As a haunting new exhibition lays bare the horrors of the Nova Music Festival massacre, the broken parents of Jake Marlowe open up about their hero son who died that day
When the hubbub of joyful noise was silenced at 6.29am on October 7 2023 at Israel’s Nova Music Festival, for Lisa and Michael Marlowe the sound of happiness was dimmed forever. Their 26-year-old son, Jake Marlowe, was murdered in a hail of bullets by Hammas gunmen, as he tried to help others to safety in the terrifying chaos.
His memory is among those honoured by the Nova Exhibition, which opens in east London tomorrow. It recreates the events of the deadliest attack on a music festival in world history – when a peaceful, international gathering of 3,000 souls in the desert in southern Israel ended with 413 people murdered; hundreds injured and 44 taken hostage.
Speaking at the exhibition opening, Lisa, 61, a beauty therapist from Potter’s Bar, Hertfordshire, said: “We are broken beyond belief. You never expect to have to bury your child. Your child is supposed to grow old and outlive you.” Michael, 64, a futures trader, added: “We exist, we don’t live. I try to sleep now, but I don’t sleep. We don’t sleep. I close my eyes and I see Jake.”
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The exhibition, which has already been seen by more than 600,000 people across 10 cities worldwide – including venues in America, Toronto, Buenos Aires and Berlin – evokes the day of the Nova attack, with abandoned vehicles, bullet-riddled structures and thousands of personal items left behind.
Jake, whose sister Tasha is now 26, was working as an unarmed security guard at the rave when the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian nationalist Islamist political organisation Hamas, initiated a sudden attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. A talented musician, he played bass and toured with UK hardcore band Desolated.
Lisa says: “He had a smile like no other and a personality to match. Jake brought light, warmth and joy wherever he went. Our daughter, Jake’s sister, is autistic and has various other special needs. He was very protective of her. He lit up every room he was in, our beautiful boy.”
Ironically, Jake had left London, aged 24, in November 2021, for a new life in Israel – where he felt happy and safe – because of antisemitism in the UK.
Michael says: “After witnessing hateful mobs driving along Finchley Road screaming threats about what they would do to Jewish women and children, he no longer felt safe in England.”
But on October 7 2023, as revellers at the Nova festival danced, terrorists fired rockets into the crowd and Hamas attackers choked off avenues of escape, while gunmen swarmed the site, killing people hiding in bomb shelters.
Michael continues: “Jake was working as unarmed security at the Nova Peace Festival. At 4:29am UK time, 6:29 Israeli time, Jake phoned up to say that he loved us, there was a commotion at the festival, but he’d call us back when it calmed down… that call never came. When we woke up that morning, for some reason we turned on the TV and we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. The hideous white pick-up trucks. Gunmen in masks firing left, right and centre. It was like a terrible movie, except it was real.
“We rang Jake, no answer. We waited and waited and waited. So, I flew out there October 10th and sadly and shockingly identified Jake on 11th. He had been kept in the desert and covered for four days. There were so many people that they had to deal with and he was a bit further out so it took them longer to find him.
“I had to tell Lisa that our life’s masterpiece, our son, our heir, is no longer. To hear her wailing all those thousands of miles away … I couldn’t hug her … will live with me till the day I die. I kissed Jake on both cheeks and his lips. And I told him that I loved him.”
In his final moments, Jake showed extraordinary courage and selfishness, helping countless festivalgoers to safety before being shot nine times.
Lisa says: “We always knew Jake was special, but he died a hero. He died trying to help others escape. Bringing this exhibition to London feels like our boy is coming home for six weeks. He was our shining star. On that day, he could have run, but he chose to stay and try to save as many lives as possible. That sums up who our boy was.”
Michael adds: “This exhibition is about changing people’s mindsets. With antisemitism as rife as it is right now, it’s something everyone must see.”
The Jewish community in Golders Green, North London, has been the focus of two recent antisemitic attacks. In March four Hatzola charity ambulances were set on fire. Then, in April, two men were stabbed at a bus stop.
And a recent survey by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, suggested antisemitism is pushing around one in five British Jews to consider leaving the UK.
Michael says: “What have we done to deserve all this hate? We’re British Jews, but British first, then Jewish. We abide by the rules of this country, we blend in.
“It’s getting worse and worse. Someone needs to take the bull by the horns and actually say, ‘right, you know what? This is what we’re going to do’. And knock it on its bloody head. We’re Jewish people and we’re frightened. How has it come to this?”
Determined to take positive moves to keep Jake’s memory alive, his parents have had an MDA ambulance in Israel dedicated in his name and it’s been dispatched more than two thousand times.
Lisa says: “There have been seven women in labour so far and we’re desperate for one to give birth in the ambulance, because sadly we don’t believe we’ll be grandparents.”
Two Israeli guide dogs also bear his name and, elsewhere, a scholarship has been set up in Jake’s honour to help underprivileged young people build brighter futures.
And, near the Nova site, a bomb shelter has been dedicated to Jake. Lisa says: “Here in the UK, we have created the Jakey M Project too – a way of honouring Jake’s spirit by bringing people together through music, connection, positivity and community.
“Jake was our life’s masterpiece, and we will love him forevermore. We can only go one way, which is hopefully up. We are determined to keep Jake’s legacy going. Even though he’s not with us, he’s with us all the time. We can’t let anybody ever, ever, ever forget our son.”
The Nova Exhibition opens on May 20 at 10-14 Hewett Street, London EC2A 3NN for six weeks. Tickets, costing from £18, can be purchased from novaexhibition.com. Net proceeds will support the healing journey of The Nova Music Festival survivors and the bereaved families.
