Produced by: Tarun Mishra
Designed by: Mohsin Shaikh
In the midst of a joyous music festival in the Israeli desert, tragedy unfolded as Hamas militants launched a shocking attack against Israel on the eve of Saturday, October 7
As thousands danced to trance music beneath a giant Buddha statue and prayer flags at a Universo Paralello Music Festival, the celebration took a terrifying turn. Rockets fired from Gaza illuminated the dawn sky, causing panic and confusion
A devastating outcome emerged, with 260 people killed by Hamas terrorists, as confirmed by ZAKA, an Israeli NGO specialising in rescue and recovery operations
Eyewitnesses reported that an alarm alerted attendees to incoming rockets. Shortly after the rockets, gunshots rang out. Accounts revealed that around 50 militants, dressed in military uniforms, arrived in vans and infiltrated the festival
Chaos ensued as attendees tried to flee, running across the sandy terrain and rushing to their vehicles. However, armed assailants in jeeps began firing upon the fleeing crowd and kidnapping especially young women while murdering the men
One survivor, known as Ortel, recounted the horror during an interview with Israeli Channel 12. "They fired bursts, and we reached a point where everyone stopped their vehicles and started running. I went into a tree, a bush and they just started spraying people with gun fire. I saw masses of wounded people thrown around and I'm in a tree and trying to understand what's going on."
The festival site, which featured multiple stages, camping areas, and food and beverage facilities, was situated in the Negev desert, near Kibbutz Re'im. It was in close proximity to the Gaza Strip, from where Hamas militants had crossed over at dawn to launch their attack, infiltrating nearby towns and villages, and taking hostages
The event that festivalgoers were attending, known as Universe Parallelo or Tribe of Nova in some countries, is a renowned Brazilian pay-trance festival famous for hosting international gatherings. The primary Universo Paralello festival takes place on Pratigi Beach in Ituberá, Bahia, Brazil, spanning nine days and eight nights
Universo Paralello offers attendees with a diverse array of transformational activities and various genres of music. These include workshops, performances, holistic therapies, artistic and cultural ceremonies
Originating in the early 2000s as a small gathering in the Brazilian mountains, Universo Parallelo evolved into a bi-annual event in 2011 and has since become one of Brazil's premier psytrance festivals
The festival was also hosted in India by the name of ‘Tribe of Nova’ in Goa’s Hilltop, back in 2015. India was also the very first international country where the psytrance festival was organised outside of Brazilian borders
Universo Paralello has also been hosted in many other countries such as in Argentina in both 2022 and 2023, Spain in 2022, Portugal in 2022 and 2023, Thailand in 2023, Mexico in 2022, and France in 2016 and 2023. Remarkably, the edition held in Israel, that was attacked by Hamas terrorists, was festival's inaugural appearance in the country
In an Instagram post, the officials of the festival addressing the tragedy at the Israeli event said that they were deeply saddened and extremely shaken by the incident. They added that violence has no place in society regardless of the territory