Thanks for your wonderful responses to our relaunched newsletter. A number of you switched from our free newsletter to becoming paying subscribers, whilst others made one-off donations. This financial support is very much needed, and we really do appreciate it.

This week the newsletter focuses on the Nova Exhibition which has now made its way to London. Please do book a ticket. But more than that, please also arrange to take friends, family, even a colleague. It's important to share the harsh reality as well as the stories of resilience — but even more than this, we must remind the world of what it tried to ignore.

We are organising some visits to the exhibition, where Our Fight campaigners will be able to attend together. One of these is specifically aimed at those under 30. All details below.

This week

Last night we were grateful to have been able to attend a preview and opening event of the Nova Exhibition, which is being shown in East London. Today (May 20th) is the official opening. More details about how to visit, below.

Last Saturday, we took our #mensch campaign to the streets of central London at the Unite the Kingdom march and rally. Despite there being quite some distance between the Our Fight campaign and the public position of many of the speakers, that doesn't mean we should miss the opportunity to be out talking to the public about the need to challenge anti-Semitism. And as we expected — and as our photos show — swathes of people there recognise the need to stand visibly with the Jewish community in Britain.

Coming up

Tuesday, May 26th, 6pm: The Academy of Ideas charity are organising a special tour of the Nova Exhibition, followed by a talk. It's part of their Living Freedom project aimed specifically at young people, and the tickets will be free. They have generously extended the invitation to anyone in the Our Fight community that is between 18 and 30. If you would like to go, or wish to pass this on to any young people that you know. please do. Mark Birbeck will also be present to talk about campaigning.

Nova Exhibition London: private tour and talk - Living Freedom

On Sunday 10 May, thousands of people headed to the Extinguish Antisemitism rally at the gates of Downing Street. As Jewish Chronicle columnist Stephen Pollard said, this was ’the moment … Continue Reading

Living Freedom

Wednesday, May 27th, 5pm: An Our Fight group visit to the Nova Exhibition. Pre-book your ticket directly from the exhibition website, and select the 5.20pm slot. Meet outside the venue entrance at 5pm.

Thursday, May 28th: A members-only, in-person discussion on Islam and Islamism will be held in central London, which is open to anyone who makes a regular donation to Our Fight. A separate invitation email will be sent out soon.

Saturday, May 30th, 11.40am: An Our Fight group visit to the Nova Exhibition. Pre-book your ticket directly from the exhibition website, and select the 11.40am slot. Meet outside the venue entrance at 11.20am.

You might have missed

Last year, on the second anniversary of October 7th, Our Fight, in partnership with British Friends of Israel, held a commemorative event in Westminster, called A Time to Speak.

Over 700 people gathered to hear testimony from survivors, interviews with parents whose children were murdered at the Nova Festival, and reports from journalists Emily Schrader and Allison Pearson. In the segment recorded below, Allison recounts an interview with Shari Mendes who was part of a team responsible for preparing for burial, the bodies of some of the young women that were brutally murdered at Nova.

Focus: Nova Exhibition

The Nova Exhibition has come to London, and today it opens to the public. It will run for six weeks, and is a powerful document of what happened on October 7th, when Hamas and other Islamist groups brought carnage to the music festival.

Through video and recreations of the Nova site, the first half of the exhibition captures the chaos, noise and fear of the moment the festival was attacked and the music stopped — 6.29am. Beyond these rooms is a larger, calmer room, lit with candles and displaying photos of all those who were murdered, where the viewer is invited to slow down and reflect on the young lives lost.

It's a powerful exhibition, and while inducing anger and shock at the atrocities, it also provides inspiration; many of the exhibition organisers are themselves survivors of Nova and lost many close friends, yet they are still able to create something profound, and say 'we will dance again'.

The significance of the Nova Festival massacre on October 7th, 2023 is not just that nearly 400 young people lost their lives, nor the depravity of the slaughter. We must talk about Nova and October 7th, because the world is trying to ignore it.

Worth a read

Although written only a few weeks after October 7th, Rolling Stone's coverage of the Nova Festival pogrom remains an important and detailed account.

‘They Wanted to Dance in Peace. And They Got Slaughtered’

Israel’s Supernova music festival celebrated music and unity. It turned into the deadliest-ever concert attack in history.

Rolling StoneDavid Browne

For members

On Thursday, May 28th, we'll be holding an in-person discussion on Islam and Islamism. Details will be provided to members shortly.

Due to the bank holiday, there will be no catch-up meeting on Monday, May 25th. The next one will be a week later, on Monday, June 1st. We've also shifted the start time from 6pm to 6.30pm, finishing at 8.30pm. The weekly catch-up meetings are held in person in central London. Full details are in our WhatsApp group.

We need your help

We have a number of articles that have been written for our website, but are still to be published. We need help with the backlog, so if you have proofing or editing skills then please get in touch.

And as always, if you'd like to make a donation, follow the link below:

Thanks for being part of this,

Mark Birbeck
Founder and Director
Our Fight

P.S. Although we said 'every Tuesday' in the Sunday newsletter, we've decided 'every Wednesday' is actually better. So look out for the newsletter on a Wednesday morning from now on.