Replica of Hamas tunnel on Museumplein: ‘Seems as if the world has forgotten that there are still people in hell’

During Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, Rachel Meijler’s nephew, La’or Abramov, was murdered. The Israeli-Dutch gallery owner could not find peace after that and could not ‘normally’ continue selling art.

“It suddenly all seemed so pointless,” Meijler said. The realization that the world had long been busy with other matters was incomprehensible to her. This led her to use art to draw attention to the 133 civilians still held hostage in Hamas tunnels in Gaza.

With an installation made by artist Roni Levavi, Meijler wants to wake people up. Levavi built an exact replica of one of Hamas’s found tunnels. These tunnels are also used to hold Israeli prisoners.

The Levavi tunnel is 24 meters long, with a light at the end, as a sign of hope. “It seems as if the world has forgotten that there are still people in hell, underground for more than two hundred days,” Meijler says.

Pure desperation

This installation is apolitical, Meijler emphasizes, because it is not about who is guilty or which side of the conflict one is on. It’s mainly about the question: what would you do if your child were held hostage? The sheer despair and desperation, these are the emotions that Meijler wants to share with her fellow Dutch people, emphasizing that this despair is universal and that everything must be done to get the hostages back.

The installation is built in a trailer, which Meijler uses throughout the country. It is a difficult experience to walk through the twenty meter long tunnel and see and feel how oppressive it feels, under the sound of bombing. The tunnel can be visited on Museumplein on May 9 from noon to six in the evening.