Overview

The Supernova Music Festival Attack refers to an October 2023 attack on an Israeli rave and music festival near the border of Gaza, which was swarmed by Palestinian and Hamas militants that killed roughly 260 Israeli civilians in attendance. The festival was also referred to as the "Tribe of Nova." On the day of the initial Israel-Hamas October 2023 Conflict, the music festival received viral news coverage with outlets centering on female concert-goers who were kidnapped and killed, including a German-Israeli woman named Shani Louk, among many others. The so-called "Peace Festival" drew the attention of significant internet discourse in which people juxtaposed the Israeli citizens and Hamas militants, many calling them terrorists and discussing the socio-political contrasts portrayed by the massacre and tragedy.

Background

On October 7th, 2023, Hamas (the "Islamic Resistance Movement") launched an incursion into Israel from Gaza. This attack included numerous rocket barrages and assaults by ground forces, boats and motorized paragliders crossing into Israeli territory. According to reports on October 8th, around 700 Israelis were killed and over 2,200 were wounded, with roughly 400 Palestinians also killed.^[1]

That same day, a music festival called Supernova, reportedly intended to celebrate peace outside of Re’im, took place close to the border of Gaza (map shown below, left).^[2] According to BBC,^[2] more than 260 bodies were recovered from the festival site following the attack. An eyewitness account retelling the events said, "Fifty terrorists arrived in vans, dressed in military uniforms" and "fired bursts" into the crowd. A screencap from a video taken at the scene, showing a female concert-goer fleeing, was used by BBC^[2] (shown below, right).

Videos of the event were uploaded to social media, such as a video posted by TikToker^[3] @yuuuot3 on October 7th, 2023, which showed Hamas paragliders flying over the festival, gaining roughly 616,600 plays and 22,000 likes in two days (shown below). The video was reposted to X^[4] later on the same day, receiving over 1 million views in two days.

Drone footage of the attack (originally posted to Telegram) was uploaded by the YouTube^[12] account of Guardian News on October 8th, 2023, receiving over 1.3 million views in one day (shown below).

Shani Louk's Abduction

During the attack on October 7th, 2023, news outlets like The Telegraph^[5] reported on a story that 23-year-old Shani Louk, a German-Israeli festival-goer, was tortured, killed and then paraded by Hamas militants. A video of Louk at the festival, posted to her Instagram^[6] on the day of, was reposted and shared on X.^[7] Viral posts about her death were also shared on X,^[8] such as one from @OliLondonTV that received roughly 38,100 likes in two days (shown below).

Online Reaction

As the story of the Supernova Music Festival attack spread on social media, discourse ensued about the tragedy. For instance, on October 8th, 2023, X^[9] user @Cernovich portrayed sympathy with the victims of the attack in a post that received roughly 31,500 likes in one day (shown below, left). In contrast, on October 8th, X^[10] user @TamaraINassar stated, "Personally, I would simply not attend a rave mere miles away from one of the world's largest open-air prisons…" gaining roughly 3,400 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Humorous and memetic reactions also appeared online, such as a post shared by X^[11] user @uncledoomer on October 8th, 2023, who referenced David Guetta's 'Shout Out To His Family' DJ set that occurred after the Death of George Floyd, receiving roughly 2,700 likes in one day (shown below).

Various Reactions

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References