Lishi Amor, an Israeli attending the Tomorrowland music festival in Belgium, described an emotional encounter with Iranian attendees and shared the challenges of representing Israel abroad amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.
“Every year we face the same dilemma - whether to bring Israeli flags and wave them, or try not to stand out,” Amor told Walla on Sunday. “We made the decision that no one will bring us down, and we’re coming as proud as can be.”
Amor said she attended the festival wearing body paint in blue and yellow, symbolizing support for Israeli hostages.
“I painted a Star of David on the blue and a hostage symbol on the yellow,” she said. “Many people who aren’t from Israel ask me to paint on them.”
She recounted a particularly moving interaction with an Iranian woman: “On the first day, someone came up to me and asked in English if I could paint a Star of David on her. When I asked where she was from, she said, ‘Iran.’ I looked up and saw tears in her eyes. I told her I had goosebumps. She asked, ‘Can I hug you?’ and we hugged for five minutes. I told her, ‘We love you, and we are one big family.’ It was deeply emotional.”
Israel-Iran unity
On the second day of the festival, Amor said she and fellow Israelis encountered a man holding an Iranian flag. “We were dancing when someone passed by with an Iranian flag. Every time we see that, we tense up. But this man looked at me, and I could tell he wanted to say something,” she said.
“I told him, ‘You’re my brother, and we’re in this together.’ He raised the flag and said, ‘We love you and Israel,’ and started dancing with us. We hugged him and took a photo. It was simply moving.”