Omer Shem Tov finds healing at Burning Man
At its heart was the phrase "we will dance again," a refusal to let violence silence joy.
In the Nevada desert, amid towering art installations and dust-swept camps, Omer Shem Tov reclaimed his freedom. Just months after being released from 505 days in Hamas captivity, the 22-year-old Israeli attended this year’s Burning Man.
On Sunday August 31, at exactly 6.29am, the festival held a ceremony to remember the victims of October 7, 2023 when Hamas launched its murderous assault on the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel. That morning, gunmen stormed the site, killing more than 360 young people and kidnapping many others, including Shem Tov.
In the desert of Black Rock City, the music once again stopped – this time as an act of remembrance. One of the Nova organisers, Ofir Amir, himself wounded during the attack, took the microphone, speaking of loss and resilience, and promising that “we will dance again” – a motto that has been adopted by many survivors of the festival and their allies. Amir’s wife was nine months pregnant at the time of the attack.
“When we are united, we are unbreakable,” Amir told the crowd. “My daughter is living proof that even in the darkest times, life and hope can prevail.
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