On an unusually cold London afternoon, I approached two figures in high-vis jackets standing along a quiet East End road. “Did you come to see the exhibition?” I nodded and showed him my ID. She was joined by four others and was officially certified. Feeling like members of a resistance movement, our small group set off to a secret destination. All we were doing was participating in an art installation aimed at highlighting the plight of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. Embarrassingly, it has recently raised “security concerns”.
The 7/10 Human Chain Project is a grassroots movement not affiliated with the Israeli government or the Israeli embassy in the UK, which seeks to recreate the horrors of October 7 in real life with the help of visual representation.
voice from the tunnelThe recreation of Gaza’s underground prison was put on display earlier this month, but only small groups of invited guests were allowed to visit, also for security reasons. This was the latest in a series of impressive events organized by the project, from the formation of human chains carrying photos of hostages to the parking of empty strollers in public squares. While each incident was heartbreaking in its own way, this particular incident was perhaps the most devastating. The aim was to recreate the chilling atmosphere of the tunnel through the subversive use of life-sized mannequins.
As I entered the vast ruins, I was reminded that Hamas’s actual tunnels extend 200 feet (equivalent to five or six stories) underground. He descended an exposed cement staircase into a cold basement divided into rooms of various sizes, lit only by dim bare light bulbs. Torture sounds mixed with Arabic screams played on a loop throughout our stay. This is what the hostages would have suffered, and continue to suffer, while in captivity.
Every room told its own depraved story. One of them had an uncovered mattress on which a young boy mannequin sat facing the television. The boy is 12-year-old Eitan, who was kidnapped along with his father. Eitan was made to watch the video of the October 7 atrocity over and over again during the 52 days he was held in Hamas custody. Every time he cried a gun was put to his head. Eitan was released, but his father Ohad was not.
In another room, baby socks were scattered on the damp floor. Not far away was an empty high chair with a teddy bear on a tray. A mannequin wearing a Hamas costume and headband stood next to him, holding a baby mannequin that looked very much like Kfir Bibas, who was 9 months old when he was kidnapped. His fate remains unknown, along with his parents and four-year-old brother Ariel. In a small, narrow room, there was a bed stained with blood, and a woman covered in blood was standing at its feet.
The installation was conceived by Orit Eyal Fibeesh and brought to life by David Brooks and another artist who wishes to remain anonymous. What is their motivation? “The biggest fear of hostage families is that they will be forgotten. We promised them that we would not forget them,” Orit said. “Israel has never been very good at explaining itself. I don’t know if it’s arrogance or naivety. Whatever it is, it’s important that the world understands what’s good and what’s bad.” And it comes from a place of belief that there’s no need to explain. It’s not enough.”
As Hamas vows to repeat the October 7 massacre and pressure mounts on Israel to lay down its arms, the world cannot afford to forget who broke the ceasefire last year and how. Hamas started this war. You can also end it.