Families of Nova massacre victims call on authorities to stop planned festivities at memorial site

Families of victims of the Nova Festival terror attack are calling on Israeli authorities to prevent organized festivities from being held at the site where Hamas terrorists murdered 378 people on Hamas Oct. 7, 2023.

“Celebrating and holding festivities at a place where a massacre took place is disrespectful, both to the sanctity of the site and to Judaism,” said the chairman of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) Eyal Ostrovsky in an interview with Ynet News.

The Nova Festival Memorial near Kibbutz Re’im has attracted large numbers of Israeli and international visitors who come to pay their respects to those murdered at the festival.

Last year, however, Simchat Torah celebrations were held at the site, with images circulating of visitors dancing, camping and eating meals where the massacre took place. Simchat Torah, meaning “Rejoicing of the Torah,” marks the completion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings and the beginning of a new cycle. The holiday is traditionally celebrated with dancing, singing and rejoicing with Torah scrolls in synagogues.

Many relatives of Nova victims said the activities were deeply distressing.

“Every person who comes and stands in front of a photograph or a sign warms the heart. I hope this place will be full of visitors for generations,” said Dassi Aviad, whose son Aviad Halevi was murdered at the festival.

“But people need to understand that this ground is sacred, even if it has not been officially declared so, no less than a synagogue or other holy places,” she explained.

“People should walk here on tiptoe, thinking with every step about where they are walking and what may have happened right beneath their feet,” Aviad continued. “People can, should and must come on this day just as on any other, but they should walk around in respectful silence honoring those who were murdered with unimaginable cruelty, rather than turning the place into an overnight campsite with tents as though it were a campground on the Sea of Galilee.”

Many other families of Nova festival victims and survivors feel the same way.

“We saw videos of people setting tables and holding meals. Seeing people dancing like that... so much filth was left behind that it had to be cleaned up afterward,” said Omri Rahum, whose pregnant sister Nitzan was murdered at the festival.

“Simchat Torah is the day our lives were turned upside down. Unfortunately, the police are hesitating and saying they have no solution. The bereaved families, as usual, are being abandoned. For us, this place is like a cemetery and Auschwitz,” he said.

KKL-JNF has been supporting the families’ efforts to prevent organized festivities at the site.

“Any gathering at the site during this period could have exceptional public, safety and emotional consequences,” KKL-JNF Director General Ilan Shohat stated.

Shohat reportedly called on Police Commissioner Dani Levy and Southern District Commander Haim Bublil to intervene and prevent organized festivities at the site. He also called for measures to prevent overnight camping, fires and barbecues.

Meanwhile, Ostrovsky stressed that the Nova memorial site should be a place where both secular and religious Jews feel at home.

“Every Jew, secular or religious, should feel at home there,” he said. “Initiatives of this kind only damage the delicate fabric that this place represents in such an important way,” Ostrovsky warned. “KKL-JNF will do everything in its power to prevent this, and I intend to speak with the heads of the security and rescue services so they can help us maintain public order and the sanctity of the site.”