Story and Photos by CHAZ PLAGER
The world saw the photos of the aftermath an October 7 attack by a Palestinian terror group Hamas at outdoor Music Festival, near kibbutz Re’im in Israel.
It was an unprovoked surprise attack. About 405 innocent victims were killed, 3,400 were injured and currently 190 people are still being held hostage. Footage of the attack, posted on Telegram channel, showed graphic depictions of murder and hostage-taking. This assault marked the beginning of a conflict that continues today.
But not many fully understand the ramifications of that attack. To raise awareness, Israeli activists have created the Nova Memorial Exhibit in Culver City, a pop-up exhibit intended to walk guests through the events that happened that day. Located at 8631 Hayden Places, it is open to the public through October 8, click here.
At the exhibit, the Black-Jewish Alliance held a speaking event on August 22, featuring Israeli-American actress and writer Noa Tishby and New York Congressman Ritchie Torres. Security was tight, as would be expected of an event with a sensitive nature and high-profile special guests.
Upon entry, guests were shown a short film about Nova— the kinds of people who attended, the music, the performers, and of course the tragedy that befell them that day. It is a film meant to celebrate the lives of those lost, with light and color befitting a music festival.
The next room of the exhibit is outfitted to look like the scenery the festival goers saw that day, complete with smoke machines, sounds of people yelling, sirens, the rumble of bombs landing, and gunshots.
In every corner, there is a video playing of something that happened during the attack. On the right, a bulldozer breaks down a fence as Hamas men cheer. On the left, terrorists on motorcycles hold tourists at gunpoint. Overhead, bombs fly.
Items strewn around the exhibit are genuine articles recovered from the attack; visitors are encouraged to pick them up and touch them. There are shirts riddled with bullet holes. There are torn caps. There are cell phones displaying cell phone footage taken of the attack. There is a credit card encrusted with blood.
The final and largest room is a miniature version of the Nova festival itself: everything as it was, recovered from the site and displayed here. Clothes in relatively good shape are placed in the “Lost and Found” in hopes that survivors will come and retrieve them.
This is the “Lost and Found,” founded with hopes survivors will claim belongings.
This exhibit is manned by Limor Barak, volunteer for Unit Lahav 433 of the Israeli Police. She is from Israel and is staying in L.A. for three weeks. “You have to understand that everything here is real. We received the items from the Israeli government on October 7.”
Barak picks up a shoe and hands it to me. “You have to understand that this was a real person’s belongings, someone who is now possibly dead.”
As we are speaking, a man walked up to the exhibit and froze. “This is my hat!” he exclaims. “I wore this to the festival!” Overjoyed, he hugs Limor. “Thank you, thank you.”
Directly across from the Lost and Found is a wall of pictures, names, and faces. They are those killed in the attack, numbering over 400. Visitors are encouraged to leave messages for relatives of the dead and for the hostages still in Hamas’ hands.
This writer had a chance to speak with one attendee, the sister of Kim Damti, who died in the attack.
“It does not get better,” she lamented. “I feel that… I would like everyone to know that Kim was a gentle, kind, and loving person… and I want everyone to remember her.” On a picture of Kim, someone has written “May God avenge you.”
People are asked to leave messages for the relatives of the dead and for those still held hostage.
Passing through to the next room, there is a new, design for the next Nova festival, aptly titled “Nova Healing.” The room is filled with sculptures and other art pieces from activists, along with tables and chairs to take a break.
“The fact that you can touch things like you’re really there on the ground is incredible,” said Black-Jewish Alliance member Calvin Coolidge. “It’s powerful. It’s… raw.”
Just past that room, the Black-Jewish Alliance panel was to be held. Before the panel started, Noa Tishby was doing signings for her latest book, Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew. The book was written with Emmanuel Acho, author of Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.
“I actually got halfway through the book before October 7 happened, and me and Emmanuel had a fight and almost scrapped the thing,” Tishby said. “But we got back together, finished it, and I think we have a real winner here.”
Torres and Tishby connected over their fights to stop hate: Torres against Black and LGBT hate, and Tishby against anti-Semitism.
The intention of this talk was “raising awareness about rising anti-semitism in the entertainment industry and galvanizing Black people and Jews in the industry against a possible boycott.”
Tishby is a New York Times best-selling author, a producer, and Israel’s former Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and Delegitimization. She has acted in several award-winning Israeli and American series such as In Treatment. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her son.
Torres is New York’s first LGBT congressman and an outspoken Zionist. He is here, rather than at the Democratic National Convention, for one reason and one reason alone: fears for his safety.
New York Congressman Ritchie Torres and Israeli-American actress and writer Noa Tishby spoke at the Nova Memorial exhibit in Culver City.
“I am a Zionist. Not the Zionist caricature everyone thinks about when they hear the word, but a real Zionist,” Torres said. “I came here to speak my truth to people who will appreciate what I have to say, rather than send me death threats.
“I feel there’s been no greater advocate against antisemitism than Noa Tishby,” Torres continued. “I feel blessed to fight alongside her. Forget California, I’d fight alongside her in every corner of the earth to stop hate.”
Throughout the exhibit and the panel, a phrase was constantly repeated: “We will dance again.” Nova, meaning “new”, is now a symbol of both tragedy and hope; the tragedy that began the war on October 7, at and the hope that Israel will continue, that Jews will survive.
Torres and Tishby spoke on politics, TV, discrimination, writing, Twitter and more. A question-and-answer session followed the talk.
A full video of the August discussion will be posted in the future on YouTube.
(Editor’s note: After reading Chaz Plager’s story and seeing the photo of the shoes, I was reminded of the exhibit “Not Long Ago, Not Far Away” that was at the Ronald Reagan Library from March 2023 to January 2024.)
Shoes that belonged to people deported to Auschwitz for extermination
You have written an amazing article and really captured being at this exhibit to it’s full extent.
I hope others will not miss this.
I will not be the same person after seeing this.