OPINION: Why Canadians should bear witness to the NOVA massacre

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A visit to the NOVA Music Festival exhibit is a must for all.

The exhibit reveals the graphic truth about the attack by Hamas on the festival in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and allows one to bear witness and pay homage to the victims and their families. It’s a powerful, deeply moving exhibit that takes one to the scene of the actual site. Visitors can take their own time to witness the aftermath of the shocking attack — as I did — in disbelief, sadness and outrage.

The exhibit, which ended its run Sunday in Toronto and will be in Washington, D.C., until July 6, authentically recreates the attack and its aftermath on the festival grounds. It shows images and videos of the joyful exuberant young people celebrating life when the attack happened. They were there to dance, to be in a ‘trance’ of movement while waiting to watch a magical sunrise on the horizon. But at 6:29 a.m., their celebration turned to horror. The terrorists murdered hundreds in cold blood and kidnapped many more. They filmed themselves exulting in these acts, sickeningly proud to share them with the world.

As I move around in the darkened space, I saw scenes recreated of the festival aftermath — campsites uprooted as young people fled the scene, their personal belongings strewn around. On one chair I saw a book with a person in a meditation pose. A fellow visitor translated the title of the book to me, heart-wrenchingly ironic: the Patanjali Yoga Sutras, the sacred text on philosophy of Yoga that teaches about how to quieten the mind and find inner peace.

One exhibit board displayed the last phone call of a daughter to her mother as she hid in terror. In another corner, I heard a Hamas fighter calling home to boast of killing ten Jews. A screen showed the body of a young Jewish woman paraded naked through Gaza as jihadis cheered. The exhibit is haunting and deeply disturbing. I felt as if my heart would literally break.

The experience would have been unbearable but for the resilience of the survivors. In a debriefing session after the exhibit, I sat in silence as two young people who survived the attack spoke bravely about their horrific experience. One of the women who spoke had Hindu-Jewish ancestry from Bombay and I was able to meet her and give her a hug. As a Hindu of Indian heritage, in that moment, I felt our communities stand together in grief — and in resolve.

The exhibit served as a stark reminder of the atrocities committed by Islamist jihadi ideology against Hindus for over 1,400 years, continuing even today. Thousands of Hindus is Kashmir, India were killed and tortured in 1990s, resulting in their seventh exodus from the valley. Hindus and Sikhs in Kashmir, Pakistan and Bangladesh continue to face a genocide, losing over 80% of their populations there.

The ideology that drove the NOVA massacre is not confined to one place. Nor is it ancient history. It thrives wherever hatred is allowed to spread unchecked through radicalization, propaganda, and the willful blindness of those who excuse it. Here in Canada, we must confront this reality. Antisemitism is rising. Violent hate is on our streets.

Before going to bed that night, I sat down to meditate, to quiet my agitated heart and mind. After that I sent blessing to the souls of the departed, their grieving families and to the whole Jewish community facing this trauma. I prayed for peace in Israel, Am Chai Israel. There can be no darkness in the presence of light. We shall overcome, someday, as the song goes.

But we cannot overcome hate with silence. We must stand united — Jews, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, and all Canadians — in affirming the dignity of every human being. We must name the ideologies that seek to divide and destroy, and refuse to normalize them in our schools, media, or public discourse.

The NOVA exhibit is more than an act of remembrance. It is a call to conscience. I thank all those who brought it to Toronto. I urge every Canadian to go, and to bear witness.

– Ragini Sharma, BSW, MSW, PhD, can be reached at raginisinghsharma@gmail.com

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