‘Pure evil at work’ in Oct 7 terror attack - Helena Croft reflects on her visit to Nova Festival massacre site

As she walks across the grounds of the Nova Festival site in southern Israel, Helena Croft, M.B.E. of Kingdom Faith in London, shares her reflections in an interview with Christian journalist Paul Calvert while standing only steps from the former main stage.

The quiet fields are a notable contrast to the images of the many young lives lost on Oct. 7. Surrounded by row after row of photographs and hand-crafted memorials, Croft describes the emotional impact with stark honesty: “It’s very moving. It’s also very shocking because there are just hundreds and hundreds of images of the young people whose lives were savagely taken that day.”

The site includes poppy-lined tributes, storyboards, and personal messages, as well as a garbage container where victims hid for hours before being discovered by terrorists. Croft says visitors cannot help but feel the weight of what happened there, and for her, seeing it firsthand underscores the importance of bringing her tour groups to witness the disturbing truth for themselves.

Her group—travelling jointly with ICEJ and Kingdom Faith—visited Kibbutz Be’eri, where the devastation left Croft shaken. She recalls stepping through shattered homes and blackened debris, saying, “And yet, the state of the buildings literally blown to bits, bullet holes everywhere…the houses ransacked, just devastation on every front. And it just made me really, it makes me really angry, pure evil at work. And some of the attacks, they’re not just a few bullet holes. It’s like a frenzied attack where in every room there’s just bullet holes from floor to ceiling.”

Croft is deeply concerned by the rise of antisemitism in Britain. She urges Christians to take an active stand with their Jewish neighbors, insisting, “Go to your local synagogue, tell the rabbi, tell the local Jewish community that you support them, you stand with them, that you are praying for them.” She acknowledges that many Jewish families no longer feel safe and suggests a profound failure of public leadership, adding that “In the end of the day, God will turn everything for good and to fulfill His word…and I’m sure that is in part His prophecy, but for the Jewish community in London, you know, the police telling them that they can’t keep them safe, and well, that’s not right in a democracy.”

Croft is also the founding trustee and director of Streetlight UK. The organization works to end sexual violence and exploitation of vulnerable women, and supports those involved in prostitution to reclaim control of their lives and find alternative solutions. Her role gives her a knowledgeable perspective that understandably fuels her outrage over the documented sexual crimes committed against Israeli women on October 7 and the lack of response from other women’s rights organizations.

Click below to listen to Paul Calvert's full interview with Helena Croft.