BOG 2024: Honoring Our Fallen

Tel Aviv University’s international Board of Governors meeting kicked off with a special memorial ceremony for the soldiers and civilians killed in the October 7 attacks and the ensuing Iron Swords war. The event was held at the Esther Sidi Memorial Garden at the heart of the campus and started with a minute of silence honoring the fallen. 

Greetings were given by TAU President, Prof. Ariel Porat, who noted that 17 TAU students have fallen since Oct. 7, with a total of 70 bereaved families within the TAU community who have lost loved ones. “The pain we feel over the recently fallen is fresh and tears at our hearts,” he said. “Tel Aviv University supports the families of the fallen and the victims of terror, forever. We embrace them in our hearts.” 

Students of the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music performing at the event (photo: Shlomi Mizrahi).

Representing the grieving families were two TAU staff members, each of whom lost a beloved son on October 7: Dr. Haim Ben Yakov of the Development & Public Affairs Division, who recited the memorial prayer, Yizkor; and Prof. Meir Ariel of the School of Electrical Engineering, who spoke of how his family is coping with their grief. In addition, Guy Melamed, an IDF combat paramedic and fifth-year TAU medical student, spoke about Nati, a soldier in his unit who fell in Gaza. The ceremony included two musical interludes performed by students of the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music.