“We Will Not Stay Silent”: NOAL Youth Rally Against Violence in Memory of Yemanu Zelka

Yemanu Binyamin Zelka Z''L

Last month, the murder of 21 year old Yemanu Binyamin Zelka shocked Israeli society.

Yemanu, an Ethiopian Israeli from Petah Tikva, was stabbed after asking a group of teenagers to stop spraying party foam inside the restaurant where he worked. He died of his wounds the following day. Nineteen minors between the ages of 12 and 17 were arrested in connection with the attack.

His murder struck a painful nerve in a country already struggling with rising youth violence and delinquency. Since October 7th, Israeli teenagers have grown up amid war, repeated disruptions to schooling, displacement, fear, and social instability. Truancy rates have risen sharply, and educators across the country are warning about the emotional and social consequences of prolonged crisis on young people.

Against this backdrop, participants from NOAL’s Hahoresh branch in Petah Tikva decided they could not remain silent.

Within days, dozens of youth movement participants organized a rally in memory of Yemanu together with the Petah Tikva municipality. Holding signs reading “We Won’t Stay Silent About Violence,” “The Change Starts With Us,” and “We Are All Brothers,” they gathered to publicly mourn, speak out, and call for a different reality.

For NOAL director Nitzan Rozenwaks Ziv, supporting the initiative was immediate and obvious.

“When young people ask me what my role is,” she shared, “I answer very simply: I am a megaphone. My role is to amplify all the beautiful, important, courageous things that teenagers have to say.”

Rosenwaks Ziv addressing the rally.

“When the youth from the branch called and said they wanted to organize a rally in Yemanu’s memory, I knew I had to do everything possible to amplify that voice."

Yemanu’s family asked that one sentence appear prominently at the rally:

"Know where you came from, where you are going, and before whom you are destined to give an account."

For the movement’s educators and participants, the rally was not only about mourning one young man’s death. It was an educational act and a statement of responsibility. In a moment when violence increasingly feels normalized, these teenagers chose to publicly insist on empathy, accountability, and solidarity.

Participants from NOAL’s Hahoresh branch in Petah Tikva couldn't stay silent.

At Dror Israel and NOAL, education is not only about what happens inside classrooms or youth movement activities. It is also about helping young people respond to the reality around them and believe they have the responsibility and ability to shape it for the better.

And in a difficult moment for Israeli society, these young people chose to raise their voices together and say: enough.