OPINION: An end and a beginning to our 7 October memorial
The memorial's site is changing - but our determination to ensure that the tragedy of 7 October is not forgotten has not changed at all
Sunday 31 August marked the last service for our 7/10 memorial in Palmeira Square in Brighton. Ever since the shloshim – the thirty day mourning period – after the 7 October massacre, we have held a public service there each evening. Now, however, the council are redeveloping the square, so the decision to remain was out of our hands. It is time to move.
But this is also the start of something new. The memorial will still be public, still unapologetic, as the Chief Rabbi called it. It will sit outside the nearby Reform shul on Palmeira avenue and retain its name. Services will become weekly – on Fridays at 6:30pm – and all are very much welcome. An end and a beginning; a duality as this place has always been.
At this site, we’ve seen love and hate. Grief and joy. Where we’ve wept and laughed, fought back and hugged tightly. We’ve seen the sheer grit it’s taken for steadfast volunteers to turn up every night—to lead. In wind, rain and heat, and even during the tail end of hurricanes.
There were regulars who came to the services so reliably, they formed a family of sorts. We thank you.
Thank you to the one who lit a candle every single night for the hostages.
Thank you to the one who quietly removed the hateful stickers that constantly appeared around us.
Thank you to the child who picked a wild flower and gently placed it on the box of stones every time she passed.
Then there are those who stopped by at other times; to pray, leave a token, to weep or share a kind word. Those who kept an eye on the memorial— sometimes even challenging us when we ourselves came near it!
We have seen so much love. For the last three weeks a supporter from America has sent huge displays of flowers which have sustained us. When a hateful person destroyed the memorial entirely, there was an outpouring of outrage and empathy and we raised £1500 overnight. The generosity of time, emotion and donations has overwhelmed us.
There were times I felt deep despair and didn’t feel up to coming to a service. But every single service, I came away feeling better. Even if something bad happened. Because it was real. It was here. I could share my anger and fear and despair. The connection made it bearable. I thank all of you for that gift.
This place has been about mourning our losses but also defending our humanity. The victims of 7 October have been dehumanised to the point where reminding the world that they existed is a profound act of resistance.
We spoke their names—and names have power. We told their stories and we brought them back. So many families of victims are deeply grateful for this. They feel forgotten, removed from the story of their own loss. We will not let that happen.
So this is an end and a beginning, because we’re just getting started.
The red anemone has come to symbolise memory and hope. They grow all over southern Israel where these horrors happened. At the Nova site and the car graveyard installations, these anemones flow, in beauty and death.
There were always candles at our memorial. Light in the darkness. Ever present.
We have asked people to give and now we ask them to take. Take a piece of the memorial into your home. An anemone. A candle. For memory, for hope. Place them on your mantle and into your heart. Because remembrance is an act and not a place.
To get a Palmeira candle holder and anemone contact palmeiramemorialgroup@gmail.com or follow on Instagram @palmeiramemorial
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