Nova Festival Memorial Site Hosts Celebration Despite Official Ban

Despite explicit prohibitions from the police and the Jewish National Fund (JNF), a group of Israelis, estimated to be in the dozens, held a Hakafot celebration as part of the Simchat Torah holiday at the Nova festival memorial site. Video footage from the event shows the celebration taking place just meters away from the "poppy" display, a significant part of the memorial complex. In one clip, the person filming is heard expressing disbelief, stating, "But we agreed this wouldn't happen here."

Organizers had previously announced that the event would proceed despite the official bans and opposition from many bereaved families. In a message released on Thursday, they asserted the Hakafot event was not canceled and claimed it was supported by bereaved families, contradicting the directives from authorities. The organizers also urged the public to "respect the different ways various families choose to mark the day their loved ones ascended to the heavens."

The JNF, which manages the land, had clarified days earlier that the site in Be'eri Forest is designated solely for remembrance and reflection, and visits during this period would be permitted for that purpose only. In coordination with the Israel Police and rescue services, no permits would be issued for organized events or activities unrelated to remembrance.

Last year, a similar event at the Nova site, marking two years since the October 7th massacre, drew widespread anger from bereaved families. This led to the police and JNF issuing this year's explicit refusal to permit such celebrations. Bereaved families who feared the event would still occur voiced their distress to N12 last week. One individual, who lost family members in the massacre, expressed profound pain, stating, "On this day my sister was murdered, my family members were murdered. They are dancing on their blood... On the monument, on the memorial display, on this holy ground they are dancing, celebrating, sleeping, and eating. This is not appropriate. It's like we wouldn't want them to do this at Auschwitz, at Yad Vashem, or any cemetery. For us, it is equivalent to any of those things, if not more so."