Protest outside New York exhibition on those killed at Israel music festival was ‘really heartbreaking,’ spokesperson says

A Monday night demonstration outside an exhibition that pays tribute to those killed at an Israeli music festival last year is “really heartbreaking for everyone involved,” an exhibition spokesperson says.

A Monday night demonstration outside an exhibition that pays tribute to those killed at an Israeli music festival last year is “really heartbreaking for everyone involved,” an exhibition spokesperson says. “It was pretty surreal that this protest took place outside of exhibition commemorating hundreds of lives of people that were lost,” the spokesperson, Michelle Rojas, told CNN Monday. The exhibition commemorates those killed at the Nova Music Festival in Israel during the October 7 attacks by Hamas. At least 260 people died during the festival attack, according to Israeli rescue service Zaka. Some attendees were taken hostage, seen in social media videos being seized by their armed captors. The outdoor festival was supposed to be an all-night dance party, celebrating the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The protest was part of a “Citywide Day of Rage for Gaza,” in which pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside museums across New York City on Monday. The protests, organized by the group Within Our Lifetime “in response to the ongoing genocide being carried out against the Palestinian people,” called on demonstrators to “take autonomous action all day” then gather at Union Square at 5 p.m. “Across the city the Brooklyn Museum and cultural institutions like it are drenched in the blood of Palestine’s martyrs. In their name and in their memory we call for autonomous action against these institutions all day,” the group said on X.