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Exhibit on Oct. 7 Nova Music Festival Massacre to Open in Toronto After Successful NYC Run

Nova survivor Natalie Sanandaji looks at items collected from the Nova festival at “The Nova Music Festival Exhibition: October 7th 06:29 AM, The Moment Music Stood Still” on April 18, 2024 in New York City. Photo: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

An exhibit highlighting the victims, survivors, and atrocities that took place during the Hamas terrorist attack at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, will open in Toronto in April, it was announced on Thursday by the human rights organization The Lawfare Project, which is helping to bring the project to Canada for the first time.

Nova: Oct. 7 6:29 AM, The Moment Music Stood Still” (also known as “The Nova Music Festival Exhibition”) will open in Toronto for six weeks from April 23 through June 8. The interactive and educational exhibit will travel to Canada following a 10-week run in Tel Aviv, where it first opened last year, and a highly successful run in New York City, which was extended “due to the overwhelming demand and excitement,” according to organizers.

Toronto is North America’s third-largest city and has the third-largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel. The venue for the exhibit in Toronto will be announced at a later date, but the installation will take over 60,000 square feet of space and become one of the largest exhibitions in Canadian history, according to The Lawfare Project.

“The Lawfare Project Canada is proud to bring the ‘Nova Music Festival Exhibition’ to Toronto,” said Brooke Goldstein, director of The Lawfare Project Canada. “While the ‘Exhibition’ honors the victims and survivors of the terrorist attack at the Nova Music Festival, it also fosters allyship as it educates and highlights the importance of defending human rights and reaffirming our democratic values.”

Hamas-led terrorists infiltrated the music festival in Re’im, Israel, during the early hours of Oct. 7, 2023, and killed 370 people, including four Canadians, and took as hostages 44 innocent music lovers who were attending the festival. During their deadly rampage across southern Israel that day, terrorists killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 captives.

The “Nova Music Festival Exhibition” honors the horrific atrocities that took place on Oct. 7 but also pays tribute to the resilience of the Tribe of Nova community in the aftermath of the attack. The installation takes visitors through a timeline of the deadly massacre, allowing them to relive the harrowing ordeal from Oct. 7 with the help of real artifacts from the site of the attack, such as burnt vehicles, bullet-stained bathroom stalls, and personal belongings abandoned by music festival attendees. The exhibit offers a recreation of the festival grounds with artifacts that visitors can interact with and showcases first-hand footage from the attack, as well as testimonies from festival survivors and bereaved family members, who will be onsite daily at the exhibit to interact with visitors.

“The story of the Nova Music Festival is one of strength, survival, love and community,” said Jesse Brown, who is the lead Canadian representative of the exhibit coming to Toronto. “This exhibit is to honor and remember the victims while also hearing the heart-wrenching stories of survivors who remind the world that we will dance again.”

“This is not a political statement. It is a reflection of what happened at a festival dedicated to love and peace,” added Evan Zelikovitz, who is also a Canadian representative of the exhibit. “It could have happened to you, your son or daughter or friend,” he said. “Come meet the survivors, meet the bereaved families, and hear about the moment music stood still.”

The “Nova Music Festival Exhibition” was created, curated, and directed by Reut Feingold. Since its opening in Tel Aviv, it has also run in Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, and Miami, and has attracted over 300,000 visitors. Celebrities who have attended the exhibit include Diplo, SIA, Usher, Jessica Alba, Will Ferrell, Kristen Bell, David Schwimmer, and Cindy Crawford, according to The Lawfare Project.

“The Nova community is centered around light, and now more than ever we need to continue to spread that message,” said Ofir Amir, founder and producer of The Nova Music Festival. “It is important, as part of our core values, that we take care of our community, help lead in the rehabilitation of the Nova survivors, and make our voices heard to the whole world.”

The post Exhibit on Oct. 7 Nova Music Festival Massacre to Open in Toronto After Successful NYC Run first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Palestinian Activist Ahed Tamimi Says ‘We Are Fighting the Jews, Not Zionism’

Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi attends the annual festival of Greek Communist Youth in Athens, Greece, Sept. 22, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Costas Baltas

Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi said on a podcast earlier this month that she is fighting Jews, not Zionism, and that she wishes for World War III.

“I was raised [to believe] that Judaism means occupation, and today, tomorrow, and a million years from now, I will continue to say that Judaism [should] be presented to the children of Palestine – children of my age and younger – as occupation, and that we are fighting the Jews, not Zionism,” Tamimi, now 24, said on “The Enlightenment Podcast” on YouTube on Aug. 8.

Tamimi’s comments were flagged by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which reported on and translated her remarks.

“The whole world needs to shut up, when a Palestinian is talking,” she said. “We are superior to the entire world, because we are the only ones in the world fighting injustice, at the expense of our lives, and the expense of our humanity.”

Tamimi continued, “Every night when I go to sleep, I put my head on the pillow, and I pray to God to protect the humanity left inside me, because I don’t want to become a killer. In this West of yours, if a mother screams at her child, he grows up to become a serial killer.”

“I have reached a point where I wish for a World War III. Whoever dies, dies, and whoever lives, lives. The important thing is that we will be over with this. I have reached this point,” she said. “Let the whole world be destroyed, I don’t care. Let them drop nuclear bombs, and destroy the whole world, so it won’t be just the Palestinians.”

These recent comments are the most recent in a long string of radical remarks by Tamimi. In November 2023, she wrote, in an Instagram post, “Come on settlers, we are waiting for you in all the West Bank cities from Hebron to Jenin – we will slaughter you and you will say that what Hitler did to you was a joke.”

Speaking about Israelis who live in the West Bank, she said, “We will drink your blood and eat your skull. Come on, we are waiting for you.”

Tamimi became famous internationally in 2017 when a video of her, then just 16 years old, slapping, kicking, and yelling at Israeli soldiers went viral as a symbol of both Palestinian resistance to Israel, and the asymmetric nature of the conflict. The soldiers did not retaliate but did later arrest her.

Tamimi was convicted on four counts of assaulting an IDF officer and soldier, incitement, and interference with IDF forces in March 2018, and was sentenced to eight months in prison and eight months of probation.

She was released a few months later, in July 2018. Since then, Tamimi has been hailed as a Palestinian human rights activist, received a book deal from Penguin Random House, and consistently received sympathetic coverage from Western news outlets.

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Trump Administration Reaffirms Opposition to Turkey Rejoining F-35 Program

A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is seen at the ILA Air Show in Berlin, Germany, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

The Trump administration has reaffirmed its opposition to Turkey’s rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing Ankara’s possession of Russian S-400 missile defense systems.

In a letter sent on Wednesday to US Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), a senior State Department official reiterated that Washington remains committed to enforcing the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which penalizes countries with financial ties to Russia’s defense sector.

“The Trump administration is fully committed to protecting US defense and intelligence assets and complying with US law, including CAATSA,” the letter read

The message, signed by Paul Guaglianone of the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, stated that Washington’s position “has not changed” and that Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian-supplied S-400 remains incompatible with US law and defense requirements. The official stressed that the Trump administration was fully committed to protecting American defense and intelligence assets while maintaining its obligations under the National Defense Authorization Act.

Despite the strained relationship, the letter emphasized that Turkey remains a longstanding NATO ally. US officials framed the relationship as critical to the security interests of both countries and signaled a willingness to maintain dialogue with Ankara.

In 2017, despite several US warnings, Ankara purchased the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, leading to Turkey’s expulsion from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.

“The United States seeks to cooperate with Turkey on common priorities and to engage in dialogue to resolve disagreements,” Guaglianone wrote, while maintaining that Washington has “expressed our disapproval of Ankara’s acquisition of the S-400 and clearly conveyed steps that would need to be taken” in the sanctions review process.

The letter came after a bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law. Members of Congress warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington had begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.

Under Section 1245 of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon is prohibited from transferring F-35 jets or related technology to Turkey unless Ankara no longer possesses the Russian-made S-400 system and provides assurances it will not acquire such equipment in the future. Because Turkey continues to retain the S-400, US officials are legally barred from approving its participation in the F-35 program.

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Israel Responds to Norway Donating Profits From World Cup Qualifying Matchup to Aid Gaza

Alexander Sørloth of Norway scores the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup Qualifier football match between Israel and Norway on March 25, 2025, in Debrecen. Photo: VEGARD GRØTT/Bildbyran/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

The Israel Football Association has issued a statement in response to a decision by its Norwegian counterpart to give profits from their mutual World Cup qualifiying match to support humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip.

Norway will host Israel on Oct. 11 at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, in the next round of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. On Tuesday, the Norwegian Football Association said it “cannot remain indifferent” to humanitarian suffering in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war, and announced that it will donate profits from the Oct. 11 game to aid humanitarian causes supporting Gaza.

“Neither we nor other organizations can remain indifferent to the humanitarian suffering and disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been exposed to for a long time,” said Norwegian Football Federation President Lise Klaveness. “Israel is part of FIFA’s and UEFA’s competitions and we have to deal with that. But we want to give the profit to a humanitarian organization that saves lives in Gaza every day and that contributes with active emergency aid on the ground.”

The Norwegian Football Association said it will reveal at a later date which humanitarian organization it will donate to. The association added that it is working with local police and UEFA to ensure the safety of players and fans at the Oct. 11 match in Oslo and will be taking “some extra security measures,” such as limiting capacity at the game. Tickets go on sale next week.

The Israeli Football Association responded on Wednesday in a statement to Telegraph Sport. It urged the Norwegian association to “make sure the money is not transferred to terrorist organizations or to whale hunting,” for which Norway has been criticized internationally. Israel also said it “would be nice” if the Norwegian Football Association would condemn the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

“We do not usually advise associations regarding the use of match revenue, even if it is obtained thanks to a match against our proud national team, but we will deviate from our custom this time: it would be nice if some of the amount were directed to try to finding a condemnation by the Norwegian FA of the Oct. 7 massacre that claimed the lives of hundreds of Israeli citizens and children, or action in favor of the release of 50 hostages – and please, make sure that the money is not transferred to terrorist organizations or to whale hunting,” the Israeli Football Association said in a statement. It also said it aims to gain 3 points at the October match.

Israel has been unable to host matches on its home soil for international competitions because of security concerns related to the Israel-Hamas war. It competed in a qualifying match against Norway in Hungary in March, which Norway won 4-2.

The Italian Soccer Coaches’ Association (AIAC) is demanding that Israel be suspended from international competitions ahead of Italy’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against the Jewish state that are set for September and October. Italy is set to play Israel in Debrecen, Hungary, on Sept. 8, before hosting Israel in Udine on Oct. 14.

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