I saw the belongings left behind by Hamas’s victims in the Nova Exhibition, every Briton should see them too

I expected to witness grief and brutality when confronting the horrors of Hamas’s October 7th terror rampage. What I did not expect was to witness so much humanity, love, and hope as well.

The Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im was meant to be a celebration of life. Several thousand young people had gathered through music, friendship, and unity. The festival itself represented values that should inspire all of us: freedom, diversity, peace, and human connection. Even the name “Nova,” meaning “new,” reflected the spirit of the festival.

Then evil arrived. On October 7th, Hamas terrorists launched one of the most barbaric attacks in modern history. Thousands of rockets were fired into Israel while armed terrorists invaded communities and attacked innocent civilians. Among the 1,195 people murdered that day were 364 young civilians attending the Nova festival. Many more were wounded, kidnapped, or traumatised forever.

Walking through the exhibition is an overwhelming but essential experience. Every step carried the weight of loss. The photographs, abandoned belongings, and stories of young people dancing only moments before death descended upon them force you to confront the reality of what happened.

These were not soldiers on a battlefield. These were sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and friends.

Young people who woke up that morning believing they were going to celebrate music and life with people they loved. Their families never imagined it would be the last time they would see them alive.

As an Iranian-British human rights advocate, this exhibition felt deeply personal. For the past three and a half years, alongside my husband, Vahid Beheshti, I have been warning the British Government about the dangers posed by the Iranian regime and the extremist networks it supports across the Middle East and beyond and calling for the proscription of IRGC.

Everywhere I go, I see the fingerprints of the Iranian regime: terrorism, repression, extremism, and antisemitism. The ideology behind October 7th does not only threaten Israel or the Jewish people. It threatens every democratic society that believes in freedom, human dignity, pluralism, and human rights.

That is why this exhibition matters so much.

It is not simply about remembering the victims of that dark day. Amidst a wave of terror attacks against British Jews, the public must be educated about where hatred can lead when extremism is tolerated, excused, or ignored.

We are living in a world before and after October 7th. Across Europe, including on the streets of London, we are witnessing the normalisation of antisemitism and the glorification of terrorist organisations. Too many people refuse to acknowledge Hamas for what it is: a terrorist organisation driven by an ideology that celebrates death and destruction.

That should concern every single one of us, regardless of our background, religion, or politics.

The Nova Exhibition forces visitors to confront uncomfortable truths. It reminds us that hatred never stays contained. Terrorism never stops with one group. Extremism spreads unless it is challenged.

It is a collective responsibility to visit this exhibition - bear witness, learn and remember. Colleges, universities, community organisations, and political leaders across Britain should encourage visits to the exhibition.

Every young person should have the opportunity to understand what happened on October 7th — not through social media slogans or distorted narratives, but through the human stories of those who were there. Education is one of the strongest defences we have against extremism, hatred, antisemitism, and historical amnesia.

Despite the brutality of the attack, Hamas failed to destroy the very thing they targeted most: humanity itself.

Throughout the exhibition, I saw messages of love, unity, hope, and resilience. I met with survivors who refused to let terror define their futures. I saw grieving families ensuring the world would never forget their loved ones. I saw courage in the face of unimaginable pain.

The terrorists succeeded in murdering innocent people, but did not succeed in murdering hope.

October 7th was an attack on the values of every free and democratic society. If we fail to confront the hatred, extremism, and antisemitism that made it possible, we risk allowing history to repeat itself.

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Mattie Heaven is an Iranian-born British national, local councillor, and director of The International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR).

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