Deep within the lush mountain forests of Cyprus, survivors of the October 7 music festival bloodbath in Israel practise yoga, paint and meditate as they try to come to grips with the trauma.
At an Israeli-run wellness retreat, survivor Matan Madar wants to dull the cries. Dor Rahamim is looking for peace. Neta Cohen says she wants to live her life to the full after seeing the lives of others so brutally cut short.
“We are trying to clear the mind of the screams,” said Madar, 23, who lost friends when Hamas militants went on a bloody rampage at the Nova festival.
About 364 people were shot, bludgeoned or burnt to death at the all-night festival about 5km from the Gaza Strip.
Israel estimates in total 1,200 people were killed in the attack on its south that triggered a retaliatory onslaught, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has seen more than 15,000 Palestinians killed in the coastal enclave.
Israeli businessman Yoni Kahana, who operates the retreat on the east Mediterranean island, is hosting survivors free of charge. Aided by an Israeli NGO IsraAID, the Secret Forest retreat in the mountains above Paphos in western Cyprus has a steady rotation of festival survivors seeking solace.
“When we saw what was happening in Israel we decided immediately to help,” said Kahana. More than 1,800 Israelis had signed up to a programme which includes yoga, therapy sessions, hiking and meditation overseen by up to 20 volunteer therapists.
“They are getting the tools to get back to living,” he said.
Rahamim, 28, sits on the floor in a corner of an art therapy class, his back against the wall.
“I feel I am nervous all the time, it's intense, I need to look around, to feel, to see everything is OK, that somebody doesn't surprise me.”
Many trauma survivors turn to art in an attempt to externalise their feelings, painting with red, white and black, the colours of trauma, before adding rays of sun, a rainbow or a flower, said therapist Lilach Galkin. “A lot of things are connected to hope. Hope and peace,” she said.
Neta Cohen is working on a collage. It included a photo taken from a social media website of a person with no “likes”, because, she said, people do not need to live their lives craving approval from others.
“You need to do what you want and like, because I've realised in the past two months that life is short.”
Reuters
'Trying to clear minds of screams:' Israel festival survivors heal in Cyprus
Image: Amir Levy/Getty Images
Deep within the lush mountain forests of Cyprus, survivors of the October 7 music festival bloodbath in Israel practise yoga, paint and meditate as they try to come to grips with the trauma.
At an Israeli-run wellness retreat, survivor Matan Madar wants to dull the cries. Dor Rahamim is looking for peace. Neta Cohen says she wants to live her life to the full after seeing the lives of others so brutally cut short.
“We are trying to clear the mind of the screams,” said Madar, 23, who lost friends when Hamas militants went on a bloody rampage at the Nova festival.
About 364 people were shot, bludgeoned or burnt to death at the all-night festival about 5km from the Gaza Strip.
Israel estimates in total 1,200 people were killed in the attack on its south that triggered a retaliatory onslaught, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has seen more than 15,000 Palestinians killed in the coastal enclave.
Israeli businessman Yoni Kahana, who operates the retreat on the east Mediterranean island, is hosting survivors free of charge. Aided by an Israeli NGO IsraAID, the Secret Forest retreat in the mountains above Paphos in western Cyprus has a steady rotation of festival survivors seeking solace.
“When we saw what was happening in Israel we decided immediately to help,” said Kahana. More than 1,800 Israelis had signed up to a programme which includes yoga, therapy sessions, hiking and meditation overseen by up to 20 volunteer therapists.
“They are getting the tools to get back to living,” he said.
Rahamim, 28, sits on the floor in a corner of an art therapy class, his back against the wall.
“I feel I am nervous all the time, it's intense, I need to look around, to feel, to see everything is OK, that somebody doesn't surprise me.”
Many trauma survivors turn to art in an attempt to externalise their feelings, painting with red, white and black, the colours of trauma, before adding rays of sun, a rainbow or a flower, said therapist Lilach Galkin. “A lot of things are connected to hope. Hope and peace,” she said.
Neta Cohen is working on a collage. It included a photo taken from a social media website of a person with no “likes”, because, she said, people do not need to live their lives craving approval from others.
“You need to do what you want and like, because I've realised in the past two months that life is short.”
Reuters
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