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Why an exhibit that honors the Oct. 7 hostages still draws crowds in the U.S., even after their release
When I traveled to Chicago recently to tour the Nova Music Festival Exhibition, I expected to find it nearly empty. More than two years have passed since Oct. 7, 2023. All the living hostages have been returned home, and only one hostage’s remains are still being held in Gaza. I figured people were done revisiting the horrors, and ready to move on.
I was wrong. In Chicago, 1,200 visitors had purchased tickets for that day alone. This traveling exhibition, which uses actual objects from the Nova festival grounds to reconstruct the scene of the attacks, has been drawing massive crowds since it opened in Tel Aviv in December 2023.
By the time it reached Chicago after stops in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Boston, Washington, D.C., Berlin and Toronto, more than 500,000 people had already passed through its doors. And the crowds continue to visit. The exhibition’s website announces, “new cities coming soon,” even as the events of October 7 recede into the background.
When my Uber pulled up to the exhibition — held in a warehouse — I saw lines of people, police cars, and security personnel. What were all these people doing here, I wondered?
The question wasn’t idle. I had my own doubts about what had drawn me. Was it morbid curiosity? Perhaps a voyeuristic urge? Beyond these unsettling questions, accusations from protesters who had demonstrated outside the June 2024 New York installation had gotten into my head. They had tried to shut down the exhibition there, calling it “apartheid apologia,” designed to justify Israel’s war on Gaza. Were they right?
I recoiled from each of these explanations but still could not pinpoint what exactly had motivated me to visit this re-creation of the site where so many people had met their brutal ends. It took two hours of walking through the installation, moving from one area to the next, to understand.
Why Hamas is absent
The exhibition begins in a small, dark holding room where visitors gather before entering the main space. A large wall panel provides the barest introduction to orient the viewer. After a long night of intense music, dancing and revelry — the text reads — just as the sun was coming up over the horizon, the rave party was shattered when the “Angel of Death” swooped in, firing a barrage of missiles, which were precursors to the “inconceivable horror” that was soon to follow.
Referring to the attackers as “The Angel of Death” matters. From these very first words, the story turns away from naming the perpetrators. Hamas is absent, as is any wider political context. That absence speaks for itself. This exhibition does not weigh in on Israel’s actions after Oct. 7. Its focus, instead, lies solely on the experiences of those who were abused, terrorized, kidnapped, and killed.
Passing through heavy drapery, visitors enter the festival grounds in the early hours of Oct. 7. Sand is spread underfoot, and small tents are strewn across the landscape. Yoga mats, sweaty T-shirts, flip-flops, cereal boxes and other personal belongings litter the ground. Burned-out cars and bullet-ridden porta-potties mark failed hiding places. Cigarettes and empty bottles lie scattered at the bar, as though party-goers were present just moments before.
Objects alone cannot tell the whole story; Screens scattered through the wreckage reveal the unfolding terror. Some mounted on stands, and others glowing inside the tents or dangling on wires play videos on a loop. One woman hiding between bushes, speaks into her own camera, “I’m filming so that later there will be a video of all this.” Another captured himself huddled with others in a trash bin.
More footage comes from the Go Pro cameras of the terrorists themselves. Taken from a pickup truck zigzagging across the road, one of these recordings shows terrified people running, trying to escape. Some are shot and collapse to the ground as the vehicle speeds past.
Additional screens feature survivor testimonies. One tells how her husband took a fatal bullet so she could flee, another lived by keeping cover beneath dead bodies.
This recounting represents what unfolded that day. At the Nova festival alone over 400 were killed, and 43 were kidnapped. What popularly came to be referred to as a single attack, fractured into thousands of separate experiences, each person caught by surprise, and left to confront the terror on their own. The confusion is conveyed through the disorienting structure of the exhibit itself. Visitors are not given a clear route through the space, or directions about where to look first and then next. Nor do we progress as a group. I am among strangers and without a guide, leaving each of us to absorb the fragments of horror in our own way.
Then comes the pivot. Visitors turn a corner, and the exhibition shifts to a tightly organized space that directs viewers along a deliberate path. A map marks where each festival-goer met their fate. No longer immersed inside the horror, we now see its larger shape. After the map, rows of tables are arranged, holding neat piles of folded sweatshirts, lines of eyeglasses, and carefully arranged pairs of shoes. No labels explain, and none are needed. It’s clear that these personal items are the pieces picked up after the massacre, sorted by volunteers who handled each with care.
Order in the aftermath
Now I am beginning to understand. Walking through the disorienting chaos was necessary to appreciate the ways in which order is made in the aftermath. Not only through collecting and tending to the objects left behind, but to the affected people as well. A wall display shows photos of the 44 hostages taken from Nova, with a message that the “Nova Community” holds all “their pain, their courage and their hope.”
In fact, the more than 3,000 revelers who attended the Nova rave were not a community at all. They came from different backgrounds, from all over the country and abroad, with no prior connection to one another. But the survivors, the bereaved, and the families of the kidnapped have gathered in the aftermath under the auspices of “The Tribe of Nova Foundation,” to offer each other support. Established by the festival’s producers immediately after the attack, the foundation provides therapy, healing services, and memorial events, all needed even now after the ceasefire.
Exiting the last dark portion of the exhibit, we walk beside a long board laid out on the floor, arranged with memorial candles and hundreds of notes written by fellow visitors. Most echo the installation’s message: “Wrapping you in love.” “Remembering all those who lost their lives and who are still healing,” and “We will dance again.”
But one hand-scrawled message breaks through: “Fuck Hamas.”
This stops me. Not because I don’t share the rage — I do. But the sentiment feels jarring here, disrupting a sense of sanctity whose contours are fully revealed in the final room.
Here, black drapes and heavy shadows give way to earth tones, warm lights, jute carpets, and macramé lanterns. Small coffee tables and wicker chairs are arranged around the space, as though we have entered a living room. Having left the horrors of Oct. 7 behind, this is a room for the living. It is also a shiva — a ritual space where visitors sit with mourners and let them speak.
People take seats, facing a Nova survivor who is regularly present at the front of the room. Articulate and composed, she begins with photos of her best friend whom she lost in the attack, and ends with a story of her own survival, and a message of not taking life for granted.
Here, the hesitations and doubts I carried into the exhibition fall away. I now understand what brought me here, and why so many others have come. It is not morbid curiosity, nor propaganda meant to justify war. It is the need to sit shiva. This space draws its power from gathering and caring for the scattered objects, and from bringing the bereaved together to witness, mourn, and remember.
The Nova Exhibition is a contemporary phenomenon, employing modern technology and immersive design to respond to contemporary trauma. Yet it draws on ancient traditions of telling and listening to stories, sitting together, gathering what was scattered, and working to stitch ourselves whole again. This cultural work remains relevant even now — more than two years later, with nearly all hostages home and bodies laid to rest. The exhibition will travel to new cities, and it should. Grief continues to unfold, and mourning takes time.
The post Why an exhibit that honors the Oct. 7 hostages still draws crowds in the U.S., even after their release appeared first on The Forward.
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Netanyahu Will Meet Trump on Dec. 29 to Discuss Second Phase of Gaza Plan, Spokesperson Says
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach to shake hands at a joint press conference in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Sept. 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Donald Trump on Dec. 29 to discuss the next steps of the Gaza ceasefire, an Israeli government spokesperson said on Monday.
“The prime minister will meet with President Trump on Monday, Dec. 29. They will discuss the future steps and phases and the international stabilization force of the ceasefire plan,” Shosh Bedrosian said in an online briefing to reporters.
The prime minister’s office said on Dec. 1 that Trump had invited Netanyahu to the White House. Israeli media have since reported that the two leaders may meet in Florida.
The spokesperson’s comments came one day after Netanyahu said on Sunday that the second phase of a US plan to end the war in Gaza was close, but cautioned several key issues still needed to be resolved, including whether a multinational security force would be deployed.
Netanyahu, speaking to reporters alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Jerusalem, said that he would hold important discussions with Trump at the end of the month on how to ensure the plan‘s second phase was achieved.
Netanyahu said that he would discuss with Trump how to bring an end to Hamas rule in Gaza. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is entering its second month, although both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce agreement.
Netanyahu said that it was important to ensure Hamas not only upholds the ceasefire but also follows through on “their commitment” to the plan to disarm and for Gaza to be demilitarized.
Israel retained control of 53% of Gaza under the first phase of Trump‘s plan, which involved the release of hostages held by terrorists in Gaza and of Palestinians, many convicted of terrorism, detained by Israel. The final hostage remains to be handed over are those of an Israeli police officer killed on Oct. 7, 2023, while fighting Hamas-led Gazan militants who had invaded Israel.
“We’ll get him out,” Netanyahu said.
Since the ceasefire started in October, the terrorist group has reestablished itself in the rest of Gaza.
GERMAN CHANCELLOR: PHASE TWO MUST COME NOW
According to the plan, Israel is to pull back further in the second phase as a transitional authority is established in Gaza and a multinational security force is deployed, Hamas is disarmed, and reconstruction begins.
A multinational coordination center has been established in Israel, but there are no deadlines in the plan and officials involved say that efforts to advance it have stalled.
“What will be the timeline? What are the forces that are coming in? Will we have international forces? If not, what are the alternatives? These are all topics that are being discussed,” Netanyahu said, describing them as central issues.
Merz said that Germany was willing to help rebuild Gaza but would wait for Netanyahu‘s meeting with Trump, and for clarity on what Washington was prepared to do, before Berlin decides what it would contribute but that phase two “must come now.”
Israel has repeatedly carried out air strikes since the ceasefire came into effect that it says are fending off attacks or destroying terrorist infrastructure.
NETANYAHU: WEST BANK ANNEXATION REMAINS A SUBJECT OF DISCUSSION
Netanyahu said that he would also discuss with Trump “opportunities for peace,” an apparent reference to US efforts for Israel to establish formal ties with Arab and Muslim states.
“We believe there’s a path to advance a broader peace with the Arab states, and a path also to establish a workable peace with our Palestinian neighbors,” Netanyahu said, asserting Israel would always insist on security control of the West Bank.
Trump has said he promised Muslim leaders that Israel would not annex the West Bank, where Netanyahu‘s government is backing the development of Jewish settlements.
The “question of political annexation” of the West Bank remains a subject of discussion, Netanyahu said.
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US Congress Moves Toward Repeal of Tough ‘Caesar’ Sanctions on Syria
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a Ministerial formation of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic, in Damascus, Syria, March 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
A set of tough US sanctions imposed on Syria under its former leader Bashar al-Assad could be lifted within weeks, after their repeal was included in a sweeping defense policy bill unveiled during the weekend and due for votes in Congress within days.
The Senate and House of Representatives included repeal of the so-called Caesar sanctions, a move seen as key to Syria‘s economic recovery, in a compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, a sweeping annual defense policy bill that was unveiled late on Sunday.
The provision in the 3,000-page defense bill repeals the 2019 Caesar Act and requires regular reports from the White House certifying that Syria‘s government is fighting Islamic State terrorists, upholding religious and ethnic minority rights within the country and not taking unilateral, unprovoked military action against its neighbors, including Israel.
The NDAA is expected to pass by the end of this year and be signed into law by President Donald Trump, whose fellow Republicans hold majorities in both the House and Senate and lead the committees that wrote the bill.
Lifting the sanctions is considered a key to the success of Syria‘s new government. Several Saudi Arabian firms are planning billion-dollar investments in the country as part of Riyadh’s drive to support the country’s recovery. The US sanctions have been a significant obstacle to Syria‘s economic revival.
Trump announced plans to lift all sanctions on Syria during a meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in May, and his administration has suspended them temporarily. However, the Caesar sanctions, the most stringent restrictions, can only be removed permanently by an act of Congress.
The 2019 Caesar Act imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Syria targeting individuals, companies and institutions linked to Assad, who was the president of Syria from 2000 until his ouster in 2024 by rebel forces led by Sharaa.
Syrian central bank Governor AbdulKader Husrieh told Reuters last week that the country’s economy was growing faster than had been expected. He described the repeal of many US sanctions as “a miracle.”
The sanctions are named after a Syrian military photographer, code-named “Caesar,” who smuggled out thousands of gruesome photos documenting torture and war crimes by Assad’s government.
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EU Looking at Options for Boosting Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces, Document Says
Lebanese army members stand on a military vehicle during a Lebanese army media tour, to review the army’s operations in the southern Litani sector, in Alma Al-Shaab, near the border with Israel, southern Lebanon, Nov. 28, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Aziz Taher
The European Union is studying options for strengthening Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces to help free up the Lebanese army to focus on disarming the terrorist group Hezbollah, according to a document seen by Reuters on Monday.
A 2024 truce between Lebanon and Israel remains fragile, with Israel carrying out regular strikes on Lebanese territory that it says are targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah’s efforts to rearm.
The document, produced by the EU’s diplomatic arm and circulated to the 27 member states, said it would pursue consultations with Lebanese authorities and that a scoping mission would take place in early 2026 on possible new assistance for the country’s Internal Security Forces.
EU efforts could “focus on advice, training and capacity-building,” the paper said, adding that the bloc would not take over the tasks of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), whose mandate is set to expire at the end of 2026, when it is expected to begin a year-long drawdown and withdrawal.
Instead, the EU “could contribute to the gradual transfer of internal security tasks” from the Lebanese Armed Forces to the Internal Security Forces, allowing the army to focus on its core defense tasks, the document said.
The UN secretary general is expected to produce a transition plan in June 2026 that will address risks stemming from UNIFIL’s departure.
EU, LEBANESE OFFICIALS TO MEET NEXT WEEK
The paper from the European External Action Service comes ahead of a planned meeting between senior EU and Lebanese officials in Brussels on Dec. 15.
“Through a combination of advice, training and possibly the provision of certain equipment, the overall objective would be to enable the Police and the Gendarmerie to fulfil their mandates in cities and rural areas across the country,” it said, adding the EU could also help Lebanon to better secure its land border with Syria.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s special envoy on Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, was in Beirut on Monday to propose a roadmap that aims to assess independently Hezbollah’s disarmament, diplomatic sources said.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said last week that Lebanon wanted to see a ceasefire monitoring mechanism play a more robust role in verifying Israel’s claims that Hezbollah is rearming as well as the work of the Lebanese army in dismantling the armed group’s infrastructure.
Asked whether that meant Lebanon would accept US and French troops on the ground as part of a verification mechanism, Salam said, “of course.”