Come in for one minute': Israeli survivor's appeal to doubters as 7 October exhibition opens in London

"Two police vans waited expectantly near the front entrance. Officers patrolled the pavements while suited security men with ear pieces stood stern-faced, casting suspicious looks at those approaching. The location in east London had not been disclosed until that morning but no chances were being taken. It was not for a visiting dignitary or even an embassy of a country in conflict that all this was deemed necessary but the Nova exhibition, a commemoration of the 378 people massacred at a music festival on 7 October along with the 44 taken as hostages and the 19 of those who died in Hamas captivity."

"When the exhibition had travelled to New York, hundreds of people had turned up in Lower Manhattan to protest against the conduct of Israel since the 7 October attack, some of whom claimed the show was a piece of political propaganda. Elkana Bohbot, just after his release in October 2025. He spent 738 days as a hostage in Gaza of which 690 were in a tunnel. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters Elkana Bohbot, a co-organiser of the 2023 music festival, who spent 738 days as a hostage in Gaza of which 690 were in a tunnel, said he had only one request to those who might turn up to demonstrate in London: Come in for one minute. Not an hour but just one minute. Come inside. That's it."

"London is the 10th city to host the immersive reminder of this part of the worst atrocity committed against Jews since the Holocaust. There is a room of shoes belonging to those who fled, evoking memories of the spectacles, hair and footwear that helped evidence the crimes of the concentration camps. But the horror at Nova is perhaps among the most documented of our times. The exhibition in Shoreditch, which opens to the public on Wednesday, seeks to use that which was caught in technicolour, via the phones of the victims and body cameras of the protagonists, to challenge with their own eyes those who deny its gravity, said Bohbot, 36, whose pallor perhaps offers evidence aplenty of the continued tra"

Two police vans and security personnel were positioned near the front entrance of an east London venue for the Nova immersive exhibition. The event commemorates 378 people massacred at a music festival on 7 October, 44 taken as hostages, and 19 who died in Hamas captivity. The exhibition has traveled to multiple cities, including New York, where protests occurred and some people claimed it functioned as political propaganda. Elkana Bohbot, a co-organiser held hostage for 738 days, urged demonstrators to enter for one minute. The London exhibition is described as the 10th city to host the immersive reminder and includes a room of shoes from those who fled. It uses technicolour footage captured on victims’ phones and body cameras to confront denial with direct evidence.

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