In tragic news over the weekend, an Israel Psytrance festival was attacked by Hamas terrorists, killing 260 people. Universo Paralello was taking place near the Gaza Strip amid the fighting between the Hamas of Palestine and Israel. Ravers were terrorized by the Hamas attackers in the midst of dancing. The attackers swooped in from the sky, using gliders, to attack, abduct, rape, and kill attendees at random. Festivals have always been about freedom of expression, love, peace, caring and so much more. Hamas took that away from these festivalgoers. The barbarity will go down as Israel’s worst civilian massacre.
There is also an unknown amount of attendees that have been abducted by the Hamas. Universo Paralello Festival occurs in Re’im, Israel, a rural area located near the border of the Gaza Strip. Hamas attacked the festival at roughly 7 AM.
In one horrific story that has spread far and wide, a German-Israeli dual citizen, Shani Louk, attended the festival. She was abducted and barbarically killed before being paraded through the streets of Gaza.
Universo Paralello originated in the Brazilian state of Bahia and is focused on psytrance. Psytrance is very popular in Israel and they even created their own festival for it called Supernova Sukkot Gathering after the Jewish holiday. They released a statement on the terrible incident:
“In moments like these, it is important that we be strong and united, full faith, we will support each other and be there for anyone who needs it.”
The lineup featured psytrance producers from countries including Brazil, Spain, Japan, and Mexico. Artists there included performers Aladin, Artifex, Astral Projection, Flare Jackalon, Jumpstreet, Kido, LIbra, Man With No Name, Noface, Protanica, Rocky Tilbor, Shove, Spectra Sonics, Swarup, and Wegha.
It is incredibly shocking to hear news of this nature. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost their lives and their families.
One artist manager, Raz Gaster, on site described the situation. He was able to escape but was told the Hamas arrived with “machine guns, with RPGs, with grenades, and just slaughtered whoever they could.” He approximates that there are still 600-700 people missing from the party.
“We went out of the backstage and we saw a full bombardment everywhere. It was hundreds of rockets and mortars flying from everywhere and explosions all around us.”