Free Hugs - now in Tel Aviv
2006-10-08 by Yohay
The Free Hugs phenomenon reached Israel. A blogger named Shay went to Rabin square a few days ago and hugged 232 people. He got help from a few others. One of them wrote about it in her blog (Hebrew). I saw that they were doing another hugging campaign on Friday morning quite close to my house, so I went there. Tali filmed and edited it. See the movie!. (My apologies for not crediting beforhand).
At first I was embarrassed. I just came for a peek, and suddenly I was offered a few hugs. I must admit that I turned red, but afterwards I also joined the hugging and also took some pictures before running into the air conditioned mall.
I spoke to some of them. One guy said that he just joined spontaneously. Another came there to shoot a video for a website. They said that they will probably continue this thing a few more times.
I like the initiative. I wonder if this buzz, that some people consider as very touching could work out in blockades in the West Bank. Will we see a queuing Palestinian or an exhausted Israeli soldier raise a sign reading “Free Hugs” and accept a hug from the other side? Could be a funny picture…
OMG! That’s wonderful!
I didn’t hear about this. That’s the greatest idea I’ve heard about in a while. Thanks for that.
[...] Through things.co.il I've discovered this story and learned that Free Hugs is now in Israel : [...]
hi yohay, thanks for writing about us. i wasn’t there myself on friday. here’s the video link of friday and the former tuesday begining edited:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TroAeYtRKWQ
You are all welcome.
I wonder if this thing will continue…
Hi… I also helped organizing, it was great (You can find a link to my blog through Shai’s and Carmel’s, my post has a bit more info about the preparations). I was there on friday - I wonder if I saw you. It was great - more than 400 hugs. I’m the girl with the white Tshirt in the movie - did we meet?
I uploaded the movie I took last night - I saw that Carmel posted the link.
Hope to see you on Tuesday
Hi Tali!
I was there only for a short time. I wore a white shirt with blacklabor.com on it. (You are welcome to have a look at the site). but now I see you in the movie.
Sorry for not crediting you beforehand. Now I’ve updated both this post and the Hebrew one with the warm credits that you deserve for your great movie.
I usually work late hours, but I’ll to drop by on Tuesday. Till what hour will you be there?
Anyway, you have a great thing going on!
Thanks
You have no idea how much these feedbacks mean to me. They give me so much strength. you can read about it here (it’s a really long post - consider yourself warned ;-)):
http://www.tapuz.co.il/blog/ViewEntry.asp?EntryId=811376
I don’t remember seeing you - sorry, but as we said - we hugged more than 400 people. And I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of people we talked to. So much more. It was wonderful. I really hope to see you on Tuesday.
Tali.
Hey! I first heard about it from a fellow Australian blogger. Since every tom dick and harry hugs here, I don’t think we’ll see it here in the US. Being originally from the Netherlands, I did not particularly care for the hugging when I emigrated to Canada (where I moved to first). I got used to it, but when it comes to people who are mere acquaintances and not real close friends, I prefer the good ol’ handshake any time. Of course, in Holland, people don’t hug but kiss on the cheek instead. Plenty of ‘close’ I think. Good for you though going out of your comfort zone! That’s being a sport!
Ingrid
[...] Contrary to my previous experience, this time I wasn’t cynical. It was quite fun. At the end, I also raised a Free Hug sign and offered hugs. I had to work hard to convince someone to come out of the car and hug me, but it was nice. I missed out on the media celebration (working late). Well, like this I got to speak to the people behind this campaign. Maybe knowing the people helps you get closer to the whole campaign. I also got to know a few other nice people that joined in like myself. Everybody was very nice. I guess that when you hug a stranger, you instantly feel like you can open up to them. [...]
[...] It’s probably the third straight week of non stop sunshine. The weathermen are worried, but I don’t like rainy days, so I’m quite content. Tif, Idan and Tali, fresh friends that I’ve recently met through the Free Hugs campaign, and myself went for an urban trip. The official goal was taking photos, and of course it ended up with lots of talking, and eating of course. [...]
[...] things.co.il Things and stuff —- שטויות בשתי שפות « Free Hugs - now in Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Free Hugs - with flying colors » [...]
[...] of them wrote about it in her blog Hebrew. I saw that they were doing another hugging campaign onhttp://things.co.il/139Free Hugs campaign - World Peace SocietyFree hugs campaign information, started by Juan Mann in [...]
kwQr8N hi nice site thx http://peace.com