Today, Sadiq Khan, The Mayor of London visited the Nova Exhibition London, where he toured the exhibition and met with survivors and bereaved family members from the Nova Music Festival massacre that took place in Israel on October 7 2023.
He attended the visit alongside the Victims’ Commissioner for London, Andrea Simon.
Whilst at the exhibition, Sadiq Khan urged people across the UK to visit this important exhibition, saying: “This is not about what religion you belong to, which God you worship, what your politics are, what your views are on any particular issues. It’s about coming to see for yourself what happened on that day. But if you’re lucky, you’ll get the chance to meet a survivor and that experience will touch you, I promise.”
He observed: “What’s quite clear is that these are people who went to that concert with nothing but love and joy, wanted a good time, and lost their lives. Others have survived. Their lives are never going to be the same again. And there are bereaved families whose lives will never be the same again.”
He added: “A number of things won’t leave me. The trainers of the kids, one of them 18 years old, the clothes, mobile phones. It just reminds you these are people and it’s always worth remembering that you may see a video film, you may read an article, but these are just human beings… But also what people are capable of doing is just horrific. And so what will stay with me is the hope and the optimism, but also the horror of what happened.”
He also drew parallels with the Manchester Arena Bombing tragedy experienced by many British people: “One of the things I noticed, when you look at the photographs of those who lost their lives, you’ll see the diversity of ages – from kids as young as 18, in their 20s and their 30s and their 40s, even in their 50s, whose common theme was their love of trance music, their love of rave. And they left home, leaving their loved ones behind expecting to see them the next day, never to return and the same happened with traumatic incidents all across the world whether it’s the tragedy of the Ariana Grande concert where those mums and dads never saw their kids again, or the survivors who will be changed forever, it’s just a reminder of the things we’ve got in common. There are too many people around the world trying to divide people, divide communities and music, fun, congregation are the things we all share.”
