BERLIN (JTA) — The famous Brandenburg Gate in Berlin was lit up in the colors of Israel’s flag in solidarity with the victims of Sunday’s terror attack in Jerusalem that took the lives of four Israeli soldiers.
The symbolic gesture on Monday by the Berlin Senate came about in part due to efforts by Green Party Bundestag member Volker Beck and a petition started by a member of the Jewish community.
Beck wrote in a letter to Berlin Mayor Michael Müller on Sunday that “we have to show our solidarity with the victims and all those affected” by the attack in Israel, as has been done following terror attacks in France, Turkey, the USA and elsewhere, when national colors were projected on Berlin’s iconic gate.
Meanwhile, the online campaign on “change.org” received more than 4,000 signatures.
The projection was scheduled to remain through 10 p.m. Monday. Passers-by stopped to pay respects, kneeling to place candles and small Israeli flags on the snowy plaza near the gate and posing for selfies.
Avraham Nir-Feldklein, deputy chief of the Israeli Embassy in Berlin, said in a statement shared on Israel’s Facebook page that Israelis were moved and thankful for the support from both the government and people of Berlin.
The soldiers, aged 20 to 22, were killed when a Palestinian man rammed his truck into a group of soldiers on the promenade in an eastern Jerusalem neighborhood. Two of the fallen soldiers had American citizenship. The driver of the truck was shot dead.
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