Several prominent football clubs were among the German institutions to show solidarity with Israel after Hamas’ terrorist attacks on October 7.
Bayern Munich, FC Cologne, FC St. Pauli and Borussia Dortmund all used social media platforms to send messages of support for the war-torn country at the time. Dortmund’s emotional message to its Israeli fan club even ended with the Hebrew words, “Am Yisrael Chai,” meaning “the people of Israel live.”
In October, Werder Bremen was one of the clubs who used their social media channels to raise awareness about missing Israeli football supporters at the time with links to the club’s fan scene: Inbar Haiman, a Maccabi Haifa fan; and Hersch Goldberg-Pollin, a Hapoel Jerusalem fan.
At the behest of representatives from two of Bremen’s prominent ultra groups, the club agreed to use their social media platforms to provide contact details and had urged anyone who knew about their whereabouts to share information.
An artist, a football fan
Sadly, Inbar Haiman will not return home. The 27-year-old was killed while in Hamas captivity in Gaza, Israeli authorities confirmed.
“We’re hurting after receiving the devastating news,” Haiman’s club Maccabi Haifa tweeted. “We’ll miss you in the stands, our Inbar.”
Haiman was also known for her graffiti nickname, ‘Pink’. Since it became known she had been kidnapped, many graffiti artists from around the world showed solidarity with the 27-year-old by spraying “Free Pink.” Maccabi Haifa’s ultras were among those who took part in the campaign.
Her boyfriend Noam is a member of Maccabi Haifa’s ultra scene. He told DW how the 27-year-old started supporting the club — her first game was the team’s 4-0 win over Maccabi Netanya, which secured the Israeli league title.
“I told her, don’t expect every game to be like that,” he recalls, also adding how supportive Inbar has always been of his lifestyle as an ultra. “She knew I was going to attend every single game and supported me in doing that.”
Inbar also accompanied Maccabi Haifa’s ultras when it came to their visual style, as part of her qualification as a graphic designer. “She is an absolute artist,” Noam says.
That dark morning
Talking about the morning of the terrorist attack on the Supernova Festival — an all-night rave that drew some 3,000 mostly young Israelis, Inbar included — Noam recalls his initial reaction: “I received a call from a friend who told me to check on the news. I was shocked.”
After not being able to make contact, he became worried. Only later that day, friends saw Inbar in a video posted in a Palestinian channel on Telegram, in which she was seen bleeding and injured, with her face being covered by an emoji, most likely to hide further injuries on her face.
“I couldn’t watch it, it was too graphic,” Noam says.
Inbar’s family then sought information about what had happened by contacting survivors from the rave, where some 260 partygoers were murdered by the terrorist organization Hamas.
‘I just want her back’
From the moment it became known that Inbar had been kidnapped, Noam said his friends from Werder Bremen’s ultras did everything they could to support them and provide help. It was their plea that led to the Bundesliga club posting Inbar’s details on its social media channels and official website.
“It’s not just any friendship. We are like brothers. I’d like to thank them for their support, it means everything to us.” In addition to Werder, Noam said he’d like to express his thanks to everyone from Germany who has shown support and spoken about Inbar.
At the time, talking about the days after it became known that his partner had been kidnapped by Hamas, Noam said he had been experiencing “the worst days of my life.”
“It may have been only six days since her kidnapping, but it feels like months. We barely eat, we can’t sleep,” Noam said. “This situation is killing me. I just want to see her again, to have my love back.”
Edited by: James Thorogood
