Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Creative Rememberances

Israelis mourn deeply for our lost loved ones, perhaps even more deeply for those that we feel were taken before their time. One such young man was Asaf Zur. Asaf was murdered by terrorists in 2003, when he was only 17 years old.

His father has come up with a most creative way to remember Asaf and keep his memory alive. When you go on vacation this summer, take Asaf (nicknamed Blondi) with you. Leave his picture somewhere so others will remember him. And take a picture of his picture somewhere and send it to his father. Blondi never lived to travel the world, but his image and travel the globe...if you help his parents remember him.
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According to YNET:

Father of terror victim launches world tour of remembrance Asaf Zur was killed in Haifa's 2003 suicide attack when he was only 17. Attempting to keep his adventurous spirit alive, his family is asking trekkers to take 'Blondi's picture on their journey, to leave his mark across globe
Lior El-Chai
06.24.08, 18:17 / Israel News

A trip to remember: Asaf Zur was supposed to be released from the army a few months ago, make some cash and like many young Israelis, take off on a tour of the world.
But Asaf, nicknamed ‘Blondi’ by his friends, did not complete his army service. He didn’t even make it through high school. Instead, Asaf was killed five years ago merely 17-years-old.
Fifteen other people, more than half of which were pupils returning home from school, were murdered by his side when an explosive device carried by a suicide-bomber tore apart Egged’s Number 37 bus on Moriah Avenue in Haifa.

Asaf is survived by his parents, Lea and Yossi Zur, and his two brothers Arik and Almog. After his death, his parents gave birth to another son, Eitan, now 3.

Asaf was supposed to celebrate his 22 birthday last April. “If he was still with us today, his father Yossi said in pain, “he would have gone out to conquer the world with his friends. Blondi loved surfing, and practically lived among the waves. He would have traveled to the beaches of Hawaii and Australia and would have experienced amazing things.

“That will no longer happen,” Yossi says. “That’s why I am asking Israeli and foreign travelers: Please take him, his picture with you on your journey. Share your journey with and take Blondi with you wherever you go.”

Yossi posed his son’s picture on the website commemorating him (www.blondi.co.il) and on trekkers’ forums. The photo is accompanied by the following text in Hebrew and English: “I was killed in a terror attack; my father sending me, my picture on a world tour. Take this page with you and email my dad (Yossi@Blondi.co.il) a photo with it from wherever you are, so he can make an album in my memory.”

“Take a picture with him next to the Chinese Wall and on a trek in Nepal, on a beach in Goa and in New Zealand’s forests, in a market in Thailand and in the mountains of Chile, in US parks and on a cruise in Alaska – wherever you go” his father asks.

“Hang his picture on a bulletin board at the hotel or guest house you stay in. Leave it along the trek. This way, tourists from other countries can take Blondi with them around the world. We will use the thousands of pictures we receive to put together an travel album of a journey my son will never make.”

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