NORTH MIAMI, FLA. (WSVN) - South Florida leaders stood together against antisemitism at a new exhibit that serves as a remembrance of the brutal massacre at The Nova Music Festival.
On Thursday, many leaders from across Miami-Dade County stood in solidarity with the Nova Music Festival victim’s loved ones to encourage the community on the dangers of hatred.
“My family understands firsthand what hatred and antisemitism can lead to,” said Lily Serviansky with the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.
That firsthand experience has only grown since the Oct. 7 massacre at the Nova Music Festival.
“I’m the mother, proud mother of Oriya. My daughter, my youngest daughter, was murdered at the Nova Festival,” said Hannie Ricardo.
On display at the Nova Exhibition in North Miami are the stories of the lives lost during what was supposed to be a good time.
Five family members of hostages appeared onstage, Thursday.
“My two uncles, Yossi and Eli Sharabi, were kidnapped from Ber’rit to Gaza on Oct. 7th,” said Rotem Sharabi, a family member of one of the hostages.
She and the others are traveling around the U.S., begging for a ceasefire and a hostage deal, asking for people to understand the agony they live with every day. Their goal is to get people to learn from the horrors that occurred on October 7th.
Yehuda Cohen’s son, an Israeli soldier, was also taken hostage.
“My son, again, sent by the government to the border,” said Cohen. “Give up the fighting. It’s going nowhere. So all of the hostages can be released after too long of a time, 14 and a half months of suffering.”
“We are the family of hostages,” said Mauricio Shnaider, another family member of a hostage.
“I woke up, and I looked at the messages, and I remember I saw the message saying, ‘Mom, I love you very much.’ And I said, ‘No, no, no, no,'” said Ricardo.
That palpable pain is what is pushing South Florida mayors and local leaders to band together and stand in solidarity against antisemitism.
“Today more than ever it is clear that our world needs healing,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava.
“We have to be vigilant, and we have to be mindful,” said Bal Harbour Mayor Jeffrey Freimark.
“Never again should we be in an environment where the hate and the antisemitism are so perverse that we have the context in the environment for a Holocaust,” said Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner.
The Anti-Defamation League states that antisemitism has increased in the United States by 140 percent since last year.
Now, leaders hope that people, seeing the horrors of what happened on Oct. 7, will be educated against the dangers of hatred.
“Let us invite our friends, neighbors, and colleagues to come to experience this incredible exhibition. Let us amplify all of our voices for inclusion and peace,” said Levine-Cava.
The family members of hostages are urging the public to visit the exhibit to remember what happened on Oct. 7 and to call their congressional representatives to push for some action.
The Nova Exhibition is open Tuesday through Sunday.
If you would like to buy tickets, click here.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.