Families of Oct 7 victims launch beach exhibit, criticize government for removing word 'massacre' from proposed bill

Members of the October Council, which represents families of victims of the Oct. 7 attack, set up an exhibition at a Tel Aviv beach titled “October 7 Massacre – We Will Not Forget.”

In a statement, the Council explained why it chose to stage the exhibition.

“The installation is a painful reminder from those who paid the heaviest price in the deadliest massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust," the council said. “Unfortunately, in recent weeks we have witnessed a systematic attempt to make people forget the massacre, to evade a genuine investigation and to avoid providing answers to the many unanswered questions that continue to accumulate. The full truth about all those involved will be investigated and revealed only through the sole legal, appropriate and relevant tool: a state commission of inquiry.”

Eyal Eshel, whose daughter Roni was killed by Hamas terrorists at the Nahal Oz military base where she served, condemned the government for removing the word "massacre" from the name of a bill regarding the official commemoration of the October 7 Hamas attacks.

“This installation is not a symbol, it is a cry: You cannot bury the truth in the sand,” Eshel said, referring to the proposed bill that replaced the word with terms like “events” and “incidents.”

Menashe Manzuri, whose children Norel and Roya were murdered by Hamas at the Nova music festival, also blasted the government.

“There are those who are trying to turn October 7 into just another chapter to move on from – without stopping, without asking, without investigating. But we will not let that happen. You don’t sweep a massacre under the rug, you don’t cover up a failure and you don’t silence the truth,” Manzuri argued.

“A state commission of inquiry is not revenge and not politics. It is the minimum a state owes its families, the captives and the survivors, and every citizen who wants to know that tomorrow this will not happen again.”

Yoram Yehudai, whose son Ron was killed at the music festival, echoed similar sentiments.

“There are those who think Oct. 7 can be whitewashed with spin, headlines and distractions. But we, the families, will not be silent and we will not disappear. Every day without a state commission of inquiry is another day of a cover-up, another day that endangers the lives of the next children. Ron will not return, but responsibility must be investigated and the truth must be revealed.”

Earlier this week, Kibbutz Nir Oz condemned the Netanyahu government’s linguistic changes in the proposed bill.

"We condemn attempts by elements of the government to erase the massacre that took place on Oct 7 from the collective memory, and in doing so, note that they become part of those who deny it," the kibbutz said in an official statement. "Every person, every family, every home, and every path in Nir Oz bore witness to the massacre that occurred."

Some 65 residents from Nir Oz were killed and 75 kidnapped by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel's border communities.

The Israeli government acknowledges the Hamas attacks against predominantly Israeli civilians. However, some members of the Netanyahu government have argued that the term “massacre” emphasizes victimhood – a framing they view as inconsistent with their understanding of Zionism and the image of an independent, strong Jewish state.

Prime Minister’s Office representative Yoel Elbaz outlined the government’s stance during a recent meeting of the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee.

“We went through extensive strategy discussions and decided to use the term ‘events,’ because it was not only a massacre,” Elbaz said.

He noted that the term “massacre” appears later in the proposed text and argued that the planned memorial authority would ultimately shape how the episode is remembered. Referencing the 1929 riots, which are not commonly labeled a massacre in Hebrew discourse, he suggested that terminology should be carefully chosen, adding that “memory builds resilience.”