match with a score of 3-1 in the end.
After scoring the goal, Peretz raised all his fingers but kept his middle and ring fingers down, a hand gesture that has garnered traction on social media as a symbol to celebrate Damari's release after 471 days.
Damari had lost both those fingers when Hamas abducted her from her apartment in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. She was shot in the hand and sustained shrapnel wounds to her leg on October 7.
— Maccabi Tel Aviv FC (@MaccabiTLVFC) January 23, 2025
The Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club reposted Peretz making the gesture on Twitter/X.
A fan of soccer club Tottenham Hotspur
Damari is also a fan of the North London soccer team Tottenham Hotspurs, whose fans have been known to chant, “She’s one of our own, she’s one of our own, Emily Damari, bring her home.”
I told Emily about all the @SpursOfficial fans who released yellow balloons and created a "She's one of our own" chant for her. She is so touched and we can't wait to join you again for a match Let's keep going for the 94 remaining hostages, including 8 with British links ️ pic.twitter.com/7YMK6UtA90
— Mandy Damari (@DamariMandy) January 22, 2025
Last month, the team's fans released yellow balloons in support of her release. Damari's mother posted on X/Twitter that she told her daughter, "All the @SpursOfficial fans who released yellow balloons created a 'She's one of our own' chant for her. She is so touched, and we can't wait to join you again for a match."
Danielle Greyman-Kennard contributed to this report.