They started popping up on social media one after another on Monday afternoon. Israeli flags blowing in the wind. Israeli flags with pictures of families hugging each other. Israeli flags with the image of a mother and her two daughters smiling, with the words “Am Yisrael chai”—Hebrew for “The nation of Israel lives.”
On Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the images were posted within hours of Rabbi Leo Dee’s plea to post photos of Israeli flags to honor the memory of his wife, Lucy, and daughters Maia and Rina. The 22-year-old and 15-year-old were shot and killed by a terrorist during a car attack on April 7 during the holiday of Passover.
“If you feel that it was wrong to shoot dead, at close range, three beautiful, innocent young ladies in the prime of their lives, then please post a picture of you, or your spouse, or your children with an Israeli flag,” he said in a press conference three days later, on April 10, the day his 48-year-old wife succumbed to her wounds. “Or just post a picture of an Israeli flag and share it on Facebook, Instagram or whatever social-media app you use.”
The Israel-education organization StandWithUs was among those heeding Dee’s call. “We are standing with the Dee family, who lost their beloved wife and mother, Lucy, and teenage daughters, Maia and Rina, to Palestinian terrorism,” the nonprofit, nonpartisan group tweeted. “We’re joining Rabbi Leo Dee’s call and asking our supporters—share and post an Israeli flag in their memory.”
The Twitter handle @Israel, which Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains, also highlighted the campaign and asked followers to post photos of themselves with an Israeli flag. “We hope you join us and use #DeesDay,” it posted.
